Books

Monday, 9th May 2011

I write books! Here are two of them, published by free-range, radical small presses which were raised without the use of antibiotics. If you buy one, both or some of these books, I may be able to keep myself in gin and ribbons. Thanks.

Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism

Published by Zer0 Press, 2011. Cover design by Kate Pocklington.

The blurb:

“Laurie Penny hones her every phrase to a razor’s edge. She is absolutely surgical in her anatomising of a mad world. MEAT MARKET is the kind of cut you learn from.” (Warren Ellis, author of TRANSMETROPOLITAN, CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, RED)

Modern culture is obsessed with controlling women’s bodies. Why? Our societies are saturated with images of unreal, idealised female beauty whilst real female bodies and the women who inhabit them are alienated from their own potential. Why? Under late capitalism, women are both consumers and consumed. Meat Market offers strategies for resisting this gory cycle of consumption, exposing how the trade in female flesh extends into every part of women’s political selfhood.

The short version: short feminist pamphlet, written when I was 23. Lots of angry fun.

Penny Red: Notes from a New Age of Dissent

Published by Pluto Press, 2011. Cover design by This is Star.

Shortlisted for the inaugural Bread And Roses prize for Radical Publishing, 2012

The blurb:

In the space of a year, Laurie Penny has become one of the most prominent voices of the new left. This book brings together her diverse writings, showing what it is to be young, angry, and progressive in the face of an increasingly violent and oppressive UK government.

Penny Red: Notes from the New Age of Dissent collects Penny’s writings on youth politics, resistance, feminism, and culture. Her journalism is a unique blend of persuasive analysis, captivating interviews, and first-hand accounts of political direct action. She was involved in all the key protests of 2010/2011, including the anti-fees demos in 2010, and the anti-cuts protests of spring 2011, often tweeting live from the scene of kettles and baton charges. An introduction, conclusion, and extensive footnotes allow Penny to connect all the strands of her work, showing the links between political activism and wider social and cultural issues.

This book is essential for understanding what motivates the new generation of activists, writers and thinkers that bring creativity, energy and urgency to the fight against capitalism and exploitation.

The short version: a collection of the best columns and reports for The New Statesman, The Guardian, The Independent and elsewhere from 2009-2011.