| Steal This Book | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Steal this Book |
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| Author | Abbie Hoffman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Pirate Editions |
| Publication date | 1971 |
| Pages | 308 |
| ISBN | 1-56858-053-3 |
| OCLC Number | 32589277 |
| Dewey Decimal | 335/.83 20 |
| LC Classification | HX843.7.H64 A3 1971a |
Steal This Book is a book written by Abbie Hoffman in 1970 and published in 1971.
Contents |
Content
Advice on dissidence
The book includes advice on such topics as growing marijuana, starting a pirate radio station, living in a commune, stealing food, shoplifting, stealing credit cards, preparing a legal defense, making pipe bombs, and obtaining a free buffalo from the U.S. Department of the Interior. It discusses various tactics of fighting as well as giving a detailed list of affordable and easy ways to find weapons and armor that can be used in the event of a confrontation with law enforcement. The book advocates rebelling against authority in all forms, governmental and corporate.
The "Pig Empire"
In the book, Hoffman referred to the American Empire as the "Pig Empire", saying that it was not immoral to steal from the "Pig Empire"; in fact, Hoffman wrote, it was immoral not to do so.[1] The term was picked up by the Yippie crowd, and was widely used by what became known as the "Woodstock Nation."[2]
Cultural response
The book's reflexive title is a classic example of Yippie culture jamming. It is very hard to find in libraries for that same reason.[citation needed]
As the book ages, the specific details of the various techniques and advice Hoffman gives have become largely obsolete for technological or regulatory reasons, but the book iconically reflects the yippie zeitgeist.
On the success of the book, Hoffman was quoted as saying, "It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List." Hoffman would not respond to accusations that he had plagiarized the book, as published in a detailed article in Rolling Stone magazine (No. 92, 10 September 1971), entitled "How Abbie Hoffman Won My Heart and Stole Steal This Book."[3]
Rock group System of a Down released an album in 2002 called Steal This Album! purposefully referencing the book.
Bibliographical data
Steal This Book
- Written by Abbie Hoffman
- "Co-conspirator": Izack Haber
- "Accessories after the fact": Tom Forcade and Bert Cohen
- Published by Pirate Editions (New York)
- Distributed by Grove Press
- Year of publication: 1971
- 308 pages +xii, illustrations, bibliography[4]
25th anniversary edition - ISBN 1-56858-053-3
References
- ^ Raskin, Jonah (1996). For the Hell of It. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520213793.
- ^ Harris, Randy (1993). The Linguistics Wars. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019509834X.
- ^ Haber, Izak (1971-09-30). "An Amerika Dream: A True Yippie's Sentimental Education or How Abbie Hoffman Won My Heart and Stole 'Steal This Book.'". Rolling Stone. pp. 32–33.
- ^ CATNYP: New York Public Library online catalog
External links
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