The full subtitle sums up this zine’s focus up: How cable companies, phone companies, electrical companies, and their relatives are using our own streets to hold our lives hostage. Inside, is a geeky (said affectionately and self-applied), warm, knowledgeable treatise on the history and application of getting utilities to their destination in America. It’s told from the viewpoints of DIYers leery of corporate manipulation, techies who know their history, and pragmatists who’ve grappled with trying so much as dig a hole in their community and seeing how many hoops, red tape, and corporate hand-wringing it can bring. It’s a great starting point for anyone interested in a truer diagram of the possibility of self-reliance intertwined around the complexities of being plugged in. Few zines like this exist and this comes with the highest recommendation. Streetcar, please make this a series. –(Streetcar Press, 1631 NE Broadway, Suite #254, Portland, OR97232, streetcarpress.com)