Yesterday was informed by the Borough Council that I do not have their permission to perform The Hot Chestnut Man and that I will be arrested if i do so. This could be on two grounds – no permission to sell food (although The hot Chestnut Man in fact gives his chestnuts away in exchange for fuel) and public order grounds – they fear that The Hot Chestnut Man could incite people to act anti-socially if they burned culturally sensitive books…
The Hot Chestnut man has a wife and two children to keep as well as his good reputation – being jailed at this stage even if for only a night – over some other folks burning their book of choice, for whatever reason, on his warming brazier would seem altogether just too stupid.
A change of plan.
Claire Fox and others have stated that the burning of any book is wrong at any time… This illustrates the extent to which books have become fetishised by certain groups. Books in general are perhaps being worshipped by some as material objects beyond their content or cultural worth.
Stewart Home wonders, as we converse on Facebook, what these book fetishists make of him shredding his own books in public. Here’s a video of his Shoreditch Shredding Machine Massacre:
Shoreditch Shredding Machine Massacre – Stewart Home
