The Guardian interviews cookbook makers
Interview with The Guardian, September 2004
“Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:56:49 -0400
Subject: Re: anarchist cookbooks
To: craig.taylor@guardian.co.uk
What kind of relationship does this anarchist cookbook have with the original version released in the late 60s?
Essentially, the name is all they hold in common. A minimal amount of research will reveal that the original “Anarchist Cookbook” was not at all anarchist—not composed or released by anarchists, not derived from anarchist practice, not intended to promote freedom and autonomy or challenge repressive power—and was barely a cookbook, as the recipes in it are notoriously unreliable. At best, it was a fraud, a spoof; at worst, an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of anarchist practice, and cause readers to injure themselves. The recent movie by the same name is equally embarrassing, not so much to anarchists as to the industry that produced it.
Why is it being released?
All the history aside, the idea of an anarchist cookbook, if never before really realized, is a good one. In an increasingly repressive world, it’s more important than ever than people share skills for reclaiming life and liberty.
What are the biggest changes in this latest edition?
This book will not feature recipes for food or for bombs; rather, it provides information such as how to form a cooperative bike maintenance collective, how to make use of creative media such as posters and spraypaint for free expression, and how to resist the attempts of police to break up demonstrations. I’d be happy to send you the table of contents.
Who is writing it?
Anarchists have written this anarchist cookbook, coming together in a loose, voluntary association of friends and acquaintances from around the world for the composing and editing process.
Is there going to be any event to launch the book that the Guardian could cover?
It looks like the book will not be finished quite in time for this year’s UK Anarchist Bookfair. It’s well over 600 pages, and the last of the detail work is taking a long time. However, it’s entirely possible that once it comes out, there will be a myriad of post-release events the Guardian might cover, as readers develop new skills.
How is it being published? What kind of printers are eager to get involved in a project like this?
The publisher is the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers’ Collective, an established mouthpiece of anarchist thought and poetry.
Some would say this isn’t the best climate to release a book giving people instructions on how to commit acts of terrorism. What’s your reply?
This book does not provide any information on how to commit acts of terrorism. It does not offer any advice on how to gun down civilians, nor how to blow them up with smart bombs; it includes no information about how to destroy the ozone layer or clearcut forests; it doesn’t even give any insight into how one might brainwash children in schools, exploit blue collar workers, or bore white collar workers to death. It does, however, offer a humble starting place from which those acts of terrorism can be contested. I would say that this is exactly the climate in which such a book is needed.
Direct any further questions here. Thanks and all the best.”
