Bloodbath Nation

BLOODBATH NATION is about the Epidemic that is tearing apart the fabric of American society. An Epidemic caused - not by Covid - but by Guns. Among its victims are men, women, teenagers, children, and even babies. The massacres have taken place in churches, schools, movie theatres, and at rock concerts. Auster establishes how America''s love affair with guns goes all the way back to the arrival of the first British settlers - guns in hand - who used these guns to eradicate the Native Americans who occupied the country. This history of carnage continues to this day. Interwoven into the text are photographs taken by Spencer Ostrander of the locations of the mass killlngs - which serve as mute testaments to the lives that have been lost. Guns have become one of the issues dividing America today, but Auster doesn''t take sides. The book is a plea for both sides to find a way of avoiding more death and grief. Accompanying Auster''s text is a series of photographs of the locations of these mass killings. There are no bodies - only the empty spaces which stand as mute memorials to the lives that have been lost.

Auteur

Paul Auster (1947-2024) was the bestselling author of The New York Trilogy, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace and 4 3 2 1, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Among his many international honours were the Prix Médicis Étranger, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and the Carlos Fuentes Prize, given in recognition of his body of work. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lived in Brooklyn, New York.

Spencer Ostrander was born in Seattle in 1984. He has done extensive work in all forms of photography and has recently completed two other book projects: Long Live King Kobe with text by Paul Auster and Times Square in the Rain.

Texte du rabat

'Remarkably powerful.' Washington Post'A compelling polemic, dismaying and often moving.' Jake Kerridge, Daily TelegraphNo issue divides Americans more deeply than the debate around guns.

Résumé

'Remarkably powerful.' Washington Post

'A compelling polemic, dismaying and often moving.' Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

No issue divides Americans more deeply than the debate around guns. Paul Auster begins his examination of gun violence by looking into his own past, knowing first-hand how families can be wrecked by a single deadly act.

Bloodbath Nation traces the origins of America's obsession with guns through one hundred and eighty years of history. The armed conflict against the native population and the brutal methods used to protect the institution of slavery created a nation that has never fully come to terms with its own past.

This fraught heritage still hovers over the social and political landscape of the present moment. Change is necessary but it seems all but impossible. Auster asks the ultimate question: what kind of country do Americans want to live in? The answer, he argues, will not come from the legislature, but from the American people themselves.