Blog
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Revolutionary Resilience: The Factors That Keep Societal Upheavals Going
It seems that a lot of striking, demonstrating, protesting, and other plain folks not taking it anymore is going on. Western cities are burning. People seem to have enough of it. They openly quit their jobs, or sabotage covertly by slowing down on the job. There is unrest in the air, and societal troubles are…
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A meditation on the importance of old stuff
Why is it that people obsess so much over novelty? Whether it is electric cars, artificial everything, genetic wizardry, information, or the newest iPhone, one could almost say that there exists a form of novelty psychosis, an incurable collective case of neomania, the love of all things modern, for its own sake. And it is not new.…
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In Munster, three cages are hanging on the cathedral tower
Every time I visit that beautiful German city of Munster I take some time to walk around in the old inner city. Standing before the somewhat menacing St. Lambert’s church tower I gaze upward. Up there, close to the top, are three cages, approximately six feet high. These cages are reminders of a short and…
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Vagabond Adventures Revisited: Rediscovering the World of Ralph Keeler
Since Notoir Books likes to think of itself as “a publisher of books on topics of esoteric interests, eccentric memoirs, overlooked history, otherworldly stories and distinctive voices from the past”, it was inevitable for us to ignore one of the few great books that the 19th century American author Ralph Keeler (1840 – 1873) wrote.…
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Curious Punishments Then and Now
There will always be other opinions and judgments. These are the stuff of life, and help to form new thoughts and opinions. The problem is that opinionated peeps tend to cluster around other people with the same opinions and analyses. This results in a shrinkage of choices in opinions, which in turn leads to flat…
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The Forgotten Legacy of Black Cowboys in the American West
There is a rich and funky history of black cowboys in the American West. The idea of an African-American cowboy may seem somewhat unusual and even strange to many, including true connoisseurs of the Western genre. Little is known about this overlooked history among the general public. This is a pity, considering the massive contributions…
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Our obsession with H.L. Mencken
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable…” There you have it. One quote that compresses why we…
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Knut Hamsun was really hungry
When the days lengthen again, the leaves are still rotting on the ground, and the weather is unstable for months to come, it’s the right time of the year to consume literature that celebrates decay and the downward spiral. So grab yourself a sandwich, and start reading. It is precisely during these inward late-winter evenings…
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Extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds
Sometimes I buy and read a book purely because of its intriguing title. “Extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds” is a good example. I read it, because masses of people can be scary. And there are so many of them. Since we have three other titles on this topic in our Notoir books…