Modern Times Bookstore

Four decades ago Chesa Boudin's parents (Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert) were making headlines as leaders of the Weather Underground. Seeking to find what connection the political ideas of his parents had to the living struggles of Latin America, Chesa spent eight years immersed in student/police street ... (more)battles in Chile, trips via decrepit Amazon ferry boats and translating in the Presidential Palace of Venezuela for Hugo Chavez. (Simon and Schuster)

In June 1985, Diana Block, her two-week-old son, and five fellow revolutionaries fled Los Angeles after finding a surveillance device in their car. Thus began a decade of life underground—she spent ten years on the run from the FBI, was featured on TV's "America's Most Wanted," and simultaneously raised ... (more)two children. Diana's memoir offers unique insights into efforts to build homegrown clandestine resistance to U.S. imperialism. (AK Press)

Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape is a groundbreaking new look at rape, edited by writer and activist Jaclyn Friedman and Feministing.com founder Jessica Valenti. This anthology moves beyond "no means no" to connect the dots between the shaming and co-option of female ... (more)sexuality in our culture(s) and the ways rape is allowed and encouraged to function. (Seal Press)

Join thinkPhilosophy.org’s Dr. Rita Alfonso for four sessions of reading and discussion around Plato's Symposium – a dialog comprised of the musings by Socrates and friends on the nature of love, Aristophanes' speech on the Origin of Love, and Eros as the child of poverty and plenty – culminating ... (more)in a recreation of the Symposium itself at a 21st century philosophers’ dinner party! (Dinner location TBA)

Language has never mattered more. America recently elected a new president in part because of his ability to inspire with words. Since then, the country has begun to look back and reconsider some of the linguistic trickery of his predecessor’s administration. No one has more to offer to that conversation ... (more)than “rock star linguist” and longstanding NPR contributor Geoff Nunberg, one of the country’s foremost professors of linguistics. (Public Affairs Books)

Chad Sweeney says of Secret of White, “at once both delicate and sturdy, accurate and loving, a meditation on the triumphs of representation as much as its ghosted removes from ‘a white that cannot be recited or painted.” Eileen Myles says of Nona Casper's Little Book of Days "…an avalanche of ... (more)quiet risk taking, this book sings." (Spuyten Duyvil Press)

Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art packs over 500 color photographs in a 192 page, 8 inch by 8 inch pound of paper and ink. The book presents work by more than 350 artists from 28 countries. Featured artists include: Banksy, Jef Aerosol, Logan Hicks, Adam5100, Arofish, M-City, SWOON, Hao, John ... (more)Fekner, Peat Wollaeger, Klutch, and others. (Manic D Press)

Stencil-making workshop with the editor of Stencil Nation

A four-hour introductory course for new cyclists and those who want to feel more comfortable riding on city streets. Learn how to choose a bike, ride in traffic, and cyclists' legal rights and responsibilities. Adults and anyone over 14 years of age are welcome, pre-registration is required. Bring your ... (more)lunch or dinner. No bicycle is needed for this class. More info & RSVP: http://www.sfbike.org/edu

Join thinkPhilosophy.org’s Dr. Rita Alfonso for four sessions of reading and discussion around Plato's Symposium – a dialog comprised of the musings by Socrates and friends on the nature of love, Aristophanes' speech on the Origin of Love, and Eros as the child of poverty and plenty – culminating ... (more)in a recreation of the Symposium itself at a 21st century philosophers’ dinner party! (Dinner location TBA)

In The Diaspora Strikes Back, Juan Flores flips the immigration process on its head: what happens to the home country as a result of the constant streams of emigrants and remittances flowing in from abroad? While he focuses on Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Cubans the model is broadly applicable. Indians ... (more)in London, Japanese in Sao Paulo, and Turks in Berlin all transmit such “cultural remittances” back to their home countries, often with dramatic consequences. (Routledge) Followed by Panel Discussion with San Francisco State University faculty members Anatole Anton, Roberto Rivera, Nancy Mirabal and Teresa Carrillo

In Missing, Sunaina Maira explores how young South Asian Muslim immigrants living in the United States experienced and understood national belonging in the years immediately following September 11, 2001. This thorough investigation unfolds through the narratives of working class South Asian Muslim students ... (more)into the cultural dimensions of citizenship and relationships to the state in the everyday contexts of education, labor, leisure, dissent, betrayal, and loss. (Duke University Press)

Join thinkPhilosophy.org’s Dr. Rita Alfonso for four sessions of reading and discussion around Plato's Symposium – a dialog comprised of the musings by Socrates and friends on the nature of love, Aristophanes' speech on the Origin of Love, and Eros as the child of poverty and plenty – culminating ... (more)in a recreation of the Symposium itself at a 21st century philosophers’ dinner party! (Dinner location TBA)

American labor posters are widely scattered, difficult to locate, and rarely archived. Cushing and Drescher have pulled together some 250 color images of posters issued by government programs and campaigns, devised by unions as recruiting tools or strike announcements, and generated by grassroots organizations ... (more)focused on a particular issue or group of workers – they reveal much about the diverse experiences of working people in the United States. (Cornell University Press)

Beginning with her great-grandfather Motiram's original flight from British-occupied India to Fiji, where he rose from tailor to department store mogul, Hajratwala follows her ancestors across the twentieth century to explain how they came to be spread across five continents and nine countries. Hajratwala ... (more)brings to light for the very first time the story of the Indian diaspora and its shaping by the historical forces of British colonialism, apartheid, Gandhi's Salt March, and American immigration policy. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

In celebration of the recent release of Ching-In Chen's The Heart's Traffic – a novel in poems chronicling the life of an immigrant girl haunted by the death of her best friend who grows into her sexuality and searches for a way to deal with her complicated histories – the author will be joined by ... (more)special guests Elmaz Abinader, Alicia Kester, Kenji Liu and Zuleikha Mahmood. (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press)

Join thinkPhilosophy.org’s Dr. Rita Alfonso for four sessions of reading and discussion around Plato's Symposium – a dialog comprised of the musings by Socrates and friends on the nature of love, Aristophanes' speech on the Origin of Love, and Eros as the child of poverty and plenty – culminating ... (more)in a recreation of the Symposium itself at a 21st century philosophers’ dinner party! (Dinner location TBA)

Todd Shimoda will read from his latest illustrated novel, "Oh! A mystery of mono no aware." He will be joined by authors Josh Bazell, Lee Konstantinou, Victor Martinez, Holly Shumas, Christina Sunley, and Wendy Tokunaga, who will also read from their latest works