Joan d'Arc

The whole issue of "paranoia" is interesting. I generally find people that I consider to be "paranoid" a total drag - they're often pot-heads w/ delusions of grandeur. On the other hand, W. S. Burroughs espoused the idea of "practical paranoia" - meaning paranoia based on a non-naive understanding of the ways of the world (& of police states) - & I agree w/ him about that. It's "practical paranoia" to take for granted that yr phone's tapped if you're a political activist in this, & most, countries.

This bk presents stories of & by women that might be most often tagged as crazy my most people: UFO abductees, microwave harrassment, synthetic telepathy, etc.. For me, though, I find much or most or all of it clearly & believably presented. There's even a section by political researcher extraordinaire Mae Brussell called "Why Was Patty Hearst Kidnapped?" in wch the SLA is presented as largely a CIA & police informer creation.

The only downside of my reviewing this bk is that after I read it I was so enthusiastic that I wrote its editor/publisher, Joan D'Arc & sent her a large package of my own publications & asked her if she wd trade. She wrote back saying she wd but then never did. I think she might've been moving or some such at the time so her not having traded cd very well be an unintentional side-effect of that. Nonetheless, people who won't communicate directly or trade are usually suspect as capitalists to me.… (meer)