Seven American Deaths and Disasters

by Kenneth Goldsmith

What are the words we use to describe something that we never thought we'd have to describe? In Seven American Deaths and Disasters, Kenneth Goldsmith transcribes historic radio and television reports of national tragedies as they unfurl, revealing an extraordinarily rich linguistic panorama of passionate description. Taking its title from the series of Andy Warhol paintings by the same name, Goldsmith recasts the mundane as the iconic, creating a series of prose poems that encapsulate seven pivotal moments in recent American the John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and John Lennon assassinations, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the Columbine shootings, 9/11, and the death of Michael Jackson. While we've become accustomed to watching endless reruns of these tragic spectacles-often to the point of cliche-once rendered in text, they become unfamiliar, and revealing new dimensions emerge. Impartial reportage is revealed to be laced with subjectivity, bias, mystery, second-guessing, and, in many cases, white-knuckled fear. Part nostalgia, part myth, these words render pivotal moments in American history through the communal lens of media.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, History, American History

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2013

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm very on the fence about this book; it's an interesting lens on the U.S. experience of the last 50 years, and from a purely literary angle it shows both how the unexpected affects language and expression and how Americans have communicated differently over time. Some sections, such as the Columbine transcript, are quite harrowing. Comparing coverage of similar events over time--Lennon and Jackson got very different treatments in the media, apparently--reveals differences in media tone and approach over time.

I am, however, a historian at heart, and this book could be the primary source resource guide for White History Month (post World War II edition). The author explains some of the rationale behind his selections: good real-time coverage, major events in his own life, and so on. And perhaps it's this personal criteria that made this an increasingly dull and even distracting read for me. The inclusion of the coverage of John Lennon's assassination, for example, over, say, any of the riots following Martin Luther King's assassination (that event, the author claims, produced only drab and unsensational media coverage because of the absence of on-site reporters) struck me as unfaithful to and even perhaps dismissive of the broader American experience in a book that calls itself "Seven American Deaths and Disasters." I spent more time fretting over this dilemma than really paying attention to parts of the final two transcriptions.

A work of this nature is inherently selective. If the selective choices of this book appeal to your own interests, you'll likely find it an interesting read. It left me unsettled, though, more by what it revealed through disinclusion than anything else.

[Lynnie]

Kenneth Goldsmith won me over the second I saw him on Colbert decked out in a pink suit and straw hat.

[Ashelei Gottuso · Rating 2 out of 5]

Completely stolen work but read it all based on sheer content. Don’t like Kennith Goldsmith as an artist - I cannot vouch for art that stands on the shoulders of unfortunate circumstance.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Aaron Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard of this through the Colbert Report, which might be the modern day "I read this because it was on Oprah". The concept is so simple and brilliant: direct transcripts of human responses, mostly radio DJs, to major disasters and tragic events. It's about as close as you can get to recording real human emotional response. And somehow it's even more effective in writing than it is over the air. You have time slowly take in what's happening and what's going on in the minds of the respondents. This guy has apparently made a career out of variations on the transcription gimmick, releasing for example a collection of weather reports. But in this particular iteration he's turned the gimmick into something important and provocative.

[Nicholas Montemarano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goldsmith's notion of "uncreative writing" has bugged me for a while. Probably because I write fiction and teach "creative writing." And probably because his ongoing project of curation and transcription intrigued me (i.e. "wish I'd thought of that"). Not enough to read some of his previous books, which strike me as too steeped in the banal (though perhaps I'd be wrong about that). But "Seven American Deaths and Disasters" -- because it deals with extremely dramatic events -- manages to present an absurd, oddly poetic, and, at times, deeply moving and troubling juxtaposition of banality and the (almost) unspeakable registers of human emotion when confronted with sudden catastrophe and loss. In short, I loved this book.

[DW · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring, boring book (look up Kenneth Goldsmith if you think this is a bad thing), I was fascinated by the JFK poems in particular. However, just when your fatigue it at its height, you hit the afterword: it was like a wave tearing the earth out from under you, crystallizing all your experiences with the authors own. Sharp as a knife and a quick read.

[Joe Nineties · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book. Original and interesting.

I thought the way the drama played out in some of the stories surpassed any fictional thriller. It was clear that, at points, even the reporters on the scene didn't know what was happening, whether people would live or die, for example. The confusion, the fear. It was gripping, I was captivated.

I wasn't so keen on the execution. The author states that he's in love with words, and wanted to presented nothing but the words as they were spoken. Fine. But it wasn't always clear who was talking, or at what point on the timeline. I would have preferred this extra context but I also understand that it was probably this same context that the author was trying to strip away on purpose.

All in all, I enjoyed in the book.

[Evan Pincus · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is Goldsmith's wont, it's more of a slightly tacky, overly-intellectualized conceptual project than it is a particularly good book of... "poetry," I guess, but as someone who transcribes audio for a living and has spent the past week living in Los Angeles glued to the news waiting for specific answers as to what exact tragedy has befallen what exact locations, I thought this was a fairly evocative (and ultimately very personal, for better and worse) portrait of that strange time in between the moment a disaster strikes and the moment the world knows how to reckon with it.

[Adam Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading about these events through media transcriptions may not sound enticing at first, but the language used and emotional reactions to these tragedies paints a clear picture of how historic these events were.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting and unique. Transcripts of radio and television transmissions stretching from JFK over WTC to Michael Jackson.

[Tim Rideout · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘The cultural critic Sianne Ngai has a term she calls the stuplime, a condition that arises when the stupid meets the sublime (...)’

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only took a couple of hours to read, and not just because it was short but because it’s gripping...

[ooeoeodsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

the idea is more interesting than the reading.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I read this book over a long period of time since it was easy to put it down as it's broken into several sections, seven, of course, given the title, haha.

As someone with a general interest in history, I can't say I would've picked these specific seven instances, perhaps a bit more variety. I would've removed Robert Kennedy and either John Lennon or Michael Jackson and replace them with something else, not sure what, but those sections were pretty much already there with John F. Kennedy and one celebrity (either Lennon or Jackson, take your pick). I did read his explanation on the selection and I'm glad he put that there, it was nice to read a bit more of his reasoning behind the choices.

John F. Kennedy's section was good, though I wished he didn't transcribe so much of the commercials. When it did get into the news though, I did feel more immersed and it felt more real. Perhaps chop off a bit of it and leave some in, it was still rather long. I loved this one though, I really felt like I was there, and for a moment, I was fighting for the president to stay alive, until I remembered reality and what actually inevitably happens. It was interesting to read what words were spoken, the syntax/diction and such.

I read through Robert Kennedy's section though I had less of an easy time relating since I didn't (and still don't) know much about him. I wasn't around during that time and heard more about his brother growing up than him. Nevertheless, still interesting.

I skipped John Lennon's section. Sorry Beatles fans, I didn't/don't know anything about the guy, didn't feel like I could relate.

The space shuttle one was amazing to read. Same with Columbine though I wish it was longer. I would've loved to have read more, it was way too short.

The World Trade Center one was pretty great as well. I was a child when this happened, so it's pretty neat to go back now as an adult and see it from a new perspective, and also "experience" what others did back then. The little conspiracy section at the end probably could've been left out, it was a little annoying, but I understand why he left it in. It's a piece of history and probably what a lot of people were thinking, haha.

It was funny reading this, getting closer to the present, and hearing more present-day technological terms. I laughed out loud when I read the Michael Jackson report which mentioned TMZ. What a switch from just having read about the World Trade Center.

I wish there was a better way the...transcriber? (I mean, he's not really the "author" LOL) differinciated between people speaking. It was a little difficult to follow with the paragraphs being so close together. Each paragraph was people alternating speaking, perhaps an extra space in between would've helped.

At times I found myself wanting a bit more in places. It's interesting reading the inital reactions, but perhaps a little bit more after-the-fact would've been nice too as more information about the events spread.

It was an interesting and entertaining read. If you're into this sort of stuff, I recommend it.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The assassin was supposedly in a building about three or four stories up when he unleashed the deadly veil of bullets. We said deadly. That word was ill–advised. We will correct that" (Goldsmith, pg. #25).

"And from New York City, only minutes after the president was shot, stocks moved actively lower, but a few issues stayed on the upside" (Goldsmith, pg. #26).

"Everything seemed to be going well for Dallas today. The weather cleared up, everything cleared up, and the crowd was orderly at Love Field when the president arrived. It looked like Dallas was going to have a smoothly operating presidential motorcade and visit and speech and then departure this afternoon" (Goldsmith, pg. #27).

"At twenty minutes before one, approximately, the dastardly deed was done here in Dallas—that was the approximate time we received the news" (Goldsmith, pg. #30).

"There was absolutely no warning that this would take place. Of course these things always come so spontaneously. Should there be any warning, then the president would be better protected and an alternate route could have been prepared. But everything had gone smoothly to this very moment" (Goldsmith, pg. #32).

"As you heard, uh, it is pandemonium. Officials there are trying to clear the room so that they can ascertain exactly what did happen or what did not happen. All we can go on at this time is the report that Ray has, and as you heard, it was fragmentary, as it must necessarily be in the scene of such confusion and such drama" (Goldsmith, pg. #48).

"I would imagine that one of the first things they would try to do would be to move all of the news people out of there, and as we heard from Jerry Dunphy, they shut off the power so that the TV crews didn't have any lights anymore, removing some of the carnival atmosphere. Unfortunately, that's what always appears to be happening when all of the bright lights are on" (Goldsmith, pg. #58).

"Members of the press are running around taking, in some instances, rampant reports that have no credence whatsoever, but that's the way it goes in a moment of tragedy like this" (Goldsmith, pg. #59).

"This is not standard! This is not something that is planned of course" (Goldsmith, pg. #102)!

"With the growth of the web, the stuplime has become a vernacular condition, one which inflects everything from our correspondence to our conversations to our cultural production. The fumes and data trails the web leaves in its wake—untold numbers of memes, tweets, status updates, emails—envelop us in glaze–eyed stuplimity. The amount of stupidity is sublime. Stuplimity has now become both quotidian and clichéd" (Goldsmith, pgs. #169-170).

[X. Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 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.

[Conor Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an exercize in collage poetry, it's a clever journey into both nostalgic tragedy and conceptual narrative structure as told through a copy-paste method of transcription of radio broadcasts. In the practice of reading, however, Goldsmith's book is a series of truly haunting accounts whose power is amplified by dramatic irony and the interpretation of tone.

By deconstructing an aural medium on the page, the reader has to recreate and reinterpret these broadcasts based on personal recollection and individual engagement with radio content. As most of the events in the book happened before I was born, there's an eerie sense of distance between my readings and reality, or at least this depiction of reality. Even 9/11, at which point I was still in junior school, is at a distance, as my personal experience of the day is patchy and stilted, seeing only snippets of news broadcasts that morning.

What Goldsmith is able to do so effectively is not only force an instant reaction to past events through a free-flowing dialogue but also allows us to find characters in these announcers and, perhaps as a result of the laguage chosen and the rhythm of the writing, see them quite vividly.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather a clever and interesting idea: Goldsmith transcribed the radio and television reports of seven American disasters as the situations were unfolding: JFK's assassination by a pop radio host who was in the midst of promoting Armour Star turkey breasts and Hamm's Beer and playing rock and roll tunes and911 then gradually realized the importance of what was going on (but still seemed more concerned about the health of Connolly and the blemish this would have on Big D); Bobby Kennedy's killing by a reporter right there who had Sirhan's gun aimed right at him for a period of time ; John Lennon's death right after the killing; explosion of the Challenger; Columbine - a very short 911 call from a sub teacher in the library; Twin Towers; and Michael Jackson's death. Interestingly the language becomes less poetic in general and more practiced as these tragedies continue to happen in a relatively short time.

[Jennifer 黄雷 ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for journalists, media theorists, absurdists, and anyone looking for an example of how to make sense of tragedy

I started reading this in hopes of getting help with processing grief from the Orlando shooting. The medium of transcription and using it to archive tragedy in real time really drilled in the sense of stuplimity. How have humans in the past, reporters required to remain calm and narrate to the wider public, how do they improvise wisdom in the face of the worst forms of death unfolding before their entire nation? This book doesn't reconcile tragedy or tragedy as felt on a national, simultaneous scale, but it does invite you to be in the moment of the uttered word and it exposes human empathy as much as it does human bias. I still have no answers for what to make of Orlando beyond profound mourning, but this ambitious feat of archive gave me some grounding to try.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a weird book to review. It is the transcripts from news broadcasts from seven important events over the last 60 years or so. I found the older events to be more satisfying from a historical perspective. The section on Columbine was brief and seemed like an afterthought and the inclusion of the death of Michael Jackson seemed out of context with the rest of the selections. While interesting, this is a limited offering. One noteworthy aspect is the ability to compare the news coverage from different eras, from the undercurrents of race in the two Kennedy selections, to the interesting comments on mental health in the Lennon chapter, to the intolerant and inappropriate comments in the 9/11 and Jackson chapters. Overall this is a short, uninspiring read that underwhelms despite covering some of the most important events in recent American history. Pass on this one, there are better books out there for anyone looking for a history fix.

[Stephanie McCown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book on The Colbert Report, and I was immediately intrigued. This book is an especially interesting read because we know the outcomes of these stories, yet we get to read them exactly as they unfolded the day they happened. Even though we are familiar with each of these stories, it was fascinating to read the details. JFK and RFK were spoken of with something near reverence, while Michael Jackson, even as he lay dying, was spoken of with cruel humor and disregard. It is an intriguing glimpse into the zeitgeist of America which existed at these powerful moments in time. Some of what is found there is less than flattering, but well worth acknowledging.

[Alec · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. The transcriptions in the book feel real in the pages, you feel as if these events are happening again or happening for the first time (if you were not born yet) that is gives a look at the world of humans and news when they are talking about real time events with no script or preparation that the humanity of the person shows through.

It is a quick read but you may need to put down the book after reading an account just to say 'fuck?!'.

[Erica M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly a fast read (finished in two days). I couldn't put it down. It was a great way to experience events that shaped our country (even the pop culture events). Without a doubt the recounting of 9/11 was the most moving for me. But being able to "expereince" the other events as if I was there when they happened was also emotional and enlightening. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. An interesting-sounding experiment but the result is not more than the sum of its parts: transcriptions of various reporters (and one victim) trying to make coherent accounts of what has recently happened. I didn't find this profound in itself although, of course, there are many troubling emotions raised by the scenes being evoked.

[Claire Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I don't know what to say about this book.....it was compelling, the subject matter was in some cases distressing and yet I couldn't put it down or turn away. The language swept me in and I knew I had to finish it no matter what. I think I love it and hate it at the same time....it makes me question why I enjoyed it.

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book comes from the Andy Warhol paintings. This book contains prose poems that look at seven important moments in recent US history. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy, and John Lennon; the Challenger space shuttle explosion; The Columbine High School shootings; 9/11; and Michael Jackson's death.

[Donna Bijas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, while odd, really brought back tragic events during the 20th and 21st centuries that anyone who lived through them, will certainly remember. Actually transcripts from radio programming that were heard at the time(s) of each event(s). Sad, but I found it very interesting.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty interesting concept for a book. Transcripts of events that shaped the United States starting with the JFK assassination. The emotions displayed by the reporters and DJs as the react to the unfolding events rather reporting events that have already occurred is fascinating.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in a day - I am a news hound and this brought back some vivid memories of major news events in a whole new perspective, but also made me go back and do more research on the events that happened before I was born or when I was too young. I really liked this book.