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Wobblies & Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2008. 261 pp. ISBN: 978-1-60486-041-2. US$20.00. Paperback
Wobblies & Zapatistas is an ambitious and well-intentioned book that promises much but in the end, unfortunately, delivers very little. The subtitle suggests a collection of conversations between Andrej Grubacic, a younger intellectual who is esteemed in anarchist circles but not as well known outside of them; and Staughton Lynd, a veteran Marxian activist much revered on the American Left for his work in the civil rights, labor, and anti-war movements. In fact, the book offers nothing of the sort, but instead reads very much like a series of interviews, with Grubacic asking the questions and Lynd providing the answers. Worse still, it often comes across as very valedictory, even hagiographie, if only because such a disproportionate amount of space is devoted to anecdotes about Lynd's career as an activist. (The point isn't that Lynd's career isn't extremely impressive - who would...