Brossard, Chandler - Raging Joys, Sublime Violations
What is this? Midlife crisis? Evidence of substance overload?
About a decade after the Vietnam conflict ended, Brossard pitched his 2¢.
The initial chapter occurs on a cruise liner, where passengers obsess over sex.
Next section, a female sherpa and more sex. Sex and anatomy.
Should you hang with this, then by 6, he decides to satirize Vietnam vets. Satire is a mild word, since what he is actually dealing is sarcasm. For those with long memories, recall John Knowles and his thoughts about the protests of sarcasm.
Anyway, in #6, Brossard mocks the Vietnam vets, now stateside, still giddily raping and killing. This is a cheap shot as most of the US boys in Vietnam were drafted and never wanted to be there at all.
Chapter #8 may prove insufferable to non-history fanatics. Names roll out like a stultifying dirge. Dean Acheson, William Fulbright, Melvin Laird, Dick Helms, Dean Rusk, Henry Cabot Lodge, Ron Ziegler, Allen Dulles – John Foster Dulles. Enough? If you don’t know the names, you may miss the joke.
#15, Brossard tackles Kissenger. Now that was pretty funny, I must admit.
Otherwise, if you were born after 1962, this book will be an obscuro history farce.
I have enjoyed other Chandler Brossard books in the past. I enjoy and buy Corona \ Samizdat releases. This one, however, is a complete miss for me. It is already in the box of Salvation Army donations.
Oh yeah, the cover features penis art. Fitting, I suppose.