Evasion (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Evasion | |
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| Author | Anonymous, Mac, Nigel Davis |
| Cover artist | PFMAG |
| Country | United States |
| Series | CrimethInc. Letters |
| Subject(s) | freeganism, unemployment, crime, zine, lifestyle, memoirs, travel, anti-work |
| Genre(s) | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | CrimethInc. |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp |
| ISBN | 0-9709101-1-8 |
| OCLC Number | 54433622 |
| Preceded by | Off the Map |
| Followed by | Rusty String Quartet |
Evasion is a book that spun off from a zine of the same name. It was published by CrimethInc. in 2003. The book comprises 108 pages of slightly revised text from the original zine (95% of which is retained) along with 162 pages of new material.[1] The author is not named in the book, but is referred to elsewhere as "Mac", "the Evasion Kid", or "Mac Evasion." He later wrote a column in the zine heartattaCk and has been identified as "Nigel Davis" in one bibliography.[2]
Evasion catalogs the travels and exploits of a straight-edge vegan young man who decided to not get a job or go to school after high school, despite his parents' wishes. Deciding that his life, freedom, and time were too valuable to be wasted working in a job he would despise, to build profits for a company, he stepped outside of the confines of a traditional role in society.
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[edit] Themes
Hitching rides, hopping trains, dumpster diving, squatting, shoplifting, contriving receipt scams, the narrator defines for himself what life should be about. The lack of oversight and security of big business play a paramount role in his quest to never ever work again.
… then life began, and since then we remember each dumpster, abandoned house, and foot-chase by retail security. At night, after running around, plotting and scheming, our checklist items all crossed out, we paused to think — 'What to do tomorrow?' and the answer was always, 'As we please …
—Publisher's description.[3]
[edit] Analysis
Evasion indirectly catalogues the excesses of American society by displaying, through the narrator's actions, how one can successfully (and to abundance) live off of the discards and surplus of others – both personal and commercial. The narrator does not subsist on surplus produce entirely, however, but also appropriates resources from businesses, exemplified by shoplifting compact disks from stores. In essence, the work is a testament to the waste of modern civilization and the degree of racial, sexual, and class privilege that play into the author's experience.
[edit] Publication history
Evasion's history is described in the afterword of the book itself:[1]
Evasion came into the world as a 106 page full-size photocopied zine that contained about 40% of the text found in this book. With under fifty copies made by the author, the zine was destined for obscurity until rescued from a stack of zines in someone's bathroom by a band in the midst of their summer tour. Copies were made and given to friends, and so on and so forth, and now, years later, there are upwards 2,000 copies in existence—circulated entirely by the will to share an amazing and inspiring text with friends.[1]
Although the zine was published anonymously, Daniel Lang cites "Nigel Davis" as the author.[2]
[edit] Copyright status
The book is licensed under the following idiosyncratic terms: "Excluding all corporations, the text from this book may be reproduced without permission in any form and quantity, by any means necessary."
[edit] References
- ^ a b c A Brief History of Evasion by CrimethInc.
- ^ a b Lang, Daniel (May 2007). ""Give Us the Dumpsters -Or- Give Us Life": Res Derilictae and the Trash of Free Trade". Cultural Recycling (Other Voices) 3 (1). http://www.othervoices.org/3.1/dlang/index.php.
- ^ Crimethinc.com description page for Evasion
[edit] External links
- Evasion at CrimethInc.com
- Evasion eBook Online for free (PDF)
- "an interview with the author of evasion" by Ricky Powell. Comprehensive interview.
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