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This book is a collection of texts from and/or about the transformative justice movement. Some of the texts are recycled material from zines or guides. Some are very practical guides, some are theoretical reflections; some real-life testimonials, some interviews. Many of the texts are really excellent: special mention to "What to do when you've been abusive", "Facing shame" and "Pod-mapping", for especially moving and growing things in me. However, the book as a whole lacks a good throughline. There is some logic to the basic four-part structure that the texts were ordered in, but it still feels like an unsorted, random collection of material. The fact that the material itself contains some absolute diamonds doesn't completely redeem the lack of editorial effort.

On a personal level though, reading this was an enlightening and healing experience.

These interviews span from 1989 to 2017, it's nice to see how different topics were preoccupying bell hooks over the years. This is a nice book to get closer to her ideas and life. I especially like the diversity of perspectives: one of the interviews is for a Buddhist paper, one for an anarchist one. It's nice to see bell hooks through these different lenses.

A little Spartacus book from the 1970s, consisting of two texts: the first, a translation of a text by Otto Rühle from 1939, so a text that was already historical in the 1970s. The second, a reflection upon Rühle's life and works by Paul Mattick. Out of the two, the text by Rühle has the merit of being at least historically interesting. The text's main thesis is that Bolshevism, and Lenin in particular, has led to the rise of fascism in Germany. This text is interesting as a historic document in the wider context of "leftist explanations for the rise of fascism". Rühle's writing is pretty well-structured, too. The text by Mattick is totally uninteresting. In the style of many Spartacus texts, it offers boring black-and-white political judgment over actual information. Otto Rühle is at least an interesting figure. I might find something else of him to read sometime.