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bashsbooks's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
1.75
Bloodbath Nation was incredibly disappointing. I was hoping for a collection of thought-provoking essays about the stark horrors of gun violence in the United States. And it started off okay, with the author's personal experiences on full display. Those first two essays were the peak of this book, unfortunately.
The third essay takes a dive into American history that seems distracted and disjointed. At times, it seems more like Auster wants to tell his audience the real American history, rather than the whitewashed version we tend to get in school. He mostly gets this right, and it's important to share that history, but it doesn't all seem to have a place next to the topic of gun violence and gun control. Also - it seems to me that a black sensitivity reader was hired for this text but not a Native American one; I cannot come up with any other explanation from the very up-to-date usage of capital B "Black" and "enslaved people" next to the very outdated usage of an older term for Native Americans that is still common, but considered inappropriate now.
The essays after the third have their fair share of issues as well. Off of the top of my head: mental health was handly surprisingly poorly and lightly given Auster's comments about how it goes hand-in-hand with gun discussions; the cognitive dissonace between advocating for only military and police to have guns next to discussions about George Floyd's murder was deeply concerning; the shallow comparison of the Black Panthers' reasons for arming themselves with modern white conservatives was frankly offensive (protip: just because they say they have similar reasons for being armed doesn't mean it's true). Auster also wanted to discuss race, but struggled at times to remember that there are more than two races. He also wanted to talk about how great women are (which I respect, but again I ask, why here?) and quibble over linguistic semantics in a way that makes him look like he has never heard the word 'nuance' in his life.
I could go on, but I'll spare you. This book sucks and I would give it a lower rating if I didn't enjoy the photographs. I found they were the most compelling aspect of Bloodbath Nation, much more in line with what I expected from it.
The third essay takes a dive into American history that seems distracted and disjointed. At times, it seems more like Auster wants to tell his audience the real American history, rather than the whitewashed version we tend to get in school. He mostly gets this right, and it's important to share that history, but it doesn't all seem to have a place next to the topic of gun violence and gun control. Also - it seems to me that a black sensitivity reader was hired for this text but not a Native American one; I cannot come up with any other explanation from the very up-to-date usage of capital B "Black" and "enslaved people" next to the very outdated usage of an older term for Native Americans that is still common, but considered inappropriate now.
The essays after the third have their fair share of issues as well. Off of the top of my head: mental health was handly surprisingly poorly and lightly given Auster's comments about how it goes hand-in-hand with gun discussions; the cognitive dissonace between advocating for only military and police to have guns next to discussions about George Floyd's murder was deeply concerning; the shallow comparison of the Black Panthers' reasons for arming themselves with modern white conservatives was frankly offensive (protip: just because they say they have similar reasons for being armed doesn't mean it's true). Auster also wanted to discuss race, but struggled at times to remember that there are more than two races. He also wanted to talk about how great women are (which I respect, but again I ask, why here?) and quibble over linguistic semantics in a way that makes him look like he has never heard the word 'nuance' in his life.
I could go on, but I'll spare you. This book sucks and I would give it a lower rating if I didn't enjoy the photographs. I found they were the most compelling aspect of Bloodbath Nation, much more in line with what I expected from it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, and Misogyny