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Seven American Deaths And Disasters (2013)

by Kenneth Goldsmith(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1576876365 (ISBN13: 9781576876367)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

powerHouse Books

review 1: Pretty fascinating. Most of the segments are disturbing on some level. The JFK segment stars off hauntingly by including radio commercials and songs that played in between as the news was breaking. The second Kennedy assassination is gripping because of the eyewitness accounts and hysteria, while the third assassination -- Lennon -- was a lot less intriguing to me due to the distance and calm it seemed the media had in comparison. (Maybe that was the point?) The Challenger explosion is emotional and effective, and the 9/11 sequence had me nearly choked up, due to both the descriptions and my own memories of that day. The other two segments don't fit as well for me. Columbine is a 911 call not a radio broadcast. I was disturbed reading it but also it didn't seem to fit. I'm... more not sure why media response wasn't included, especially since media played such a huge factor in the aftermath. Using a 911 call just seems like a different book, albeit one I would be equally likely to read. Michael Jackson's death sort of highlights differences in media from earlier deaths of public figures included here but doesn't have the same horrifying tragic nature as the rest of these events. These other events were violent and caused by forces the victims had no control over. Jackson's death was sad but not at the same level of American tragedy. I can think of events that would fit this book more clearly -- OJ Simpson's Bronco chase, perhaps. There are moments of dark humor here, such as the quick jump to conclusions about who is behind 9/11 and what needs to be done, and particularly disparaging Jackson with comparisons to Elvis. You can read into what this says about how media has evolved since JFK. But the Columbine segment doesn't fit into that. These are some nitpicks but overall it's a harrowing read that makes events we may see as "historical" with some distance immediate and frightening again.
review 2: Kenneth Goldsmith has taken seven significant events in American history (although the death of Michael Jackson is questionable on that) and done nothing more than transcribed the reactions of people who were living through them as they happened. This relatively simple concept makes for absolutely riveting reading. Through the eyes of retrospect, we have 20/20 vision, but to hear the reporters, disc jockeys, and eyewitnesses give their account through the gauze of immediacy brings a fascinating perspective. This is the Dallas radio station going from the mundane of advertising Thanksgiving turkeys to describing in detail John Kennedy's wounds. This is the heartbreak of hearing millions of lost innocences as reports of John Lennon's death come in. This is the horror and sheer terror of a 911 call from inside the Columbine High School library. This book is magnificent in its simplicity. less

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