August 04, 2006
special to binky urban
A careful reading of the bestseller lists reveals, if one can make it past the Dan Brown titles, a marginally more enlightened moneymaker: books designed to make liberal types feel like they've had a meaningful encounter with the unfortunate peoples with whom we are in conflict. One could express one's dissatisfaction with the US imperial program via a brisk saturday march (perhaps carrying a placard)‚ penning a poem with fully ethical content, or staying at home to make one's way through The Kite Runner or Reading Lolita in Tehran.
Given the market for this kind of textual commerce with the recently, currently, or soon-to-be bombed Other, we would not hesitate to start filling in the gaps, especially if we were, say, Syrian. Insofar as this particular niche market seems fond of the fine arts, comparative religions, and gritty local color ("compassionate cosmopolitanism," anyone? Can we get a show on 'NPR already? What's the hold-up? etc.), we suggest a book titled something to the effect of Caravaggio in Damascus, in which Syrian painter Yousef Abdelke returns to his family home both to attend his childhood love's funeral, and to arrange a showing of Caravaggio's depiction of St. Paul's conversion, a nationally-anticipated event opposed by the non-Christian ministry, and requiring intrigues interrupted by the outbreak of the Israel-Lebanon war...
Posted by jane at August 4, 2006 07:37 PM | TrackBack