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A Fictional History of the United States
“This is a ‘people’s history’ with tongue in cheek, delightfully funny, imaginative, but with a subtle undertone of seriousness. I enjoyed it immensely.”
--HOWARD ZINN, author of A People’s History of the United States
Original stories & artwork by:
Daniel Alarcon, Amy Bloom, Kate Bornstein, Alexander Chee, T Cooper, Keith Knight, Ron Kovic, Paul La Farge, Felicia Luna Lemus, Adam Mansbach, Valerie Miner, Tommy O’Malley, Neal Pollack, David Rees, Sarah Schulman, Darin Strauss, and Benjamin Weissman.
History is distorted the moment it's recorded--and in these politically dishonest times, challenging the stories we're told is more important than ever. In this groundbreaking anthology of original fiction, a diverse group of America's best writers takes on the task of creating counter-narratives to mainstream American history. Here are some of the moments and the people left out of the textbooks. Here is what else happened--on the margins of American life, and in between the lines of our history books.
A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing brings together an eclectic array of celebrated authors and cartoonists to create a patchwork, anecdotal history of this complicated country. From the Chinese discovery of America in 1426 to the new McCarthyism of a post-9-11 world, this collection recasts everything from the moon landing to the Lindbergh kidnapping, westward expansion to the sexual proclivities of Civil War officers. Riveting, inventive, and politically vital, this anthology picks up--and yanks on--America's supposed commitment to seeking the truth . . . even if that truth is revealed in fiction.
T Cooper is the author of the novels Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes (Dutton) and Some of the Parts (Akashic). T lives in New York City.
Adam Mansbach is the author of the novels Angry Black White Boy (Crown), Shackling Water (Doubleday), and the forthcoming The End of the Jews (Spiegel & Grau/Doubleday). He lives in Berkeley, California
--HOWARD ZINN, author of A People’s History of the United States
Original stories & artwork by:
Daniel Alarcon, Amy Bloom, Kate Bornstein, Alexander Chee, T Cooper, Keith Knight, Ron Kovic, Paul La Farge, Felicia Luna Lemus, Adam Mansbach, Valerie Miner, Tommy O’Malley, Neal Pollack, David Rees, Sarah Schulman, Darin Strauss, and Benjamin Weissman.
History is distorted the moment it's recorded--and in these politically dishonest times, challenging the stories we're told is more important than ever. In this groundbreaking anthology of original fiction, a diverse group of America's best writers takes on the task of creating counter-narratives to mainstream American history. Here are some of the moments and the people left out of the textbooks. Here is what else happened--on the margins of American life, and in between the lines of our history books.
A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing brings together an eclectic array of celebrated authors and cartoonists to create a patchwork, anecdotal history of this complicated country. From the Chinese discovery of America in 1426 to the new McCarthyism of a post-9-11 world, this collection recasts everything from the moon landing to the Lindbergh kidnapping, westward expansion to the sexual proclivities of Civil War officers. Riveting, inventive, and politically vital, this anthology picks up--and yanks on--America's supposed commitment to seeking the truth . . . even if that truth is revealed in fiction.
T Cooper is the author of the novels Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes (Dutton) and Some of the Parts (Akashic). T lives in New York City.
Adam Mansbach is the author of the novels Angry Black White Boy (Crown), Shackling Water (Doubleday), and the forthcoming The End of the Jews (Spiegel & Grau/Doubleday). He lives in Berkeley, California
331 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
T. Cooper
24 books54 followersT COOPER is the author of four novels, including the bestselling "The Beaufort Diaries" and "Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes," as well as a brand-new Young Adult book series entitled "Changers." Cooper edited an anthology of original stories entitled "A Fictional History of the United States With Huge Chunks Missing," and his most recent book is the non-fiction "Real Man Adventures" (just released in paperback from McSweeney's Books). He has also written for television, and is the co-founder of a new Empathy Project, Wearechangers.org.
T Cooper was born and raised in Los Angeles, attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and then taught high school in New Orleans before settling in New York City in 1996. He earned an MFA from Columbia University, and in addition to his books, Cooper's work has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Believer, One Story, Bomb, Electric Literature, The Brooklyn Review, The Portland Review, Document, and others. His short story "Swimming" was one of "100 Distinguished Stories" in The Best American Short Stories 2008 (ed. Salman Rushdie).
Cooper has been awarded residencies to The MacDowell Colony, Ledig House International, and The Millay Colony (where he was The New York Times Foundation Fellow). Not too long ago, he was a visiting faculty member at Middlebury College.
Cooper also adapted and produced a short film based on his graphic novel "The Beaufort Diaries." The animated short, directed by the book's illustrator Alex Petrowsky and starring actor David Duchovny, was an official selection at several film festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival, South By Southwest, The New Orleans Film Fest, The Worldwide Short Film Festival, and the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Cooper enjoys vintage airplanes, M*A*S*H, the great outdoors, world peace, buckwheat pancakes, and anything to do with pit bull advocacy. He lives with his wife and kids in New York and the South.
T Cooper was born and raised in Los Angeles, attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and then taught high school in New Orleans before settling in New York City in 1996. He earned an MFA from Columbia University, and in addition to his books, Cooper's work has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Believer, One Story, Bomb, Electric Literature, The Brooklyn Review, The Portland Review, Document, and others. His short story "Swimming" was one of "100 Distinguished Stories" in The Best American Short Stories 2008 (ed. Salman Rushdie).
Cooper has been awarded residencies to The MacDowell Colony, Ledig House International, and The Millay Colony (where he was The New York Times Foundation Fellow). Not too long ago, he was a visiting faculty member at Middlebury College.
Cooper also adapted and produced a short film based on his graphic novel "The Beaufort Diaries." The animated short, directed by the book's illustrator Alex Petrowsky and starring actor David Duchovny, was an official selection at several film festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival, South By Southwest, The New Orleans Film Fest, The Worldwide Short Film Festival, and the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Cooper enjoys vintage airplanes, M*A*S*H, the great outdoors, world peace, buckwheat pancakes, and anything to do with pit bull advocacy. He lives with his wife and kids in New York and the South.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 4, 2008
This collection of short stories has a four-star concept. It presents 17 "counter-narratives" that expose "some of the moments and people left out of the textbooks". Or so the book's flap reads. The problem with a four-star concept, it seems, is that it has to be matched by four-star stories. Unfortunately, this is a wretchedly uneven assortment.
There are a few gems. Paul La Forge's "Discovery of America" sets a high bar with its poetic vignette-like retelling of eleven variations on the "discovery" theme. Was it Columbus who discovered the continent? Or was it the Basques, the Phoenicians or the Japanese? Alexander Chee continues this thread in "Wampeshau", which depicts a possible Chinese populating of North America that far preceded the 1400s, and although the story doesn't make a lot of sense, its prose is glorious. The best story in the book is probably Thomas O'Malley's "Resurrection Man", which details a kid living in the 80s who befriends a man, a former soldier (and presumably a former astronaut) who informs him that the landing on the moon was a government hoax. Science, history, conspiracy, humor, tenderness, mystery and surprise -- "Resurrection Man" has all that in spades.
The other stories, however ... fall short. In some cases, way short. Consider "West", written by Benjamin Weissman, which introduces us to a party of westward-trudging wagoneers who are both hypersexual and flippantly cannibalistic. Some of Weissman's images almost made me wretch when I read them (though, fortunately, I find that I remember more the sensation of wanting to wretch than the images themselves), and all for what? The story is completely devoid of purpose, of message. The author must've envisioned some kind of westward-expansion reality TV show: "Hey, how about we throw together a bunch of screwed-up maniacs who have to spend months together in a doomed wagon train?"
Finally, I feel I have to mention the title. A Fictional History Of The United States With Huge Chunks Missing. Now, I know no 17-story collection can possibly claim to rival the completeness of an American history textbook. But in a book whose self-stated purpose is to expose forgotten perspectives, shouldn't there be at least a story or two about the Native Americans? Or the black slaves? Or the Japanese internment camps? Some Chunks are a little too obvious in their Missing for my taste.
There are a few gems. Paul La Forge's "Discovery of America" sets a high bar with its poetic vignette-like retelling of eleven variations on the "discovery" theme. Was it Columbus who discovered the continent? Or was it the Basques, the Phoenicians or the Japanese? Alexander Chee continues this thread in "Wampeshau", which depicts a possible Chinese populating of North America that far preceded the 1400s, and although the story doesn't make a lot of sense, its prose is glorious. The best story in the book is probably Thomas O'Malley's "Resurrection Man", which details a kid living in the 80s who befriends a man, a former soldier (and presumably a former astronaut) who informs him that the landing on the moon was a government hoax. Science, history, conspiracy, humor, tenderness, mystery and surprise -- "Resurrection Man" has all that in spades.
The other stories, however ... fall short. In some cases, way short. Consider "West", written by Benjamin Weissman, which introduces us to a party of westward-trudging wagoneers who are both hypersexual and flippantly cannibalistic. Some of Weissman's images almost made me wretch when I read them (though, fortunately, I find that I remember more the sensation of wanting to wretch than the images themselves), and all for what? The story is completely devoid of purpose, of message. The author must've envisioned some kind of westward-expansion reality TV show: "Hey, how about we throw together a bunch of screwed-up maniacs who have to spend months together in a doomed wagon train?"
Finally, I feel I have to mention the title. A Fictional History Of The United States With Huge Chunks Missing. Now, I know no 17-story collection can possibly claim to rival the completeness of an American history textbook. But in a book whose self-stated purpose is to expose forgotten perspectives, shouldn't there be at least a story or two about the Native Americans? Or the black slaves? Or the Japanese internment camps? Some Chunks are a little too obvious in their Missing for my taste.
December 20, 2007
Maybe this is just a problem with my expectations, but damn, does this suck. I guess I first realized I was in trouble when I started reading the introduction and realized the editors had a Purpose. Looking at the cover, you'd think this is just a collection of funny short stories, somehow related to American history. I'd be willing to read that book.
This book, however, is a collection of short stories, written by people who think they are Accomplishing Something. For heaven's sake, I was an English major, too, but you don't see me punishing people for that.
Of course, I'm only about a third of the way through this so far, so maybe it gets better. But I'm skeptical, especially after having read Kate Bornstein's horrid Huck Finn story. I've got no problem with reappropriating classic works of fiction, and there is certainly humor to be found in the idea of Huck finding work as a cross-dressing male prostitute. When you're dealing with one of the distinctive voices in American literature, however, you simply have to do a better job than this. There's more to writing than just shock value.
...
Having finally finished the book, there are a few stories that were, for lack of a better word, adequate. Sarah Schulman's story was pretty good, although not terribly appropriate to the theme of the book. Neal Pollack did a nice job in his story as well. And the comics were okay.
But on the whole, what a load of crap. It's hard to succeed with a short story. You've only got a limited space to make something attention-getting, while still saying something. Most of these stories manage to do nothing more than waste my time.
This book, however, is a collection of short stories, written by people who think they are Accomplishing Something. For heaven's sake, I was an English major, too, but you don't see me punishing people for that.
Of course, I'm only about a third of the way through this so far, so maybe it gets better. But I'm skeptical, especially after having read Kate Bornstein's horrid Huck Finn story. I've got no problem with reappropriating classic works of fiction, and there is certainly humor to be found in the idea of Huck finding work as a cross-dressing male prostitute. When you're dealing with one of the distinctive voices in American literature, however, you simply have to do a better job than this. There's more to writing than just shock value.
...
Having finally finished the book, there are a few stories that were, for lack of a better word, adequate. Sarah Schulman's story was pretty good, although not terribly appropriate to the theme of the book. Neal Pollack did a nice job in his story as well. And the comics were okay.
But on the whole, what a load of crap. It's hard to succeed with a short story. You've only got a limited space to make something attention-getting, while still saying something. Most of these stories manage to do nothing more than waste my time.
July 14, 2021
A history of sorts. You've heard these kinds of stories before, but you have never been taught these particular stories. The Chinese discovered America, a West where cannibalism is delivered with tongue in cheek on the wagon-train trail, the "true" story of the Lindberg baby's abduction and replacement. All accounts written by a handful of award-winning authors in humorous ways, not of course what we learned at school and yet interlinked tales with just enough authentic touches to lend the flavor of real American history to entertain and beguile the reader
Read
January 13, 2009I only read "Dixie Belle: The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Kate Bornstein, as Seattle is reading "My Jim" this year. The following is a passage to get an idea of what that story is about:
"I have addressed this to Tom Sawyer, and I hope with all my heart it is Tom Sawyer who is reading this letter and that he ain't dead and buried out on some battlefield. But whether it's him reading or maybe some surviving relative, have you got any idea yet who's writing to you with such fancy, fine, and dainty handwriting? It's me, Huckleberry Finn hisself! Not that anyone in the city of Nawlins has ever knowed me by that name. No sir. I go by Miss Sarah Granderford, of the Jackson, Mississippi Grangerfords, honey, such a pleasure to make your acquaintance. There are a few folks who know me as Elexander Blodgett, but the crawfish aristocracy and not a few soldiers and officers around town know me better as Sassy Sarah from Madame Violet's Parlor of Elysian Delights, and I sure would appreciate if you don't tell anyone that Huck Finn ever was my name."
"I have addressed this to Tom Sawyer, and I hope with all my heart it is Tom Sawyer who is reading this letter and that he ain't dead and buried out on some battlefield. But whether it's him reading or maybe some surviving relative, have you got any idea yet who's writing to you with such fancy, fine, and dainty handwriting? It's me, Huckleberry Finn hisself! Not that anyone in the city of Nawlins has ever knowed me by that name. No sir. I go by Miss Sarah Granderford, of the Jackson, Mississippi Grangerfords, honey, such a pleasure to make your acquaintance. There are a few folks who know me as Elexander Blodgett, but the crawfish aristocracy and not a few soldiers and officers around town know me better as Sassy Sarah from Madame Violet's Parlor of Elysian Delights, and I sure would appreciate if you don't tell anyone that Huck Finn ever was my name."
January 3, 2009
The title initially led me to beleive it was more like the "useless information" books I'd been reading at the time. As I comtinued I realized that they were a series of fictional short stories set up chronilogically.
The vast majority of these are taken from the pages of history with new twists to the story. If you've ever wondered how far a pregnant frontier woman would go for meat on the trail, what happened to Huck Finn after his adventures with Tom Sawyer, or why there are so many contradictions to the discovery of America then this should be high on your list.
Disclaimer: If you're looking for viable historical facts please refer to the last sentence of the first paragragh then turn away. Now. If you would rather laugh, taunt, poke, and tease history then have at it.
The vast majority of these are taken from the pages of history with new twists to the story. If you've ever wondered how far a pregnant frontier woman would go for meat on the trail, what happened to Huck Finn after his adventures with Tom Sawyer, or why there are so many contradictions to the discovery of America then this should be high on your list.
Disclaimer: If you're looking for viable historical facts please refer to the last sentence of the first paragragh then turn away. Now. If you would rather laugh, taunt, poke, and tease history then have at it.
June 19, 2008
For a collection of short stories focused on revisionist history, most of them just seemed like uninspired historical fiction, mostly having to do with some sort of sexual deviancy. (Huck Finn being a tranny hooker, lesbians in the Woolworth's strike, castrated soldiers, etc...) Since normally that sort of thing is at least attention-grabbing, I was surprised to find the majority of the stories boring and hard to get through. There were a few exceptions, but mostly it was pretty dull, which is unfortunate because it had a good concept to start with.
September 5, 2014
This collection of fictional and so-called humorous stories tries to give readers a different glance at U.S. history. But the writers' attempt at "funny" ended with something that's just plain awful. Honestly, I'd rather read all of my grade school history textbooks cover-to-cover than take one more look at this monstrosity. Overall: a massive waste of time.
To be fair, I'll throw in some positive feedback: I liked the feel of the unevenly bound pages, although they also make turning each individual page more difficult. Satisfactory font choice.
To be fair, I'll throw in some positive feedback: I liked the feel of the unevenly bound pages, although they also make turning each individual page more difficult. Satisfactory font choice.
August 18, 2012
excellent anthology. liked some pieces better than others, as always, but the diversity of stories, styles, and historical moments was brilliant and illuminating. fascinating, funny, disturbing, and utterly worthwhile.
March 20, 2007
short stories. set in the decades from the beginning of the us of a. i quite enjoyed it..but of course some stories more than others.
August 2, 2007
a hit or miss collection that hits more than it misses.
August 21, 2007
This was a fun look at things that "could have" happened in US history, but not as entertaining as I had hoped it would be.
November 13, 2007
some of my favorite people are in here. and also, kate bornstein's huck finn as transgender prostitute. 'nuff said.
December 21, 2007
i thought i'd like this. but it was kinda smug and overplayed, and it was like i'd read it already. a few stories i liked but most not so much
January 8, 2008
This is a set of bizarre alternative history short stories.
August 29, 2008
This book had some great stories in it. The majority in fact. A few were really weird or not as interesting. Several had transgender or gay themes.
November 18, 2009
Like many such collections, this one is pretty uneven. A few of the stories are worthwhile, but others are absolutely unreadable.
September 30, 2010
I'm reading this because of kate bornsteins story about huck finn. mmm - havent been as thrilled yet with the other ones. well see!
February 6, 2011
Az me muz, ken men.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews