I do a little bit of the social networking thing. I’m not on Facebook, but I’m on Goodreads, under the name Margaret Killjoy. I post reviews of the books that I read. Short reviews, mostly. I guess this is my “be my friend on a social networking site!” plea.

But I just finished reading this book, Life Under The Jolly Roger by Gabriel Kuhn, released by PM Press (which, honestly, is too expensive. Not because it’s not a good book, but because it’s a $20 paperback that is only around 170 pages of content). It’s a really, really interesting book:

I first got obsessed with pirates when I was 19 and let myself be swept up a crusty crew rolling 7 deep called the Anarcho Pirate Brigade from Baltimore. We had a lot of the right ideas and a lot of wrong ideas about pirates.

I’m astounded by how clearly this book cuts into the mythos of the golden age pirates and immediately shows you what is fucked up and what is interesting.

It’s also the first book I’ve read that has explained philosophical concepts, Deleuze etc., through the lens of, you know, pirates.