You Bright And Risen Angels
By William Vollman, 1989
William Vollman is another author in the list of "people who get talked about more than they get read," which is due, in no small part, to the writing itself--Vollman's books are usually 1) Long, 2) Aggressive, 3) Hard-To-Read. When they aren't, like some of his non-fiction work or the novella Whores For Gloria, they also usually aren't really that good. So instead of reading well-written articles by eminent literary critics about his best work, there's a wealth of articles about his shorter, more terrible books. Europe Central, his National Book Award winner from 2005, changed that somewhat, as did the best-of volume of Rising Up And Rising Down--both books were a bit more welcoming, although still unlikely to ever be one of those books that precocious asshole children claim to have read "when they were 11."
Why all this talk about backstory? After all, this is supposed to be about You Bright And Risen Angels, right?
Because You Bright And Risen Angels has about 100 pages of sensible and awesome, and the other 400 or so are uncomfortable, boring and pretty much nonsense. It's decently written and well-imagined nonsense, but it's a book that tries to make sense out of an nonexistent plot, that is chronologically bizarre, that is missing about 700 pages of story (all of which have chapter headings in the table of contents), and, as if all of that weren't enough, which it totally fucking is enough, thank you very much, is also a book based around a premise that the book is a description of a sort of video-game simulation of the story, being run by two characters, and it will be shut down before it reaches conclusion. If that's your bag, than go pick up your bag at the desk.
True History of the Kelly Gang
By Peter Carey, 2000
A hypnotic portrayal of some pretty horrible occurrences in a land of poverty, Carey's fictional take on Ned Kelly and his four-man war on the hideous treatment wrought by the rich makes for one of the best Wild West stories not set in North America ever told. Using an ingenious method of delivery, wherein Carey constructs the story out of a collection of news stories, pulp articles and crude diatribes, True History begins with the end, and then tears ass it's way from the start. Raised to be an adult almost before he could walk, Ned Kelly's anger, his love and his attempt to save his family is a brilliantly focused story that speaks to the inadequacy of a land to protect it's children, of a people crying out honor and justice to catch up with them. While it may suffer at times from too much hero-worship, it's nigh-impossible to read about Kelly's tribulations and not find oneself fully in support of him, even as his decisions send him to his end. While the book may really be a whitewash of history, it's one that fully acknowledges it's fictional nature--and it's a hellaciously good pot-boiler to boost.
Reallionaire
By Farrah Gray and Fran Harris, 2005
If you've ever wanted to read the true story of how a young black child discovered how to exploit his fellows and work his way out of poverty, with nothing more than cold-blooded ambition, financial backing and a willingness to market cheap, unhealthy products to other poor black children, then this is the book for you. (Quick question: why do you want to read about that, again?) Otherwise, you can probably find other poorly-ghost written "autobiographies" at your local flea market or church bake sale.
Imperial Life In The Emerald City
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, 2007
There's a certain level of tolerance required when one dives into any of the well-researched and well-written books regarding the last seven years in Iraq. One has to be prepared to be confused, frightened and angry--regardless of political leanings, one would have to be extraordinarily selfish to not find some variation on the three mentioned emotions when spending any time exploring the nature of civilian life in Iraq. Chandrasekaran, a Washington Post correspondent with a long-time relationship with Iraq, chose to focus his award winning Emerald City on the nature of one period of time--that being the brief year where Iraq was under the "control" of Paul Bremer. Zeroing in even more, Chandrasekaran's book is almost completely set inside the Green Zone, a walled off portion of Baghdad where the majority of the decisions regarding Iraq's future were made. (Or where the decisions just sort of happened, as the case may be.)
It's an awfully funny book, when one is able to separate oneself from the real impact that these people, Bremer especially, had on the lives of Iraqi citizens. (Said separation is a herculean task in itself.) Over and over again, unprepared and inexperienced individuals are placed into important decision making roles regarding the future of Iraq's economy, public health, utilities and security, solely because of those individuals political leanings. Against abortion? Related to a Republican think-tank? Know how to say "yes" to your superiors?
You've got a job.
Chandrasekaran is smart enough to never openly condemn the choices made by these men and women--after all, very few of them had the capacity to see the future their mistakes would create--but it doesn't mean that the author whitewashes the horrific consequences. More than once does one follow bureaucrats as they ignore the advice of experts, only for their political based fantasy to collapse into self-destruction. It's all here, in this short book--why Iraq's electricity and school systems have collapsed from their once almost Western levels to something one usually sees in failed Balkan states or why the lack of understanding of tribal relationships spawned a mounting insurgency. It's impossible to understand a lot of the choices that were made, and thankfully, the author chooses not to try forcing some hackneyed cries of propaganda into any ones mouths. Clearly, there was little preparation made for worst case scenarios--and when those scenarios arose, no one had the courage to call a spade a spade.
Recommending someone read a painful book that examines the ongoing destruction of a country and its people is something that is a bit difficult to do--but the truth is that people are dying in Iraq, everyday. This is one of those books that helps to understand why it didn't have to be that way. If that's what interests you--knowing the realities of the world you live in, then pick it up. (Alternatively, the director of Bourne Ultimatum is making a movie based on it, and the movie will have Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. So you can just wait for that, we guess.)
-Tucker Stone, 2008
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