Direct Action: An Historical Novel

by Starhawk and Luke Hauser

More than 7000 people were arrested in nonviolent protests in California in the early 1980s, developing the art of direct action to a peak not reached again until Seattle in 1999, and in many ways... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974019402
• ISBN13: 9780974019406
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Groundwork
• Length: 767 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of the Best Activist Novels I've Read In A While

During the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, I read this novel by flashlight and I couldn't put it down. Luke Hauser does an excellent job of telling the history of the anti-nuclear movement of the early 1980's. I definitely recommend this book for all environmental, peace and social justice activists. Besides being highly informative and inspiring, it is a gripping read!

Direct Action views nonviolent movement power dynamics

Reading Direct Action gave me a new perspective on just how much struggle was involved in the structural form of the lead Bay Area anti-nuke group of the early 80's that provided a spring board for so many great creative and inspirational actions against nuclear power and weapons and other issues. It was a great time in my life and seeing its affect on others in the book brings back the best of it for me.

docunovels

It seems like art is discovered in the outside world, rather than inside the individual imagination (in some cases, maybe uncovered is a better word). An honest attempt by an author to document a moment in time through the prism of his own perception--he instantly decides to write fiction.Although this work was derived almost completely from printed material, I believe its a percursor of more work that will be driven by the advance of electronic technology (and surveillance). At some time in the future, something like this might be patched together from records including recorded audio and video.

A textbook case of activism

It's been rare to get news or history regarding activist movements from outside accepted media and academic channels until fairly recently. Even with the large amount of coverage afforded to actions like the WTO "Battle in Seattle," most of the material that's readily available doesn't represent the concerns of those who are active in the movement at hand.It's therefore a pleasure to have a book like Direct Action available, both because it covers a very particular time and series of actions, and because it comes from the very heart of those actions. The book's fictional narrator documents not only the initial surge of enthusiasm behind the Livermore anti-nuclear actions, but also the eventual disillusionment that occurs as subgroups argue over tactics and are worn down by repeated jailings. Hauser has accurately documented the lifecycle of many a movement in this specific tale.One unique aspect of Hauser's historical novel, aside from the photos mentioned in the other reviews, is that he shows (quite touchingly) how much of the growth and fuel of such a movement comes from the personal relationships between the people organizing it. I think it's no coincidence that a spiritual movement (Reclaiming) sprang from this fertile ground. Direct Action is a long read, but highly inspiring and well worth the time. I also appreciated, since this is a historical novel, that Hauser took the time to document and share with the reader the specific changes he made to events, relationships, and timings. The activist handbook included in the back is interesting as a historical document, but it's sadly still quite timely and contains a good deal of useful information for those who may be inspired to pick up a sign and take to the streets.

Action Story + Photos = Winner!

Any novelist could invent a rambling story about a bunch of activists in Berkeley and San Francisco who conspire to change the world, organize civil disobedience protests in which thousands of people are arrested, and spend days or weeks in jail. An imaginative writer might even add sub-plots concerning a "nukecycle," pagan rituals, elaborate graffitti actions, and one activist's obsession with an Air Force base.But not many novelists could back up their imagination with 300 photographs that hammer home the point - all of this really happened. The novel is built around a literal, blow-by-blow recounting of two years of 1980s direct actions in the Bay Area.Direct Action could be this year's must-read action thriller, although occasionally Hauser seems bent on compressing a graduate-level textbook within the pages of his novel. Sometimes it works (jail-cell musings on strategy and organizing), sometimes it doesn't (class analysis during a graffitti expedition?).The pages turn fastest when the actions are underway. The hapless narrator - a latter-day Hamlet - gropes his way through a dozen civil disobedience protests, ranging from huge anti-nuclear blockades to roving urban affinity-group actions. Along the way he and his compatriots learn their strategic and tactical lessons at the school of hard knocks, emerging sadder but wiser at the end of their odyssey through the depths of the Reagan era.What truly elevates this book is the pictures. Hauser has collected over 300 images from the era - photographs, flyers, posters, newspapers - and peppered the novel with graphics. They exert a magnetic pull, drawing you forward during the slower moments toward an action a few pages ahead.Besides the novel, the book includes a 35-page handbook on how to organize civil disobedience, making it a do-it-yourself protest kit for budding activists. Sprawling as it is, this book dramatizes the back-story to today's anti-war and globalization protests, and will appeal to activists, organizers, and anyone concerned with social change. If it doesn't provide all the answers, it at least raises the right questions.With a Foreword by Starhawk. 768 pages. 300 illustrations. ...