Hi-diddly-ho, shopperinos! Echo here with another (last minute) holiday gift guide for you!
If you’ve been a sentient member of the human species lately, you have probably noticed that society is in a state of… how can I put this… total chaos and unbridled horror?
At Quimby’s, we recognize our small but important role as dedicated purveyors of radical, inclusive, and subversive literature. Perhaps (hopefully) there are many radicals in your life. Heck, you may even be one of them! So, I’ve picked out some books, zines, and other fun stuff (from our rather extensive selection of subversive materials) for the RADICAL in your life. Read on to discover my revolutionary picks for you and your loved ones this gift-giving season…
Zines can make for very thoughtful and fun gifts or stocking stuffers. I’d like to point your attention to Pleasure Pie, a sexual justice organization that’s based in Boston. They make incredible zines about sex positivity and intersectional liberation and we just love them! We’re freshly restocked with plenty of Pleasure Pie titles and they sent us a bunch of new stuff, too! The newest additions to our Pleasure Pie inventory include:
What Is Pleasure Injustice?
Sustainable Alternatives for Pads and Tampons: a Gender-Neutral Guide
How to Say No: a Guide for Listening to Your Gut in Sex and Life
They’ve also sent us some very poignant zines about Palestine, its voices, and its struggle for liberation:
Queer Voices From the Fight for Palestinian Liberation
Sex Education in Gaza: Empowering Young People Under Occupation
A Gazan Young Man Dreams of a Peaceful Death by Mo. Alcrunz
We Palestinians Are Not Going Away: First Person Accounts on the War in Gaza
The first book in my radical gift guide is To Rob a Bank Is an Honor by Lucio Urtubia. Urtubia is remembered as a real-life Robin Hood. On paper, he was a bricklayer from Navarra, an autonomous community in Spain. He was also a revolutionary outlaw who spent many years printing political pamphlets in his printshop, counterfeiting passports and checks for workers, and, most famously, scamming Citibank to fund the efforts of Italy’s Red Brigades, the Black Panthers, and other radical groups. This fascinating memoir is sure to make an excellent gift for the anarchist on your list.
No radical book collection is complete without An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. By telling the history of the United States from an indigenous perspective, historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz helps us see through the colonial lies that have dominated the popular narrative about the hyperpower that is the United States. As I type this, we have two wonderful versions of this important book in stock: the 10th-anniversary edition and a beautiful graphic interpretation adapted by Paul Peart-Smith.
Next up, we have a landmark classic—An Autobiography by Angela Davis. Originally published in 1974 (by Toni Morrison!), this book was re-released as a new edition in 2022, and it remains very pertinent to current events. A memoir from such an iconic social justice leader as Davis would make an excellent gift for anyone who’s into Black liberation, prison abolition, feminism, communism, queer rights, or for anyone who has the courage to hope and take actions to make a better world for everyone.
Those who are passionate about queer liberation are sure to appreciate Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies a collection of essays on current queer revolutionary theory from PM Press. This book does a wonderful job of bringing the movement for LGBTQIA+ liberation right into the fold of intersectionality with prison abolition, antiracism, and other concurrent revolutionary movements. It highlights the need for mutual aid as we look towards a brighter future for queer folks and for individuals from all marginalized groups.
Don’t forget to pick some fun, revolutionary stocking stuffers! Like Johnny Sampson’s glorious “No Bezos” sticker. And you can radicalize your Christmas tree with a hammer-and-sickle or anarchy ornament by artist Paul Garner. Garner’s Che Guevara figurines would also make great gifts!
¡Felices fiestas & viva la revolución!
-Echo @fraulein_echo
P.S. And we’ll see you tomorrow, Tuesday, December 24th, because we’ll be open this one Tuesday from noon to 6! More info here!
