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The Submission

by Amy Waldman (Goodreads Author)

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 6,078 ratings · 1,217 reviews

Ten years after 9/11, a dazzling, kaleidoscopic novel reimagines its aftermath

A jury gathers in Manhattan to select a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack. Their fraught deliberations complete, the jurors open the envelope containing the anonymous winner’s name—and discover he is an American Muslim. Instantly they are cast into roiling debate about th

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Hardcover, 300 pages

Published August 16th 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published 2011)

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Lists with This Book

Orange Prize For Fiction Longlist 2012

8th out of 20 books — 104 voters

Kirkus Best Books of 2011

17th out of 88 books — 147 voters

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Jul 01, 2011 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, america, cultural-and-social-commentary, five-star-fiction, av

A nation's tragedy brings out the best and the worst in its citizens. Amy Waldman places her story at the center of America's tragedy, two years after the devastation. A contest for a 9/11 memorial where the World Trade Center once stood brings to a boil all the simmering hurt and mistrust and fear about the future. What is it that causes this firestorm of media distortion and political posturing? What revelation leads to threats and accusations and even violence? Just a name. The name of the co...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Nathan James rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, bookgrouppick

The premise is so intriguing: What would happen if a nation-wide contest to design the 9/11 Memorial was held and the blind judging panel picked a Muslim winner?

SPOILERS AHOY AHOY

Amy Waldman's story unravels realistically. The media churns out drivel and instigates more controversy. The panel collapse into themselves with over-thinking and uber-PC dialogue. The winner broods and employs lawyers to get a fair shake at the prestige of honoring those that were killed. The racists rally. The liberal...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Teresa Lukey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-top-10, 5-stars, fiction, made-me-cry, must-share-with-friends, my-absolute-fav-s, wow

The Submission made my ten best books for 2011. It is an extremely thought provoking read that I would recommend to anyone, especially those who may be scared or ignorant of the Muslim religion.

This story takes place in 2003 NYC. They city has assembled a group of judges, who accept, and wade through, submissions for a memorial at the site of the twin towers. The group decides they do not want to know who the designer is until they have made a final decision as to which design they want to use....more

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Aug 13, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although I was once a New Yorker and had family members on the scene of 9/11 in NY and DC (all thankfully safe), I am not a 9/11 obsessive or fanatic (Both My Former Hometowns Were Terrorized and I All I Got Was Two Wars, the Patriot Act and This Lousy T-Shirt.) Like a low-key take on "Bonfire of the Vanities," heavy on compassion and easy on the sarcasm, Waldman's wonderful what-if tale (what if a Muslim won the 9/11 Memorial competition?) successfully explicates a kaleidiscope of viewpoints (t...more Although I was once a New Yorker and had family members on the scene of 9/11 in NY and DC (all thankfully safe), I am not a 9/11 obsessive or fanatic (Both My Former Hometowns Were Terrorized and I All I Got Was Two Wars, the Patriot Act and This Lousy T-Shirt.) Like a low-key take on "Bonfire of the Vanities," heavy on compassion and easy on the sarcasm, Waldman's wonderful what-if tale (what if a Muslim won the 9/11 Memorial competition?) successfully explicates a kaleidiscope of viewpoints (try saying that fast three times): the upper-crust WASP widow of a humanistic Cantor Fitzgerald-like financial trader; the lowlife brother of a dead firefighter who straightens up and becomes a Muslim-baiting, Archie Bunker-like spokesman; the bloviating governor; the inscrutable, assimilated architect Mohammed ("Mo") Khan, in his heart about as Muslim as I am; and my favorite character, the wounded but also wounding tabloid reporter, a fading blonde whose interview questions are like waterboarding for her even-more fragile subjects.

I picked up the book because I heard it was an accurate description of the world of architects and in particular design competitions; areas I have covered as a journalist. Waldman spot on captures this mileau. Her evocative description of the fantasy memorial (the book is indeed pure fiction and the real memorial has since been built) provides an excellent example of writing about landscape design.

Waldman skillfully handles her ensemble cast in a way that recalls "The Wire" or "Hill Street Blues" or perhaps an Altman film like "The Player" or "Nashville." Her writing is is slick and cinematic (fast-paced and pulpy, but not trashy, if that's possible) in pacing and description and pithy dialogue. She's got a wonderful eye for small, telling detail. I would not be surprised to see "The Submission" optioned for big screen or HBO.

ADDENDUM: I visited the 9/11 Memorial on August 12, 2012. I guess I was not reading the reviews close enough, but was disappointed to learn this is a private, ticketed space. Not only do you have to cough up $15, but wait in an endless line in the broiling sun and then (irony of ironies) go through airport security to ensure you are not a terrorist out to implode a huge granite memorial. To take nothing away from the heroism displayed on 9/11, I am not comfortable with the canonization of New York's Finest and the resulting sanctioned police state.

That said it was worth it. The monumental memorial is extremely moving. I particularly enjoyed the ambiguity of the statement, the peaceful feeling elicited by the massive downward fountain draining into the infinity of the earth. It works for families, it works for New York and memorialization, and it also works for mild 9/11 skeptics like myself who see the efforts of the past 11 years as vast resources (and perhaps the last of our personal freedoms) going down the drain. Or perhaps it is the remnants of our economy being drained by triumphant Wall Street still ascendant all around?

On the other hand, the Freedom Tower is just another banal, glassy high-rise, and the financial district (with the Occupy-ers vanquished from Zuccotti Park to a thin sidewalk outside Trinity Church) as soul-less as ever.

A good friend lost his brother in 9/11. He worked for a financial company high in the WTC. I never met him and was pleased to be able to look him up and visit his inscribed name. Again this is a memorial that works on numerous levels. (less)

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Dec 25, 2011 Kathy rated it 1 of 5 stars

This novel came in for me during the weekend of 9/11. Being the 10th anniversary of the attack, I looked forward to reading it over the weekend. I was very disappointed.

It begins two years after the September 11th attacks, and a jury has been assembled to select a WTC memorial from thousands of submissions that are anonymous. After much discussion, “The Garden” is selected. When the sealed envelope is opened the architect is revealed, a Muslim named Mohammad Khan. “Mo” as his friends call him is...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 4-and-a-half-stars, debut-novel, new-author-to-me, read-on-kindle

A Muslim American named Mohammad "Mo" Khan wins a blind design contest for NYC's WTC memorial? That premise alone tells Amy Waldman's debut novel is a work of fiction, but the events that swirl around the submission proves to be an all too true examination of post-9/11 America.

I found the novel to be quite reminiscent of what has been my favorite/best post-9/11 novel to-date, Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. Both novels operate under a similar structure, a large and swirling cast of cha...more A Muslim American named Mohammad "Mo" Khan wins a blind design contest for NYC's WTC memorial? That premise alone tells Amy Waldman's debut novel is a work of fiction, but the events that swirl around the submission proves to be an all too true examination of post-9/11 America.

I found the novel to be quite reminiscent of what has been my favorite/best post-9/11 novel to-date, Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. Both novels operate under a similar structure, a large and swirling cast of characters creating a multi-perspective patchwork quilt of a story. Tonally, they are quite different. McCann's novel (taking place in 1970s NYC) was lyrical and poignant tale of grief and loss that slyly evoked 9/11 whereas Waldman's work is a bold, provocative, and quite raw take of the lingering emotional aftermath of that day -- great companion pieces that I could easily see being paired up by literature classes.

There is so much gray area in this novel. Readers are continually challenged to re-think what they think they really think.. got that?! Allegiances and empathy for various characters are in constant flux. For instance, and especially as someone likely tagged as a liberal elitist, I intellectually and emotionally would not have an issue with a Muslim rightfully winning such a design competition, but could also understand why it may not be the best idea for the country, the architect, or Muslims in general.

While the novel is Mo's architectural contest submission, the theme of submitting/being submissive to and by peer pressure, politics/political correctness, the media is a theme that will have book clubs debating for hours. Also debate fueling, I'd be curious what a more politically right-leaning reader would have to this novel as I think it does play to left/liberal slant (Waldman is a former co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times).

Overall, I'd rate The Submission a 4.5 stars. I was close to rounding it up to 5 stars for Goodreads, but felt it lost some steam in parts and was a bit conflicted about the ending which felt a tad tacked on/trying to tie things up in a neat bow in what had been so murky/muck-ily thought-provoking throughout. (less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When an anonymous architect's design of a 9/ 11 memorial is announced by the selecting jury and the winner is identified as a Muslim American, his selection stirs up bitter controversy across a traumatized, grieving nation. Defending Mohammad Khan's design, a memorial garden, is Claire Burwell, a widow whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center and who represents the families on the jury. However, tensions run high, and while some see the garden with its walls containing the names of the...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really 4.5 stars. I read this during the week of the tenth anniversary of 9-11, and it was a fitting book to get me to think about what effect the event really had on our country.

This novel takes place two years after the 9-11 attacks. A jury has been set up to judge entries submitted for a 9-11 memorial. All entries are anonymous, and the jury is shocked when they discover that the entry they pick was created by an American named Mohammed Khan. The story is about the fallout.

The novel includes...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: usa-contemporary, contemporary-fiction, read-2012, disappointments-of-2012

Amy Waldman had written at least one draft of The Submission before the announcement in late 2009 of plans to build a Muslim community center two blocks from Ground Zero. In a wrenching example of life imitating art, the real controversy that exploded over the proposed center is expressed in the perfectly-timed fiction of her debut novel.

In Waldman's novel, it is not a center openly sponsored by prominent members of New York's Muslim community that has Americans on both sides of the controversy...more Amy Waldman had written at least one draft of The Submission before the announcement in late 2009 of plans to build a Muslim community center two blocks from Ground Zero. In a wrenching example of life imitating art, the real controversy that exploded over the proposed center is expressed in the perfectly-timed fiction of her debut novel.

In Waldman's novel, it is not a center openly sponsored by prominent members of New York's Muslim community that has Americans on both sides of the controversy shouting their opinions. It is the revelation that the winner of a competition to design a Ground Zero memorial is Muslim.

The author had guts to tackle a twist in a story that remains a daily part of our national conversation - if even indirectly as we wrestle the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and debate the tangle of religious freedom, cultural identity and immigration.

Of course, we have been down a similar road as a nation considering how best to honor tragedy through public art. Maya Lin, so young and vulnerable when her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was selected in 1981, faced brutal criticism because she, an Asian-American, reminded us of our shame and loss. And yet, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has become a national symbol of remembrance, honor, shared grief and healing.

Waldman presents us with this dilemma: How would we respond to a 9/11 memorial that was designed by an American named Mohammed Khan? Waldman seeks to capture the worst of our fears and prejudices, of our ignorance and anger, as well as the best of our ability to forgive and demonstrate fairness and empathy.

Yet, I can't say I appreciate this novel. Perhaps it is because real events continue grip and tear that I feel The Submission offers nothing new to my understanding of and reflection on 9/11. It's an intriguing premise that loses a lot of power right out the gate since the actual competition, which began in 2003 as it does in the novel, proceeded in relative peace- at least to the outsider. The 9/11 Memorial, completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, was designed by Michael Arad, an Israeli-American.

I feel the author panders to a specific audience, reinforcing stereotypes by making caricatures of her villains and making her protagonists attractive, sympathetic and vulnerable. The themes address and applaud every response that I, a very left-of-center liberal, had in reaction to the attacks and their aftermath. Even in my devastation I feared the vilification of any one who was perceived to be a threat because of their ethnicity, cultural identity or religion. I abhor chest-thumping American bravado; I wailed at the blatant restriction of civil rights in the name of national security; I protested the headless tumble into war. And I still feel the personal repercussions of the political rift that is even deeper now than it was in 2003 when we plunged into Iraq. The novel pats me on the back: religious tolerance, good; bigots, bad. But who is going to read this book? I venture to suggest only liberals like me.

This is a novel of action and plot built around themes of reflection and character development. Perhaps this causes me to feel the disconnect between the power of the supposition and the unsatisfying story. Given Waldman's phenomenal career as a journalist, is it to be expected that she would excel at presenting events and multiple points-of-view, at telling rather than showing. I am left without a real sense of the architect, Mohammed Khan, his motivations or his conflicted sense of personal justice and empathy. Nor can I connect with Claire Burwell, the wealthy widow who served on the selection committee as a representative of the families of 9/11 victims. The ancillary characters - the anti-memorial activists, the Bangladeshi wife of a 9/11 victim, the newspaper hack, the former politician shepherding the design selection committee - offer fascinating sub-plots but feel manufactured.

Or perhaps it's that Waldman's details are so close to the truth that there really isn't a "story" to tell. The old saw 'Truth is stranger than fiction' is cliche writ true; sadly it's also far more compelling, thought-provoking and heart-breaking. (less)

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Jan 05, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel felt so true to life that I often wondered if it had already happened. Waldman sets up a hypothesis and portrays the resulting scenarios in a frighteningly accurate way. Any possible thought or action that could be expected in such a situation is touched upon. Hearing from the different people involved allows us to gain more sympathy for the varying perspectives. At first when I realized the last chapter was set 20 years in the future, I was annoyed; it was an abrupt plot device. But...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Booksaremyboyfriends rated it 5 of 5 stars

I felt this book on a visceral level. It sucked me in, lit a rage fire in my belly, drove me up the wall, and broke my heart. A panoramic depiction of a series of fictional post-9/11 events, this is an important book for Americans to read. And don't let the adjective "important" trick you into thinking this is anywhere in the same universe as boring. I ripped through this motherf---er like it was HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Recommend, recommend, recommend.

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Sep 24, 2011 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent lesson in humility. It is impossible to sit and read It smugly,at least for me. As abhorrent as many of the views and reactions of the characters were, I realized that it was difficult not to find myself rationalizing their pettiness. Reading THE SUBMISSION was uncomfortable, with characters all too familiar and human. This is a superb read.

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Nov 16, 2012 Karl Lagerfeld rated it 5 of 5 stars

I recently finished Amy Waldman's The Submission. I also am going on record as saying that it is CRIMINAL that this book was overlooked for the Pulitzer, or that awful, boring, tripe-y books like Emma Donoghue's Room get short-listed for prizes instead. This is one of the smartest books I've read in a long time. The book talks about a jury in Manhattan charged with selecting the monument that will stand in place of the World Trade Centre towers. A blind competition, the entire process is deraile...more

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May 01, 2013 Melinda Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was ugly. And that's the whole point, that it highlights the ugliness of this whole post- 9/11 sentiments and fear mongering. This novel makes you cringe, and the sad part is, is that this could almost be a real situation, you can see it happening, and it doesn't take too much from your imagination to envision the uproar that such a winner and such a competition would cause.

However you're drawn to sympathise with many in this book. You feel for Mo, he can't win either way, he's ostrac...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Penny rated it 3 of 5 stars

A many-charactered post-9/11 novel with the same ambitions as the movie "Crash." It is a couple years after the September attacks, and a jury has just chosen a design for the 9/11 memorial from thousands of anonymous entries. They look at the identity of the winning architect -- and find that his name is Mohammed Khan. And we are off, confronting religious, ethnic and class divisions in New York City from the viewpoints of: a wealthy, principled 9/11 widow; the head of the memorial committee; ar...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Claire Harwell hasn't settled into grief; events haven't let her. Cool, eloquent, raising two fatherless children, Claire has emerged as the most visible of the widows who became a potent political force in the aftermath of the catastrophe. She longs for her husband, but she has found her mission: she sits on a jury charged with selecting a fitting memorial for the victims of the attack.

Of the thousands of anonymous submissions that she and her fellow jurors examine, one transfixes Claire: a ga...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Miriam Downey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

The Submission is an alternate history novel about the development of a memorial to the World Trade Center by journalist, Amy Waldman. Our city, Kalamazoo, Michigan, is reading the book for our community read this month, and my book club is discussing it this evening. It is an excellent choice for a community read because it delves into all the emotional and explosive issues surrounding September 11, 2001.

We all know where we wer...more Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

The Submission is an alternate history novel about the development of a memorial to the World Trade Center by journalist, Amy Waldman. Our city, Kalamazoo, Michigan, is reading the book for our community read this month, and my book club is discussing it this evening. It is an excellent choice for a community read because it delves into all the emotional and explosive issues surrounding September 11, 2001.

We all know where we were and how we felt when the planes flew into the World Trade Center. More than a year after the attacks, I was visiting my son in New York. He had a dinner party to introduce me to all his friends. At dinner, it was very important to my new acquaintances that they explain to me their experiences on that day. In part, it was how they introduced themselves to me; it was their new definition of themselves.

In The Submission, it is just three years later, and feelings are still very raw. A committee comprised of artists, historians, civic and political leaders along with a representative of the families have gathered to choose the winning design in a blind contest. One of the two finalist designs is a beautiful walled garden with the names of the deceased etched in the walls. After a great deal of debate, the garden design is chosen; then the group discovers that the winner of the contest is an American Muslim named Mohammad Khan. This information is leaked to the media and mayhem ensues. As one reviewer says, "The debate moves from the design's attributes to its attribution." A surprisingly intense review in Entertainment Weekly says that The Submission is "a scathing, dazzlingly crafted indictment of the messes people make when they mistake ideology for morality and bigotry for patriotism."

The many characters in the novel are involved in vigorous debate, much of it recorded by the author. Some of the characters are exactly what you would expect--the Rush Limbaugh character, the blogger, the racists, the politicians, and the haters. There is also the dignified and wealthy woman representing her deceased stock broker husband and the other families on the committee; there is the itinerant younger brother of one of the dead firefighters seeking justice for his brother and his grieving parents; and there is young Bangladeshi widow of one of the World Trade Center's custodians who ultimately provides the moral compass for the novel. My favorite character is the de facto leader of the Bangladeshi community. He is a strong, resilient, loving man who exhibits that which is best in a city of divided loyalties. He remains true to his community and to the young widow he takes under his wing.

I frankly don't know when I have read a novel so compelling in its moral intensity. We are exposed to all sides of the controversy, and quite frankly, we are pulled in every direction. The only direction in which we are not pulled is in the direction of the architect, who comes off as a shallow, rather incomplete person whose motives seem opportunistic rather than altruistic. It is not until the end of the book that we get some real insight into Mohammad Khan's character.

This is not a plot driven novel, but you keep reading the dialogue and keep trying to figure out what should be the appropriate decision. And like almost all such political decisions, the compromise is unenlightened and superficial. Then there is the question about why we need symbolism and why we need to create memorials. I am sure, for instance, that there will be a memorial built to commemorate the children of the Sandy Hook shooting. I kept asking myself if a memorial to the World Trade Center, no matter what is chosen, can possibly solve the issue of terrorism in the same way that a memorial to the Sandy Hook children cannot possibly solve the issue of gun violence. In The Submission, the compromised memorial solves none of the problems nor does it serve as comforter. It is not until the epilogue that we learn what the whole experience has meant to the key players, and in one small heartfelt gesture, the humanity of all the players is brought to a moment of heart stopping clarity. It is the most fitting memorial.

This is Amy Waldman's first novel. She will be speaking in Kalamazoo next Tuesday evening. I will be there and if given a chance, I am going to ask her, "What was your motivation for needing to tie up the loose ends in the epilogue? " In the case of the World Trade Center, it is likely that the loose ends will never be tied up.

Chris Cleve's review in the Washington Post. Chris Cleve is the author of Little Bee which I reviewed a couple of years ago: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20...
The review in EW: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20515...
An interview with Amy Waldman on NPR: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/...
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Feb 19, 2013 Shirley Freeman added it

The Submission is our community read book this year and it seems like a good catalyst for discussion. Three years after 9-11-2001, a carefully selected 'jury' has the task of choosing a memorial for the World Trade Center site. They've narrowed the choices down to two - one of which is a garden. Clare is a strong-willed member of the jury who is also the only 9-11 widow on the committee. Clare successfully pushes for the garden. Before the choice is announced, the name of the artist (Mohammad) i...more

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Jan 19, 2013 June rated it 4 of 5 stars

it's fiction...but entirely plausible...until the end where it loses traction and vapors off into random flights of fancy...but back to the plausible. i suppose i fell victim to the fact that i don't know my 9/11 history very well...i'm all the way in socal, as far from the disaster as i can be and had absolutely no ties to any of the victims or families of victims or friends of families of victims...i am the perfect demographic to read this novel because i fell for the premise and began promoti...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Karen.s rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is an example of the books I am not burning to read that turns out to be better than the gotta read it NOW buzz books. I had heard of this book several years ago and noted that it sounded vaguely interesting. A few weeks ago I found it on sale and decided to try it. I was impressed.

My first thought while reading the book is that this author knows her cultures. As I neared the end of the book, I chanced to read the biographical statement and realized that she is an accomplished journal...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Marci rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had read very good reviews of this book and had been meaning to read it for a while now. The book takes place about 2-3 years after the September 11th attacks. There has been a jury selected to pick a design for a memorial at the World Trade Center site. The submissions were anonymous and the jury votes strictly on the design. When the jury decides on a design, they learn that the winning designer is a muslim. Well, you can imagine the reaction to that!

I really like how this book made me think...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Kitty rated it 3 of 5 stars

The glib, the political, the New Yorkish, the problem of name, association outward appearance and art. It took me a while to get through sentences like "Claire's favorite was the chiaroscuro of winter." (That is not a type of drawing or painting. It's a description… you wouldn't say, "my favorite is the light-dark of winter".) Or this sentence from the first page: "Ariana, without consultation, or, it appeared, compunction, had taken pride of place, giving notice of her intent to prevail." This...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This would make a good book club book for the issues it raises about freedom - where one person's ends and another's begins. An artistic jury is convened by the governor of New York to choose a memorial for 9/11. The submissions are anonymous, and everyone is surprised when the envelope reveals an American who's Muslim. His motives are called into question, as is the appropriateness of his entering the contest. There are protests. People get death threats. Blogs and talk radio and public hearing...more

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Jul 22, 2012 George Clack rated it 2 of 5 stars

In this ripped-from-the-headlines novel, ex-NY Times reporter Amy Waldman takes on an ambitious theme – the self-interest of everyone who enters the controversy over a Muslim architect winning a competition for a 9/11 memorial. Call it an exploration of the impossibility of objectivity. But her strong narrative idea is undermined by her weak execution as a novelist. Waldman simply lacks chops as a writer of fiction. She doesn’t take the time to create convincing characters from inside. Also, the...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Lisa Eckstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, favorites

I was really impressed by this novel, which has a fascinating premise and fantastic execution. At the beginning of the book, a committee selects the winning design for a September 11th memorial. The submission process for the contest was anonymous, and the jurors are surprised when they discover that their chosen designer is an architect named Mohammad Khan, an American-born Muslim. When this unexpected result is leaked to the press, it sparks emotional reactions from many sides. The story's eve...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Colleen O'Neill Conlan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-on-disc, novels

This was fabulous. I listened to it on a long trip to and from northern Vermont, and was immerse in a particular moment in New York City - and America - when our country was still trying to heal from the attacks of 9/11. Here, "the submission" refers to a design entered in a competition to erect a memorial to that event, a defining monument and contemplative space that is meant to serve the needs of the victims, the families, and all Americans. But the title may also refer to the way we humans s...more

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Jun 01, 2012 George Cleveland rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a hard book to discuss without giving away some of the painful disharmony that makes "The Submission" such a well written book.

How do you feel about a mosque being built near the site of the former World Trade Center? So then take that feeling and apply it to the crux of "The Submission": a blind design contest is held for a memorial to September 11 and it's won by a Muslim.

Obviously a firestorm ensues giving rich and fertile fodder for any writer. Amy Waldman chooses her battles caref...more

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May 28, 2012 christa rated it 3 of 5 stars

True story: Last summer artists in a small downtown neighborhood decided to turn a wall in one of the city’s oldest parks into the canvas for a community mural. The idea was that neighborhood children would paint images and then a collection of established artists would fill in the gaps and unify the piece. The artists got permission from the city and a couple dozen children dropped in to paint suns and turtles and squiggles.

This rankled some of the neighbors who didn’t know of the project in a...more True story: Last summer artists in a small downtown neighborhood decided to turn a wall in one of the city’s oldest parks into the canvas for a community mural. The idea was that neighborhood children would paint images and then a collection of established artists would fill in the gaps and unify the piece. The artists got permission from the city and a couple dozen children dropped in to paint suns and turtles and squiggles.

This rankled some of the neighbors who didn’t know of the project in advance. Suddenly the view from the kitchen window included a hodge-podge of children’s art. A few went to the city and complained about the artistic merit of the wall and the project was stalled while officials figured out what to do.

There were a range of opinions on this: Like the idea-hate the art, hate the idea-hate the art, love the idea and the art. And then there was the “This would never happen in a non-inner city neighborhood.”

The project was given to a public arts commission to manage. The group that oversees statues and murals and selects winning entries for other public art projects now had to make the final call on a community mural by dozens of children and seven(ish) local artists. This entire process -- the paperwork, the public meetings, the debates -- lasted the entire summer and sometimes bordered on satire. In the end, the artists were allowed to go ahead with the mural although much of the work by the children was painted over.

The point is: Want a bloodletting of diverse opinions? Just mention public art.

This is nothing compared to the heap of a mess Amy Waldman makes in “The Submission,” a novel that takes the concept of public art to an especially divisive place: a memorial for victims of 9/11. In the wake of the attack, a jury is assembled to blindly select a suitable memorial to be placed at the site where the World Trade Center buildings stood. The submissions are anonymous and the group -- which includes both the art savvy and a World Trade Center widow -- selects an enclosed garden. All systems are a-go until the name of the winning designer is revealed: Muhommed Khan.

Khan is an American-born, non-practicing Muslim and an architect. Though the jury holds off on revealing the winner, his name is leaked to a skeevy tabloid journalist who not only runs with the story, but also continues to repeatedly douse the story in lighter fluid.

The country -- though mostly just New York City -- is torn between people who think selecting a Muslim is a symbol of peace and those who think it is a sign of weakness. Waldman considers the perspectives of the widow on the jury, who is first on Khan’s side. This alienates her from the family members she represents who find a new voice in a racist hot head whose fireman brother died. The governor is against the garden; A widow who is in the country illegally and lost her husband in the attacks is for the garden. A shock-jock radio host spews vitriol on the radio, the journalist pens columns with lines like “The problem with Islam is Islam” and a group of Muslims arranges press conferences in support of Khan.

This sets off a nasty chain of events. Angry citizens have taken to yanking the headscarves off Muslim women and vandalizing mosques. In the wake of charges that Khan has shaped the garden as an Islamic paradise, he remains less willing to talk about his design and its inspirations.

This book is super well considered. Waldman’s round of the what-ifskies has a good mix of characters and points of view and sets off a believable chain reaction. (less)

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May 05, 2012 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is Seattle's 2012 "Seattle Reads The Submission" choice. First came the invite to a reception by Seattle Library Foundation and then I saw the flyers. I got to ask a librarian and he just gave me my own pristine paperback copy to read. How would I know whether I wanted to attend the reception; I would have to read the book. Once I started I couldn't stop and that pretty much involved sleeping. It's the complexity of the novel that hooked me. I write this now having spent an hour this mornin...more

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May 01, 2012 Janice Decker rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is Waldman's first novel, and it's very good. She's a strong writer -- precise, economical. Those two talents carry the book forward. The tale -- of a contest in New York to identify a design for a 9/11 memorial -- is character-driven for about the first two/thirds of the book, and it moves along splendidly. The characters drive the plot, as it should be.

Then, in the final third, Waldman's precise descriptions of every nuance of every character's emotions as the ending nears serve only to s...more

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About Amy Waldman

Amy Waldman was co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic and the Boston Review and is anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. She lives with her family in Brooklyn. The Submission is her first novel.

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“There were in life rarely, if ever, "right" decisions, never perfect ones, only the best to be made under the circumstances.” — 18 people liked it

“Nothing in life gets dropped without someone else having to pick it up.” — 12 people liked it

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