Books published by publisher Soft Skull Press

In this collection of compact fictions, Nicolette Polek transports us to a gently unsettling realm inhabited by disheveled landlords, a fugitive bride, a seamstress who forgets what people look like, and two rival falconers from neighboring towns. They find themselves in bathhouses, sports bars, grocery stores, and forests in search of exits, pink tennis balls, licorice, and independence. Yet all of her beautifully strange characters are possessed by a familiar and human longing for connection: to their homes, families, God, and themselves.

The debate over whether the Net is good or bad for us fills the airwaves and the blogosphere. But for all the heat of claim and counter-claim, the argument is essentially beside the point: It’s here; it’s everywhere. The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? “Choose the former,” writes Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”In ten chapters, composed of ten “commands” accompanied by original illustrations from comic artist Leland Purvis, Rushkoff provides cyber enthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate this new universe.In this spirited, accessible poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off, helping readers come to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age––and as a template through which to see beyond social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries. This is a friendly little book with a big and actionable message.

Books on 9/11 tend to get dismissed as “conspiracy theories” but that won’t work with this one, because it contains no theories at all about who did what. It simply focuses on flaws in the official story that have led more than 1500 architects and engineers, with 25,000 years of professional experience (and tens of thousands of others) to demand a new, independent investigation.The book lists fourteen clearly observable facts about 9/11 that the official story can’t explain, then provides a simple explanation that accounts for all of them. It raises hundreds of questions like:Why has no other skyscraper ever been destroyed by fire, even ones that raged for seventeen or eighteen hours?How could the Twin Towers fall so evenly and so fast, straight down through 160,000 tons of structural steel?How could the smaller, lighter floors above where the planes hit completely destroy the much heavier, stronger and completely undamaged floors below?For that matter, how could the top of the South Tower crush the floors below it if it began its fall toppling off them? (See the cover above.) If this was a gravitational collapse, they’re going to have to rewrite the laws of gravity.

Incredible as it seems, the government’s version of what happened on September 11, 2001, can’t possibly be true. Without engaging in any speculation or conjecture, this book proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. For example, it lists ten infallible indicators of destruction by explosives and four infallible indicators of destruction by fire. The World Trade Center buildings exhibited all ten of the former and none of the latter. (That’s not surprising, since no steel-framed building has ever failed due to fire—not even the Caracas skyscraper that burned for 17+ hours, nor the Beijing high-rise engulfed in bright orange flames from top to bottom.) Then there’s WTC 7. Not struck by a plane, subject to nothing more than minor office fires, its 47 stories collapsed into their own footprint in a manner indistinguishable from a controlled demolition . . . which may explain how BBC TV was able to report it twenty-three minutes before it happened. Evidence like this (and there’s much, much more) is why more than 1,400 architects and engineers, and tens of thousands of senior government, military, CIA and FBI officials—plus pilots, reporters, broadcasters, scholars, and others—are calling for a new, independent investigation.

The fight for economic justice can draw stark battle lines, with the fight portrayed simplistically as Us versus Them, with the rich in the role of "Them." So where does that leave young people with wealth who believe in social change? Afraid of being branded the enemy, yet deeply committed to social justice, they're left in a confusing no-man's land. This conflict can lead most young people with wealth to keep their privilege hidden, making it impossible for them to bring their resources, access, and connections to the struggle for social change. Coauthored by Karen Pittelman, who dissolved her $3 million trust fund to cofound a foundation for low-income women activists, Classified is a resource guide for people with class privilege who are tired of cover-ups and ready to figure out how their privilege really works. Complete with comics, exercises, and personal stories, this book gives readers the tools they need to put their privilege to work for social change.

From the author of Pulitzer-nominated The Devil’s Highway and national bestseller The Hummingbird’s Daughter comes an exquisitely composed collection of poetry on life at the border. Weaving English and Spanish languages as fluidly as he blends cultures of the southwest, Luis Urrea offers a tour of Tijuana, spanning from Skid Row, to the suburbs of East Los Angeles, to the stunning yet deadly Mojave Desert, to Mexico and the border fence itself. Mixing lyricism and colloquial voices, mysticism and the daily grind, Urrea explores duality and the concept of blurring borders in a melting pot society.

“Lynne Tillman lends her remarkable talents to answer questions about today's obsession with images. Through the eyes of cultural anthropologist Ezekiel Hooper Stark, she asks: What is behind the human drive to create, remake, and keep images?"―Bustle, 1 of 15 Best Fiction Books of March 2018 to Kick Off Your Spring Reading “The universe heaves with laughter, and I’m all about my lopsided, self-defining tale. How I came to be me, not you, how I’m shaping me for you, the way my posse and other native informants do for me, how I’m shape-shifting. I’m telling you that I’m telling you; my self is my field . . .” The time is now, and Ezekiel Hooper Stark is thirty-eight. He’s a cultural anthropologist, an ethnographer of family photographs, a wry speculator about images. From childhood, his own family’s idiosyncrasies, perversities, and pathologies propel Zeke, until love lost sends him spiraling out of control in Europe. Back in the U.S.A., he finds unexpected solace in the image of a notable nineteenth-century relative, Clover Hooper Adams. Zeke embarks on a project, MEN IN QUOTES, focusing his anthropological lens on his own kind: the “New Man,” born under the sign of feminism. All the old models of masculinity are broken. How are you different from your father? Zeke asks his male subjects. What do you expect from women? What does Zeke expect from himself? And what will the reader expect of Zeke―is he a Don Quixote, Holden Caulfield, Underground Man, or Stranger? Kaleidoscopic and encyclopedic, comic, tragic, and philosophical, Men and Apparitions showcases Lynne Tillman not only as a brilliantly original novelist but also as one of our most prominent contemporary thinkers on art, culture, and society.

One of the Observer’s Best Science Books of the Year: A “fascinating” look at a groundbreaking birth-cohort study and what it has revealed (Nature). On March 3, 1946, a survey began in Britain that is, today, the longest-running study of human development in the world. It would grow to encompass six generations of children, 150,000 people—and become the envy of scientists around the world. The simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent, and die, irrevocably altering our understanding of inequality and health. This is the tale of these studies, the scientists who created and sustained them, and perhaps most importantly, the remarkable discoveries that have come from them. “Hugely engaging, and gives much to chew on . . . the scientists are an irresistibly eccentric, passionate bunch.” —Evening Standard “A highly readable, deeply informative book . . . If you ever wondered whether the circumstances of your early life steered you along a particular path, look no further than this book.” —Literary Review

“A relentlessly useful insider’s guide to independent film” by the producer of The Ice Storm, Happiness, and The Laramie Project (Kirkus Reviews). In this “must-read” (Cultural Weekly) tell-all, one of the industry’s most passionate producers captures the rebellious punk spirit of the indie film boom in 1990s New York, its collapse decades later, and its current regeneration. Ted Hope, whose films have garnered 12 Oscar nominations, draws from his own personal experiences in launching the careers of Ang Lee, Hal Hartley, Todd Solondz, Michel Gondry, Edward Burns, and Nicole Holofcener, and working with such mavericks as John Waters, Todd Haynes, and Claire Denis. Whether negotiating final cuts or clashing with high-powered agents on behalf of his clients, Hope offers behind-the-scenes stories from the wild, often heated world of low-budget cinema—where art and commerce collide. As mediator between these two opposing interests, Hope shares his unique perspective on making movies while keeping one’s integrity. Against a backdrop of seismic changes in the indie-film industry, from corporate co-option to the rise of social media, Hope for Film is “filled with tidbits of earned wisdom and stories from the proverbial trenches,” providing not only an entertaining ride through the ups and downs of the business of art-house movies over the last 25 years, but also hope for its future (SF Weekly).

In March 1946, scientists began to track thousands of children born in one cold week. No one imagined that this would become the longest-running study of human development in the world, growing to encompass five generations of children. Today, they are some of the best-studied people on the planet, and the simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent and die. This is the tale of these studies and the remarkable discoveries that have come from them. Touching people across the globe, they are one of the world's best-kept secrets.

“Lynne Tillman lends her remarkable talents to answer questions about today's obsession with images. Through the eyes of cultural anthropologist Ezekiel Hooper Stark, she asks: What is behind the human drive to create, remake, and keep images?"—Bustle, 1 of 15 Best Fiction Books of March 2018 to Kick Off Your Spring Reading “The universe heaves with laughter, and I’m all about my lopsided, self-defining tale. How I came to be me, not you, how I’m shaping me for you, the way my posse and other native informants do for me, how I’m shape-shifting. I’m telling you that I’m telling you; my self ismy field . . .”The time is now, and Ezekiel Hooper Stark is thirty-eight. He’s a cultural anthropologist, an ethnographer of family photographs, a wry speculator about images. From childhood, his own family’s idiosyncrasies, perversities, and pathologies propel Zeke, until love lost sends him spiraling out of control in Europe. Back in the U.S.A., he finds unexpected solace in the image of a notable nineteenth-century relative, Clover Hooper Adams. Zeke embarks on a project, MEN IN QUOTES, focusing his anthropological lens on his own kind: the “New Man,” born under the sign of feminism. All the old models of masculinity are broken. How are you different from your father? Zeke asks his male subjects. What do you expect from women? What does Zeke expect from himself? And what will the reader expect of Zeke—is he a Don Quixote, Holden Caulfield, Underground Man, or Stranger? Kaleidoscopic and encyclopedic, comic, tragic, and philosophical, Men and Apparitions showcases Lynne Tillman not only as a brilliantly original novelist but also as one of our most prominent contemporary thinkers on art, culture, and society.

An inspiring, tell-all look at the indie film business from one of the industry’s most passionate producers, Hope for Film captures the rebellious punk spirit of the indie film boom in 1990s New York City, its collapse two decades later and its current moment of technology-fueled regeneration. Ted Hope, whose films have garnered 12 Oscar nominations, draws from his own personal experiences working on the early films of Ang Lee, Eddie Burns, Hal Hartley, Michel Gondry, Nicole Holofcener, Todd Solondz and other indie mavericks, relating those decisions that brought him success as well as the occasional failure.Whether navigating negotiations with Harvey Weinstein over final cuts or clashing with high-powered CAA agents over their clients, Hope offers behind-the-scenes stories from the wild and often heated world of low-budget cinema—where art and commerce collide. As mediator between these two opposing interests, Hope offers his unique perspective on how to make movies while keeping your integrity intact and how to create a sustainable business enterprise out of that art while staying true to yourself. Against a backdrop of seismic changes in the indie-film industry, from corporate co-option to the rise of social media, Hope for Film provides not only an entertaining and intimate ride through the ups and downs of the business of art-house movies over the last 25 years, but also hope for its future.