In this blog series "Three (or More)," I intend to write longer reviews of three (or more) books based on same publisher, theme, or book structures. In this first post I am starting with the historically leftist and avant-garde Semiotext(e), who have published many political, artistic, and fictional critiques of the modern nightmares and struggles of capitalism and all that comes of a repressed world. Started as an introduction to French theory in the English language, Semiotext(e) has grown into a major publisher that produces beautifully bound and printed books, including writing by Chris Kraus, Franco Berardi, Paolo Virno, Jean Baudrillard and many other critics and theorists. What separates Semiotext(e) from other publishers remains in its affordability, while holding onto quality, whether in translation, in binding or in bringing forth an unheard voice.

On to the reviews!

Fantomas Versus the Multinational Vampires by Julio Cortázar

A pocket-sized, fast read that can be taken in as the sums of two different events, styles, ideas, all converging to make a singular point, which is no secret to the reader: the world has a tremendous amount of abuses happening, with the United States as a common player, and multinational corporations, abuses, dictatorships, and warfare all playing supporting roles. Though this book exists at a specific time, 1973 during the Russell Tribunal, and recalls authors who are not forgotten from the public imagination, Sontag, Moravia, and more, the writing itself is an exciting twist on contemporary fiction guidelines and maintains a short, but captivating story.

Julio Cortázar uses his experience and ideas to drive Fantomas; trying to make his ideals in regards to human rights and the problems of authoritarian power known to the public. Being Cortázar though, this book is far from a singular, straightforward narrative. Through the use of the Russell Tribunal, of which Cortázar was a member of, and a Fantomas comic, which is an actual comic from Mexico, Cortázar weaves a story of a "superhero" and of horrific government actions with a trail of authors and critics presented to us along the way. The end of the book contains the details of the Russell Tribunal findings on Latin America, which are both horrifying and seemingly forgotten, or locked in history books, fostering inaction. Though horrifying, we recognize history repeats itself and the same struggles that have brought us all of the Russell Tribunals (1966, 1973, 1974-75-76, 2001, 2004, 2009-10-11-12, 2014) continue to exist to this very day. Unfortunately, and this is made evident throughout the book by Cortázar himself, the whole Tribunal was a symbolic gesture, which never was able to capitalize on most of these conclusions.

This book signifies the way in which a writer creates an artifact that plays a role in protest. As the character "Susan Sontag" says in the book, "We get more upset about the loss of a single book than about hunger in Ethiopia-it's logical and understandable and monstrous at the same time." Cortázar is trying to not fall into this trap of caring more about the words than about people. This book may not change the world, but is a reminder to us all of the roles that we need to play in order to make a change and to constantly remain aware of what is happening outside of our spheres.

An important reminder of the role of the artist in trying to bridge gaps and create awareness, and an interesting pick in Cortazar's oeuvre, Semiotext(e) has done a remarkable job in the printing and formatting of this and in making sure this book stays in print. With it now in print, the questioning and documentation of the past can continue to build a case for the present, and the book can remain an interesting mixed media and story telling power from an important writer.

To Our Friends

Coming six years after The Coming Insurrection and in the same series as Governing Debt by Maurizio Lazzarato, as well as many other must read books, The Invisible Committee is returning to try to inspire, provide a slight bit of hope and refuse to capitulate to the capitalistic vultures that generate our cities and lives. A whole six years, in which a lot has changed and found many governments running on austerity measures, running on the idea of perpetual crises, running the classes into deep divisions and the sense of standing up for "rights" currently gets lost in the manifest of keeping up with the world while having no money. Yet, bankers, investors, politicians and those who work with and/or for them continually have increased revenue, funding, and so forth.

The Invisible Committee disseminates current world events and uses these examples to formulate their critical analysis and theories. The overview is kept brief, though worthwhile, but does add a level of trust that one has to put forth in them or to take on the role of research and delve further into what they say. This is not the Committee's fault, in no way would the book be able to remain as brief as it could be if they had to go into such detail. As the series this book is a part of suggests, this is an "Intervention," an almost two-hundred-some-odd page manifesto; or a really long letter written from the Invisible Committee to their friends. The Invisible Committee looks towards the world, with a scrutiny that is focused on the European and North American powers that be. This book is brief in terms of what it covers, how far in depth it goes into the topics discussed, and as said, one is supposed to come with a previous knowledge or willingness to research in order to understand situations a bit more thoroughly and therefore why they are referenced.

Politics notwithstanding, this book is a fascinating and well-written explication as to why those who are dedicated towards a life without government are interested in that life. Scattered with references to major events in the past six years, this book is also a reference of events, political or not in nature, that has changed the shift of politics, whether in action or in speech, only to end up still maintaining a world in which those above still hold the most power.

Spoiler Alert: One can easily trace the overall narrative within the chapters being built; to break down or revolt against, and then, to move on from. The Invisible Committee invigorates us to start our "insurrections" at a more basic level, "from scratch," as forming communes or independent committees that help to re-purpose and re-situate our own lives towards working with one another and destroying what is lost when hyper-filtering ourselves through screen upon screen.

We are left with only a "personalized" message from the Invisible Committee, one that reads as a reminder that there are people behind this book, not just a name. We are invited to join in a future of changes, and hopefully are reminded by the excitement that comes with a future of changes, and if one agrees and sides with the Invisible Committee, this will hopefully help to hold you over until their next dispatch, or maybe you will have written one before then.

Through the poetic gestures of language, and the ability to enliven and analyze the situations that happen in the world, the Invisible Committee succeed in putting forth their own effort towards making change with To Our Friends, and towards remaining present among a growing populace that is befallen by amnesia every time there is a new virtual trend. This book is not supposed to be for one person, but for the many, for inspiring discussion and a sense of shared values. Will this book automatically make you put down what you are doing to join the nearest commune? Probably not, but it remains a book that will help keep those who care, to continue on in what they do, and hopefully re-situate themselves in the purpose of recognizing there are others out there who care as well, it is about finding them and struggling with them.

The Missing Pieces by Henri Lefebvre

Henri Lefebvre, the poet not the theorist, though, I suppose those can be one and the same, has created a work of meditation on what no longer remains, or what has never been a thing, ideas we can only dream of, and yet in a small way, move on from, use, let into our lives. One's lost idea can transcend into the thoughts of another, creating a story for each sparse narrative. Some of his verse reads as minor transgressions, while others will reach out with a gesture welcoming a continued thought. The beauty is that each line will represent itself with its own varied significance in a way towards someone else.

Certain meditations tell us why we now only have ruins and others let the story remain to be discovered, such as "The Tenth Symphony of Gustav Mahler is incomplete," yet others contain the reason: "In 1909, William Carlos Williams publishes Poems, his first collection; four copies are sold, the others disappear in a fire." Some such as "The unfinished works of Fernando Pessoa" unleash potential, and our minds can be carried onto many different thoughts of what exists and what does not, though maybe do not read with as much power as "Spinoza's Treatise on the Rainbow (Thrown into a fire)."

The Missing Pieces comes to us as a poem, a group of tangentially related verse, a literary and artistic onslaught of what we may have missed. How does one read this poem though, is each unit a contained poem, or are they verses in a larger poem? Can we read the bullet points as connective tissue in which we have to find the flow and justify the sense of placement, or merely be content with a random choice by Lefebvre, could it be mixed. With no guidance, we can decide to start on our own, or continuously read and pick up where we left off.

This book not only unlocks the mystery of potentials, but also discoveries that exist. The book itself is a register of artists, people to know, people with a work that have brought them to the discovery of someone else, why not us? There will ultimately be names of artists and pieces we do not know, ones in which we need to take action to discover if we choose to do so. This, even more than the emotional output Lefebvre conjures, turns the poem into a participatory piece.

Though it might be by Lefebvre sans philosophy degree, it is still by an ascetic theorist and meditative analyst. Seeking to define and write out what is not, he is therefore placing these pulses back into public consciousness, and at least until no more copies of this book remains, out of the obscurity of thought and thrust into our readership. It might not be the original piece(s) of art or artist that remain, but we are still able to look forward and only create newer versions of what was missing from the past.