I have a soft spot for Berkman, and think he is one of the most inspiring of that generation of anarchists, at least that are known in North America, but it is hard to put a finger on what in his writing makes him so.
I think partly the problem is that Sasha didn't have a lot of groundbreaking ideas, but was emblematic of the beautiful idea, while also able to (sometimes grudgingly) adapt his understanding of the idea to his actual lived reality. The other thing I find endearing is that, adaptable as he was, he still always was in favor of bombs and dynamite.no one needs to read more of my gushing about Prison Memoirs, but yes to all that. It is one of my very favorite books.
As far as publishing goes, in addition to his Prison Memoirs, he was the editor of Emma Goldman’s Mother Earth, and also the publisher and editor of his own paper The Blast. After he and Emma were deported to Russia, he was among the first to sour on the Bolsheviks, and after leaving Russia began work on his book The Bolshevik Myth but set aside the project to help with Emma’s own book My Disillusionment in Russia (which used much of his source material). Later, at Emma’s prompting, he wrote Now and After: The ABC’s of Communist Anarchism, which is somewhat dated seeming now, but still a good intro, even if I don’t share his affinity for Anarcho-communism (or Communist anarchism, or whatever).
His dedication to anarchism and selflessness is noteworthy (even if I might be critical of the latter part at this juncture), but his humanity, flawed nature, and vulnerability are what make him really stand out. He was also prolific in his influence.
There was the attempted attentat where he shot and stabbed Frick multiple times but couldn't do the deed. He had a small bird as a friend while incarcerated which was murdered by the screws. When he got out, he both helped found the Ferrer School, and was the likely ring leader of another dynamite plot against Rockefeller that failed and resulted in the death of four people. Fleeing New York, he threw himself into agitating against U.S. entry into World War I and in defense of a Galleanist bombing in San Francisco. When he decided to kill himself, he again managed to not do a good job of it and ended up dying a horrible death.
If ever an anarchist really meant well and continually failed to achieve his expectations, it is Berkman, and frankly, I find a lot of resonance in that.
(edit: this answer started as two comments that I expanded into an answer)
