“. . . as the corporate publishing world has become as predictable and formulaic as fast food, meaty intellectual books (or more daringly, those with leftist leanings — the blowfish of the book world) have ceded to cotton candy,” says Lisa Sorg. As a result, “The political, social, and economic upheavals of the 21st century — the 2000 and 2004 U.S. elections, the Iraq war, globalization, sexual identity, environmental degradation, religious fanaticism — have prompted hungry readers to look beyond corporate publishing houses to such independent, progressive presses.” In an in-depth survey for the San Antonio Current, she takes a look at a few of the best: Verso, AK, South End, Haymarket, and Beacon — “International in scope, unapologetically leftist, even radical, these presses face financial and marketing hurdles, but also grapple with internal challenges, such as retaining authors, who, once popular, often join ‘the dark side’ of corporate publishing houses.”