BY ANITA ÖSTLING AND JUAN FIGUEROA
GOTHENBURG, Sweden - "This is my favorite publishing house. I was here last year and now I have come to buy more," said a young man who visited the Pathfinder booth at the Gothenburg bookfair here. He was Turkish in origin, but preferred books in French. Since he already had all the French titles he was interested in, He bought Leon Trotsky's The History of the Russian Revolution and two issues of the Marxist magazine New International in English.

This was the sixth year Pathfinder was represented at the Bookfair. Tens of thousands of people attended the event, which took place October 30-November 2. The first day and a half was open only to publishers, librarians, and other professionals; after that the general public was admitted.

Pathfinder supporters sold 104 books during the fair, worth about $1,000 dollars. A number of visitors were pleased to hear that the Pathfinder bookstore in Stockholm has a home-page on the Internet, and took Pathfinder catalogues to place orders.

While the bigger publishing houses in Sweden did not participate in the fair this year, smaller publishers and libraries plus universities and colleges had a substantial presence. Nearly all of them got a visit from a Pathfinder sales representative and were introduced to its stock or in many cases kept updated with the news since last year.

At the center of the Pathfinder booth were two big displays, one featuring Che Guevara Speaks and the other Ny International no. 2, the Swedish edition of New International containing the article "Imperialism's March to Fascism and War."

Books by Ernesto Che Guevara were best-sellers. All 30 copies of the Swedish-language Pathfinder edition of Socialism and Man in Cuba were sold, as well as five copies of Che Guevara Speaks. The two copies of the new Spanish- language edition of Che Guevara: Economics and Politics in the Transition to Socialism by Carlos Tablada were both snapped up, along with various other titles on the Cuban revolution.

A number of events took place throughout the fair, including half-hour presentations of books and topics in the "Speakers Corner." Pathfinder had two slots, presenting Pombo: A Man of Che's `Guerrilla' by Harry Villegas and Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956-58 by Che Guevara. The first was attended by 25 people, the second by around 50.

The second biggest seller was Ny International no. 2. In addition to the lead article "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War," interest was particularly sparked by "What the 1987 Stock Market Crash Foretold." The fair took place as the impact of the currency crisis and stock market unrest in Asia rippled throughout the world, including Sweden.

Visitors at the Pathfinder booth were in their majority young and a number of them wanted to read basic works on socialism and Marxism. Two youth in their early teens were overwhelmed at the sight of the The Communist Manifesto. They said they had been looking for it in used-book stores. A couple of hours later they returned to buy it, declaring, "Now we have it." Three copies of that pamphlet in different languages were sold.

Other young people wanted to know what socialism is. Three of them bought copies in Swedish of Socialism on Trial by James P. Cannon, who was a central leader of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States. One high school student stayed around the booth all Sunday, the last day of the fair, to make sure he got the last copy of it.

One of the young women staffing the information desk at the fair also came to the booth. "There are so many people asking what Pathfinder is and where it is located that I wanted to come and see for myself to be able to tell them." She liked what she saw.

There was also considerable interest in books on the question of women's liberation. Sales included five copies of different titles by Evelyn Reed. In addition, four people bought the newly reissued pamphlet Europe and America by Leon Trotsky, and four bought An Action Program to Confront the Coming Economic Crisis in Swedish.

Anita Ostling is a member of the Transport Workers Union and Juan Figueroa is a members of the Young Socialists in Stockholm. Dag Tirsén and Ernesto Oleinik contributed to this article.  
 
 
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