Evasion (book)

Evasion

File:Evasion cover.jpg
Author	Nigel Davis
Cover artist	PFMAG
Series	CrimethInc. Letters
Subject	freeganism, unemployment, crime, zine, lifestyle, memoirs, travel
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	CrimethInc.
Publication date	2003
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	288 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-9709101-1-8
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 is comprised of 108 pages of slightly revised text from the original zine (95% of which is retained) along with 162 pages of new material. 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.

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.

Themes

Hitching rides, hopping trains, dumpstering, 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 . . .'"

Publication history

Evasion's history is described in the afterword of the book itself:

"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."

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."

External links

• Evasion at CrimethInc.com
• Evasion eBook Online for free (PDF)
• "an interview with the author of evasion" by Ricky Powell. Comprehensive interview.