Elements of Refusal

Left Bank Books, Seattle, 1988 A near fine copy of the first edition/first printing of this comprehensive collection of John Zerzan's writings, inscribed and signed by David Brown of Left Bank Books, who wrote the Introduction. Inscribed to Leolo Lozone. Soft cover, 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, 263 pp. From the Introduction: "Elements of Refusal is the first comprehensive collection of John Zerzan's writings. Appearing over the past decade in primarily marginal or 'underground' publications, this collection is long overdue. No less than as they appeared, these essays are provocative and important. For me John's writings have always contained that critical spirit which best characterized both the old 'Frankfort School' and the Situationists --- but are more radical and without the debilitating despair of the former or the disgusting love affair with technology and 'progress' afflicting the latter. Present-day 'reality,' as constituted by those with vested interests in maintaining this domination, is touted as the 'best', if not the only possible reality. Accordingly, history is shaped like a monstrous land-fill to legitimize this contemporary high-rise shill. Still, the designated social strait jacket ill-fits and the social fabric isn't so smooth as appearances dictate. Daily life, as John make clear, with its increasingly intensifying alienations, schizophrenia and psychopathology becomes more spectacular and bizarre. No, all is not well in Utopia. It is a weird and peculiar world where the growing destruction of the earth is touted as 'progress,' an advance for humanity. Every technological innovation promises to liberate us from want, but leaves us more in need. We grow more dependent on glitter and distraction to fill the void where all that is human is gutted. Our noses are shoved to the window of consumption (a display of lies) and are told that here is life. Life is reduced to a game where, for a price, anyone can play; but there is nowhere to play. Indeed, the word 'survive' replaces the word 'life' more and more in our everyday speech, as if they were equivalent. A kind of social terror permeates everything, becoming a commonplace in our lives. Because, contrary to the glib, superficial aura (desperately and massively touted by mass media), this 'work-buy-consume-die' paradise teeters on the brink of collapse and dissolution---" (1722RO002). 1st Edition. Soft cover. Near Fine.