Murdered by Capitalism: A Memoir of 150 Years of Life and Death on the American Left (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781560255789)

A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2004

After spilling bourbon on Schnaubelt's grave, its pugnacious and very dead occupant becomes Ross's mentor, sidekick, and boozing companion through this epic telling of the hallucinatory, carnal, and ornery histories of the American Left and John Ross's own remarkable life. Schnaubelt navigates us through his seemingly boundless revolutionary battleground, uttering cries of subversion from within the grave while trying to remain out of earshot from the FBI snoop and local supermarket tycoon buried nearby. Ross's own story -- hobo revolutionist, junkie, poet, and journalist is a contrapuntal to Schnaubelt's. Ross never takes himself too seriously, yet his most remarkable trait is the honesty with which he approaches life, even while trying to deconstruct his own faults, personal tragedies (including the death of his one-month-old son), and imperfections. His pursuit of revolutionary politics and poetics is the constant, often spent with his muse, Revolutionary Mexico. Ross concludes with a trip to Baghdad as a "human shield," before the Anglo-American invasion, ready to sacrifice his life as part of his perpetual struggle for justice. Award-winning writer John Ross's memoir is inspired from a tumbledown tombstone in California: The headstone reads: E. B. Schnaubelt 1855 -- 1913, "Murdered by Capitalism."

Author: John Ross
ISBN-10: 1560255781
ISBN-13: 9781560255789
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Language: English
Published: 05/27/2004
Pages: 353
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 8.18h x 5.58w x 0.96d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2004 pg. 382
Publishers Weekly 05/10/2004 pg. 47