The Bomb

I just finished The Bomb: The Classic Novel of Anarchist Violence by Frank Harris for the second time. It’s one of my favorite books to read for leisure, where you get a good dose of social justice without having to take notes as if it’s an academic book. The story is based on the 1886 Haymarket riots in Chicago, with the narrator being an educated German immigrant who landed in New York first, struggled with finding the roughest of labor jobs, all while being a writer/journalist. This eventually brought him where he discovered the circle of socialist, communist and anarchists that made up much of the working class laborers; as well as mentors, comrades and love. It’s a beautiful story, with many historical facts, but also personal stories, and the idea of love being more than lust, and social justice being more than politics.