Best sellers included Che Guevara Talks to Young People (15); Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (9); Capitalism’s World Disorder by Jack Barnes (8); Revolution in the Congo (7); Malcolm X Talks to Young People (6); and Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It by Leon Trotsky (6).

A total of 56 books on the Cuban Revolution were sold. With these titles prominently displayed, the table became a center of discussion on Cuba, particularly on the U.S.-led propaganda campaign around the jailing of “dissidents” and the execution of three ferry hijackers who had threatened the lives of dozens of passengers.

Of special note was the fact that five Farsi-language books were sold at the table. Several of the individuals who purchased these books were familiar with Pathfinder from the Tehran International Book Fair in Iran, which Pathfinder regularly attends.

Volunteers at the table made a point of distributing catalogs to a dozen buyers at area bookstores who came to the fair, laying the groundwork for future visits.
 

Pathfinder had a table at the British Columbia Library Association conference in Vancouver, Canada, May 29-31. Of the 350-400 participants, some 50 signed Pathfinder’s guest book. Pathfinder representatives are planning to call and visit many of these librarians over the coming weeks. A number of librarians who came by the table had been contacted by Pathfinder supporters in the weeks prior to the conference.

One librarian from North Vancouver, where thousands of Iranians live, was thrilled to discover Farsi titles at the Pathfinder table.

The head of acquisitions for one university library was pleasantly surprised by a list of 10 Pathfinder titles missing from her library, which a supporter had prepared for her. She indicated that her library would order 15 titles.

As a result of visits by Pathfinder representatives over the last year, several orders from high school libraries and social studies teachers have been received. A Pathfinder representative visited one school district and left a catalog, highlighting a number of titles. As a result, the library placed an order for every one of the 40 books and pamphlets indicated, including Capitalism’s World Disorder, the Teamsters series by Farrell Dobbs, and books by Che Guevara and Malcolm X.
 

The Pathfinder Bookstore in Chicago participated in the Printers Row Book Fair June 7-8. Despite rain for a large portion of one of the days, the bookstore sold 96 books and pamphlets, for a total of $1,144.

A team of over a dozen volunteers and friends of Pathfinder, including two from Des Moines, Iowa, kept the booth staffed.

At times the booth was surrounded by crowds three deep. People waited patiently until their turn came to look at the books.

Almost 1,500 leaflets were distributed advertising the Chicago Pathfinder Bookstore and its hours.
 

Bibliothiki, the weekly literary supplement to Eleftherotypia—the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Athens—reviewed the new Greek edition of Pathfinder’s Problems of Women’s Liberation by Evelyn Reed, published by Diethnes Vima. The review, which appeared in the May 19 issue, reads:

“This book, by the American Evelyn Reed (1905-1979) still holds intense interest for the reader. It was first published in 1969 in the U.S., and was later translated into 10 languages and distributed around the world. The first Greek edition of 1980…has long been out of print…. In her articles in the book, Evelyn Reed analyzes the economic and social roots of women’s oppression throughout the ages. She outlines the first forms of property and their repercussions for women. She explains why women’s oppression is related to property relations (and not gender relations) and presents a clear perspective for women’s emancipation.”

Frank Forrestal, Mary Ellen Marus, Claudia Hommel, and Georges Mehrabian contributed to this column.  
 
 
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