What is this book about?

This book seems to be about the life of a guy (although it might be more than one guy) after high school. He reflects on the world that he resides in. The expectations. The common conventions. The mistruths and untruths. The could be, the what is, the why, and speculation of how.

He is a dumpster diver. A squatter. A shop lifter. And a risk taker.

Evasion was originally a bunch of xeroxed pages that the collaborator of Evasion found in a house he was staying in. Apparently the host of the house had gotten it at a local organic food store from a young man with a backpack who approached him and simply just gave him these pages. Offering no explanation except that he might enjoy it. So that person photocopied and photocopied until he had realized based on the responses he was getting from the email he put in the corner of the pages, he no longer had to photocopy the pages himself anymore. Other people were doing it for him. Nearly person who received these pages photocopied them and passed them along.
As much as he felt as though Evasion was important to be shared, others did as well if not more so. Because since then it has taken book form and sold at bookstores across the country possibly even across the world.
From a small house in Arkansas, it sprawls the globe being traded and passed along to people with a mind open enough to truly appreciate it’s message.

Evasion is published by CrimethInc worker’s collective. A movement or collective of people that contribute to their campaigns. One could argue, CrimethInc is actually everybody. The potential that everyone has within them. The anger one feels when something unjust or unfair has been done to them advertently or inadvertently. The joy one feels when life truly appreciates who they are and not what they can do. CrimethInc is a vestige of life a part of every one of us secretly want and Evasion shows you that you no longer have to keep that a secret.

Why you should read this book

One of the things that always bothered me about school was that all the books we read from and all the things we were taught are from outdated sources created by people who don’t understand how our generation was brought up.

I don’t know if they still make people read Catcher in the Rye when they’re in high school or not, I’ve really only been out of school for eight years but I seem to recall cousins of mine still having to read that book.

Anyway, I see this book as being a much better, more thought provoking story as it is actually relative to the current generation’s lives than Catcher in the Rye is.

I understand why they still have people read Catcher in the Rye, I understand that history repeats itself, and that the lessons and concepts that were taught 50+ years ago can still be applied to present day. But, if education doesn’t branch out and just remains reading the same book for too long the meaning and understanding of our world and history’s significance eludes us.

I compare Evasion to Catcher in the Rye because the novel’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion and defiance. The teenager in Evasion, is basically the same person. Having left school he rebels against all common conventions and common thought about what is expected of someone at that age and truly be happy while doing it.

A man with a handcart and a smile, yes, it made perfect sense…A society of privilege based on the surface and material: the intimidation effect of a flashed badge, and freedom of passage for the rushed man with suit and briefcase. I thought of UPS uniforms, Whole Foods aprons in the backroom. A society of obedience based on the petrifying effect of the self-assured: hotels offering room-keys to “pilots” on layover, and demon-eye of my ex-girlfriend. I thought of dropping the boss’s name a obscure doors, service-gate passage with a brisk pace and large box. Overcoming swarms of competition and the high security of the fertilization process, we come into this world as gate-crashers. You could say we were born to sneak in…

You should read this book because it’s an insider’s look at how the world actually works. It displays the lies and uncovers the truth. All the things we don’t want to think about are talked about in this book. Our fears and mis-intelligence of the underbelly of society are shown to be false.

There’s a concept that he carries with him through out the book, “act like you belong, and no one will think different.” By this concept alone, he was able to get into concerts, eat, drink, and live in places all for free. It’s actually a pretty interesting concept. Depending on where you go and how accurate your portrayal of belonging is, you could conceivably get into anywhere or anything. There so are so many people that are poorly educated in their job settings, that they wouldn’t necessarily think to ask for legitimate credentials from someone, and more importantly how is anyone suppose to know what a legitimate credential is? Shift managers getting paid less than they should and office and labor workers whose only job it is to do what they know aren’t going to necessarily put up a fight if they see someone they don’t recognize. Especially if that person is confidently and accurately portraying who it is they want the worker to believe they are.

Everyone is insecure and submits to those more confident.

This book gives you an insider look at homelessness. Not the sad homeless who beg for change, but the homeless by choice. After reading this book, I find myself admiring and looking up to these people. If/when I decide to go this route or when I’m forced to, I am glad a book like this exists to help show me where the exits are…

…and the entrances.