Autumn/E&T
2006
Terror-Dot-Gov
Docufictions
by Harold Jaffe
Raw Dog
Screaming Press
2005
153 pp.
(Review by
Amy Andrews)
If you've ever wondered what your
daily paper might read like, stripped of all pretense of political
correctness, misdirection, and subterfuge, perhaps Harold Jaffe can
provide a glimpse. In his book of "docufictions," Jaffe (False Positive, 15 Serial
Killers) reconstructs news reports,
interrogations, conversations, and official files blending fact and
fiction to illustrate his points. Drawing from print and online
sources that include Le Monde, Le Figaro, the Guardian, BBC News
online, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Z-Net, and the San
Francisco Chronicle, Terror-Dot-Gov offers readers newsy reports of
Middle East hostage beheadings and releases, an account of a pizza
delivery man robbing a bank while wearing an explosive collar, a
German man on trial for murdering and cannibalizing his allegedly
willing victim, and more. From imagined conversations with military
wives and bodyguards, average Americans, Israelis and Arabs, Jaffe's
got a lot to say about the state of the American psyche and the war on
terror.
Some of Jaffe's pieces are stellar. "Trader
Joe's" recording of a conversation between a person who's
probably an average American and an unknown inquisitor smarts in its
sharp critique of Americans' lifestyle, culture, and worldview. A
blistering critique of Army recruitment, culture, and patriotism in
"Terror Couture" casts a wide net, from the United States
Army to Madonna and the NBA.
Regrettably, Terror-Dot-Gov as a collection is
uneven. For as many spot-on observations the author makes that will
have the ability to make readers squirm in self-recognition, just as
many simply leave an unfinished feeling, like I'm just too obtuse to
get the joke. I appreciate Jaffe's commentary. He pulls no punches and
strikes close to home, giving voice to alternative points of view not
often considered and drawing parallels rarely made by mainstream
media, for example, noting the similarities of a Palestinian's
experience to that of the Jews in Europe during World War II. But
sometimes his efforts are a bit too vague. It's clear that by not
identifying some speakers in the pieces that are reconstructions of
conversations, readers will be able to read their own meaning into
these vignettes, attributing any number of identities to those
articulating their perspectives. But on the other hand, a few speakers
are so without recognizable characteristics, I'm afraid Jaffe's
meaning and intention aren't as strong as they could be, leaving what
could be effective political and social commentary floundering.
Terror-Dot-Gov is a powerful book, able to
reframe readers' perspective on the news and opinion provided by
popular media. But after ripping readers' blinders off, Jaffe provides
them with no further guidance. Okay, I've read this or that story, now
I'm pissed off so….. what do I do now? Maybe it's not his job to
answer that question for readers, but perhaps a vignette or two about
the average person taking action would have nicely rounded out the
collection and provided readers with continued food for thought. Right
now the book is just commentary, not a call to action.
The docufiction idea is an interesting premise,
and works well for almost all of the book's vignettes. However small
grammatical and stylistic inconsistencies detract from the realism
Jaffe works so hard to achieve. Little things like "mommy"
instead of "Mommy," changing Rosie to Rosey within three
paragraphs, and "monopoly" rather than "Monopoly"
when referring to the Parker Brothers board game-- all of these things
force the reader out of the book, severing the connection to the
story.
Portions of a few of the news stories are pretty
graphic-- the description of the psycho-sexual killing and consuming
of the victim in the German cannibalism case was certainly enough to
make my stomach churn. Although it was hard to tell in places where
Jaffe might have been trying to comment on media consumers' bloodlust,
that so much of the coverage of sensational crimes glosses over the
actual method of murder and mayhem, or that peoples' thirst for
knowing more about crimes will ultimately lead to new coverage such as
this, this literal blow-by-blow of one man eating another man's
genitals for sexual pleasure came across as over the top.
Harold Jaffe's Terror-Dot-Gov is innovative and timely; his commentary on
topics seen often in daily news reports will resonate with readers
whose senses have glazed over, reading and hearing the same spin from
the same talking heads, over and over again.
A.A.
