Vice Verso

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: The Verso spring 2005 catalogue has just arrived, and, in light of the commander-in-thief's recent reelection (just barely!), the latest offerings from "The imprint of New Left Books" is sure not to disappoint:

There's Professor Michael Mann's Incoherent Empire, which Choice describes as "a devastating critique of the confused, dangerous, self-interested, and antidemocratic imperialistic policies of the current Bush administration." Meanwhile, the main themes of Afflicted Powers are "September 11, blood for oil, permanent war and illusory peace, the U.S.-Israel relationship, revolutionary Islam, and modernity and terror." This book is written by a group called Retort, "a gathering of antagonists to capital and empire, based for two decades in the San Francisco Bay Area." (I don't suppose there's a term for "antagonists to capital"?)

And finally, out in paperback this April, is Bushwomen: How They Got Their Man in the White House by Laura Flanders from Air America Radio. "[I]t's a terrific read and just what we need--an accessible account of the far Right's drive to power, and the women who front it," says Susan Sarandon. (Yes, the Susan Sarandon!) Verso calls it "the only book to unmask the most powerful women in the U.S., and to reveal what W really stands for." (I'm guessing "white.")

Spring can't come soon enough.