In 1977, at the tide of punk rock, Re/Search founder V. Vale started publishing a fanzine aptly titled "Search and Destroy". The fanzine featured "incendiary interviews, passionate photographs and art brutal" and painted a picture of the punk movement that was far off the stereotypical view of the Mass Media. In fact, "Search and Destroy" paved the way for what was later to become the philosophy behind Re/Search.
In 1980, Vale started a business as a typesetter, which again - with the financial support of independent record label Rough Trade - enabled him to publish his own books in decent quality. This was the founding stone for Re/Search publications, a series that merged radical content with a professional layout - at a time when fanzines used to be poorly written and handcopied.
It was not until 1991 however that Vale was able to quit his dayjob as a typesetter and solely live on book publishing. Vale points out that this was possible only due to the enthusiastic support by independent bookstores around the world - a symbiosis he sees in danger with big bookselling chains pushing small stores out of business. Certainly, times are getting harder for independent publishers, but Re/Search will continue publishing and distributing challenging works against the cultural mainstream.
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Re/Search
20
Romolo, Ste B
San Francisco
CA 94133, USA
Here come the Angry Women
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