Left In The Past

This book looks at the role nostalgia plays in the radical imagination to offer a new guide to the history and politics of the left. In "Left in the Past", Bonnett re-assesses the place of nostalgia within radical politics and, in doing so, provides a new introduction to the history and politics of the left. Bonnett argues that nostalgia has been a chronic, but repressed, aspect of the socialist imagination. "Left in the Past" is premised on the idea that, in our 'post-socialist era', the relationship between radicalism and a sense of loss, and the ambivalent position of socialism in and against modernity, can be viewed with greater clarity. In Section One of the book, Bonnett shows the centrality and repression of nostalgia in both 19th-century radicalism and anti-colonial radicalism. In Section Two, he explores the consequences of this inheritance by way of 20th century and contemporary studies of revolutionary intellectuals and intellectual culture. Bonnett's unique approach in how to understand the left in an age of post-socialism will make book a needed resource for anyone interested in the history and politics of the left and radicalism.

Whether right or wrong the choices we make can affect everyone in our lives, If only for a moment.

Coast Left Past is a collection of over 200 early stories written on the West (left) Coast. Temporally grouped, printed on pulp, it represents a myriad of comedic stories, philosophical rants, and refined sugar-sweet epiphanies from the authors past. Coast is fresh and raw at a time in world history that is dominated by bad sushi. Containing the abandonment of youth and the libido of a moose, here is a book to make you remember what the inside of a damp butterfly, the life of a sad writer, the taste of cold purple, and the smell of a late Thursday night feels like

More Coast Left Past (Volume Two) is part two of a collection of over 200 early stories written on the West (left) Coast. They represent the final bunching of stories written before the author's move to New York. They are flash fictions, rants, ants wearing grandmother-pants, beer covered sailors asking you to dance. Together, they present a myriad kaleidoscope of keyboard prowess and scribbling duress. More Coast is a strength and breadth of work that is astonishing, invigorating, and debilitating. For those of you wishing to finish what you started with Volume One, or for the newly ensconced, Volume Two invites you to mid-life-crisis your way into ecclesiastical eclecticism as the world lies bleeding while you start reading...

‘We were four shattered souls saying goodbye that night.’ That same night, a storm raged as Helena drove through sheets of rain back to Melbourne, to the hospital, willing Maria to delay her last breath. When The Past Is Left is an unforgettable fusion memoir filled with short stories, essays, prose, elegies, and messages of love, praise and support from a community who shared in Helena’s grief. Helena explores the past through generational history and accounts of growing old, death and grief. The stories in this generational history form an anchor of love and pay tribute to a brave Maria who let go of her most devasting secrets before her passing. In her follow up to the award-nominated When the Past Awakens, Helena Kidd recounts the final days of her mother, Maria Avraam. Helena embraces her grief and finds a way through it. Maria came to Australia from Cyprus in 1957 and lived in Richmond behind her brother’s shoe repair shop. She was a survivor of an abusive marriage and was later deserted in the 1960s. With the assistance of her children, she became a first-time homeowner at the age of 64 in Brunswick, Victoria. Called ‘The Quiet House’, it gave Maria new life and set her free from cultural patterns of restriction. Helena Kidd was raised in Richmond, Victoria. As a young woman, she was caught between two worlds. She is of Cypriot heritage, but as a second generation Australian she tried hard to fit into the ‘Australian way’. The bonds of mother and daughter were fractured for a time, but as Maria and Helena worked towards a better future together their connection became unshakeable. When The Past Is Left is an unforgettable fusion memoir filled with short stories, essays, prose, elegies, and messages of love, praise and support from a community who shared in Helena’s grief. Helena explores the past through generational history and accounts of growing old, death and grief. The stories in this generational history form an anchor of love and pay tribute to a brave Maria who let go of her most devasting secrets before her passing. Helena Kidd has been recognised for her contribution to literature as a Cypriot from the Diaspora. When The Past is Left is Helena’s third publication.

With touching, terrifying revelations, this candid account by the niece of the man who headed the USSR for 18 years has the history, poetry, and passion of a great Russian novel. "Moving, rich in detail . . . and a great general view".--Robert Conquest, from the Introduction.

"Alastair Bonnett persuades us that the left can come to terms with nostalgia, because nostalgia---if the left did but realize it---is both a fact and an underutilized quality of leftist thought, and to prove it, Left in the Past conspires an unexpected rendezvous between early socialism, post-colonialism, and situationism. The book's novel readings of renowned cultural theories on the one hand, and exposes of arcane psycogeography on the other, will intrigue scholars, activists and students alike in virtually any area of politics, the arts, the humanities and social sciences." Simon Sadler, Professor of Architectural and Urban History, University of California, Davis In Left in the Past, Alastair Bonnett re-assesses the place of nostalgia within radical politics and, in doing so, provides a new introduction to the history and politics of the left. Left in the Past argues that nostalgia has been an important, but repressed, aspect of the socialist imagination. The book begins by showing the centrality and repression of nostalgia in both 19th-century radicalism and anti-colonial radicalism. This is followed by an examination of the consequences of this inheritance amongst revolutionary intellectuals in the twentieth century. Bonnett shows that, today, in our "post-socialist era", the relationship between radicalism and a sense of loss, and the ambivalent position of socialism in and against modernity, can and must be re-examined. Bonnett's unique approach to the left makes Left in the Past a provocative but necessary resource for anyone interested in the history and politics of the left and radicalism.