Author says Occupy movement just beginning

Boston University College of Communication alumnus Chris Faraone calls his new book about 10 nationwide encampments a time capsule of the “Occupy revolution.”

“It’s got pictures. It’s got haikus. It’s got the word ‘f–k.’ It’s a fun book,” said Faraone, author of the new book “99 Nights with the 99 Percent: Dispatches from the First Three Months of the Occupy Revolution.”

Faraone’s book features a compilation of articles he wrote as a reporter for the Boston Phoenix, as well as some unpublished material, according to a press release.

The book is due for national release on March 27.

Faraone received his master’s degree in journalism from COM in 2004 and began writing for The Boston Phoenix in 2008, according to the release.

He said the topics he covers are “all over the place,” but he primarily writes about “social justice and equality issues.”

Faraone said the book is a culmination of everything he did while covering the Occupy movement.

“It’s a travel book as well as a political book,” Faraone said. “It is a time capsule of the first three months of the Occupy revolution, as I saw it.”

The book recounts the activities of Occupy camps across the country, including pictures and illustrations, as well as a bonus chapter, which delves into Anonymous and the “hactivists” movement.

Faraone brings his readers into the thick of the Occupy movement, introducing its characters, displaying its rallies, uncovering its struggles and highlighting its overall goal.

Faraone said between October and December, he was in Boston about half the time and traveling the other half.

“My life became occupied,” Faraone wrote in the introduction of his book. “I became compelled to look under the hood and get inside of tents not just in Boston and New York, but whatever the energy spread and my sock drawer bank account could get me.”

Faraone traveled across the country visiting Occupy camps in Miami, Chicago, Seattle and Oakland, according to the press release.

“New York was the mother ship, so I went there a bunch,” he said.

The book also prefaces each chapter with a series of ten haikus, or “Occupaikus,” as Faraone calls them.

The “Occupaikus” serve to focus on what Faraone was reporting about and catch the reader up with other issues occurring at the time, he said. He said the haikus add to the style of the book.

Each chapter also has a miniature introduction to set up the following article in the context of the larger picture.

“I’m only one person so I can only cover what was in the book,” Faraone said. “I wanted to put my stuff within context of what was going on across the country. I wanted it to flow.”

Faraone calls himself an “alternative journalist” because he is passionate about his coverage and expresses sympathy for the cause and its people.

“The bottom line is American people got screwed by greedy f–king banks,” Faraone said. “I have no apologies for demonizing people who led people to camp out in our cities.”

Faraone said following the Occupy crusade was like “watching a brain-dead society wake up for a movement,” and he admired seeing people finally stand up for themselves, rather than sit idly watching “American Idol.”

He called it “the early steps of a revolution.”

“People give a s–t,” he said. “A little protest here and there works to create a significant cultural movement.”

But this book may be only an introduction of the demonstrations to come, Faraone said.

“Even I think it’s ridiculous to have a book about Occupy already,” Faraone said. “This is a time capsule of the first 99 days. By no means is the movement over.”

Faraone said he was at a meeting in Boston, which people from Rochester, N.Y., Providence, R.I., and D.C. attended, and many Occupiers are getting ready and planning marches and rallies.

“Now it’s legitimate,” he said.

The book will be available one month earlier than the rest of the country at Brookline Booksmith, Trident Booksellers & Cafe and Harvard Book Store, according to the press release.

Faraone is also holding “kick-offs” for his book on Feb. 27 at Brookline Booksmith and March 1 at Good Life Bar.