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This book came out shortly after 9/11 and opens with an essay regarding that event. Considering this and the subtitle, "How We Got To Be So Hated", I was expecting a lot of Gore Vidal's opinion regarding our relations with the Middle East. Wrong. What Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
does contain is a lot of interesting information on Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing.I may be the only person on earth who didn't know that Vidal and McVeigh struck up a casual correspondence while McVeigh was in prison. Vidal was even invited to witness McVeigh's execution, which he ultimately did not attend. While Vidal does not in any way condone McVeigh's actions, he does not accept the media portrayal of him as an out-of-control lunatic. This book is Vidal's argument that America needs to see and understand the role that its own actions play in the development of antagonism against it -- actions toward not only other countries and cultures but sometimes its own citizens. I didn't always understand or agree with his reasonings, nor did I completely disagree, but he certainly gives the reader something to think about.
6 comments:
Interesting - I wasn't aware of the connection between Vidal and McVeigh either.
JoAnn ~ The correspondence began after McVeigh read an article in Vanity Fair written by Vidal. I was really surprised at the logic exhibited in McVeigh's writings.
Lezlie
Interesting. I'm a big Gore Vidal fan. Did you see him on Bill Maher awhile ago? So sharp! So witty! I loved it.
Kate ~ I didn't! I'll bet I'd have loved it, too. He is a fascinating guy! I will definitely be reading more of his work very soon. Do you have any suggestions? There is so much to choose from!
Lezlie
I wasn't aware of that connection either. This sounds like an important book, even if the reader is not in complete agreement with everything. We could not grow and learn if that were the case anyways. Thanks for reminding me to get this one.
Jaimie ~ He has a few other books of essays I plan to read, and I have some other books here that are politically minded that I'm excited to read, but writing about them is going to totally expose my tree-hugging, bleeding-heart liberal leanings. Oh, well. People might as well know the truth, right? :-)
Lezlie
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