We are reprinting two of our classic books, Days of War, Nights of Love and the Contradictionary. If we can raise enough money to do long-lasting print runs of each, we will make them freely available in high-quality digital editions forever.
Go to the Kickstarter campaign.
We’re doing a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds we need. In return for your assistance, we’ve prepared special limited editions of the books for you. We’re especially excited about the brand-new Unicorn Edition of the Contradictionary. If you’ve missed one or both of these important works, this is your chance.
Here’s our pitch.
The Trump era presented a non-stop series of crises; some things got lost in the shuffle as we navigated the climactic final months. Consequently, these two classic books have been out of print for over a year. We’ve spent most of 2021 regrouping and preparing our next round of ambitious projects. This is the last loose end we need to tie up.
We’ve arranged Kickstarter levels for those who want to order the books wholesale in order to distribute them. At each quantity, the books are priced below what their wholesale prices will be upon release. This is the best time to order the books and help the campaign. We’ll also email PDFs to backers a month before the general release.
A preview of the Contradictionary Unicorn Edition beside the original design. This mock-up doesn’t do justice to the holographic rainbow foil stamp, which is truly over the top.
In addition to contributing money to the campaign, you can assist us by spreading the word on social media. Use the following share links to raise awareness of the project:
Twitter :: Instagram :: Facebook :: Mastodon :: Tumblr
Update: December 2, 2021
Thanks to the generous assistance of hundreds of people, we have met our funding goal! We are deeply grateful to all of you. This campaign will keeping running for three more weeks for everyone who wants to get copies of the books and the other rewards.
To express our appreciation for all your support, if we reach our stretch goal of $20,000, we will add another element to this project: a sticker in homage to our friend David Graeber, who passed away far too soon last year. David said, “The principle of direct action is the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free.”
Everyone who has pledged $10 or more will receive one sticker printed on holographic vinyl, which gives the stickers an otherworldly rainbow sheen. For every book in your order, you’ll also receive 5 stickers printed on recycled paper (in order to make it difficult to remove them once applied).
Unfortunately, the printers have told us that due to production issues at the plant, they have pushed back the estimated arrival of the books to March or even April. Rest assured that the job is already submitted for printing and we’ve secured our place in the queue.
On the left, the paper version, for public deployment; on the right, a mock-up of the holographic vinyl version, which does not do justice to it.
Days of War, Nights of Love
Days of War, Nights of Love presents a passionate appeal for a politics of liberation that approaches life as a joyous adventure. It was the first book we published—it has been more than twenty-one years now since we got the first printing back from the factory. A classic foundational document of 21st-century anarchism, it has introduced several generations to radical ideas and possibilities. More details here.
Days of War, Nights of Love Hardcover Edition.
The Hardcover Edition of Days of War, Nights of Love is the best version of the book that we’ve ever made, featuring Smyth sewn binding between heavy boards complete with sewn-in black ribbon bookmark. These are limited to 1000 copies, reserved for special occasions like this. Detailed photos here.
Days of War is clearly the work of enthusiastic young people—but there are some truths that starry-eyed young people can perceive and articulate more clearly than anyone else, truths that all of us would do well to keep close to heart throughout our lives.
Whatever medical science may profess, there is a difference between life and survival. There is more to being alive than just having a heartbeat and brain activity. Being alive, really alive, is something much subtler and more magnificent. Their instruments measure blood pressure and temperature, but overlook joy, passion, love, all the things that make life really matter. To make our lives matter again, to really get the most out of them, we have to redefine life itself. We have to dispense with their merely clinical definitions, in favor of ones which have to do with what we actually feel.
From within Days of War.
The Contradictionary
We published the Contradictionary in 2013: a glossary of revolution exploring the war in every word. In the tradition of The Devil’s Dictionary and other works of alphabetized audacity, the Contradictionary assembles a wide range of wit and whimsy. It is no mere miscellany, but a lighthearted work of serious literature, concentrating a wealth of ideas and history into aphorisms and anecdotes. More details here.
We’ve designed the Unicorn Edition of the Contradictionary exclusively for those who help us with this reprint. Like a photonegative of the original edition, it features a white faux leather cover. The title is stamped in holographic rainbow foil. Like the Days of War hardcover edition, it is the best version of this book that we have ever prepared, and it’s only available through this fundraiser.
From within the Contradictionary.
Whence do Stockholm Syndrome and Broken Window Theory derive their names? What is the common root of aristocracy and democracy? Who gets diagnosed with Anarchia and Drapetomania? How did voting kill Edgar Allen Poe, and why is a crater on the dark side of the moon named for the man who blew up the Tsar? Alternately scathing and sublime, the Contradictionary pulls back the curtain from the war within every word, revealing the conflict behind the façade of the commonplace.
Supporters will also receive an enamel pin presenting our classic bulb & bones logo.
Enamel Pin
We’re making enamel pins featuring our classic bulb & bones logo to express our appreciation for your help. Again, these will not be available in our online store or via any other venue. They are exclusively for those who help us to get these books back in print.
If you can’t contribute to this particular fundraising drive, please consider signing up to become a monthly supporter. This fund helps us to cover our day-to-day operating costs—to keep all our stickers and posters in print, pay for storage space and mail-order supplies, and the like. With a bit more help, we’ll be able to publish some new print projects. We don’t receive any outside funding; your assistance determines everything that we can do.
We rarely ask for donations. We know how to do a great deal with very little and we never keep any profit for ourselves. But some costs, like book printing, are inescapable.
We are CrimethInc.—an international network of aspiring revolutionaries. For twenty-five years, we’ve published a wide range of material by and for people fighting for a better world—all copyright free, composed collectively and anonymously, produced and distributed by volunteers. Thank you for helping us to continue this work.
