2 posts tagged “author”

Alternate blog post title: Unconventional Author: William T. Vollmann

I haven't read this book yet, but I did hear Mr. Vollmann discuss it recently on KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny. In 2006, John Hodgman mined the subject of Hobos to great effect in his tongue-in-cheek opus The Areas of My Expertise, and a Google search on hobo+hodgman yields related projects, such as the 700 Hobo names and Illustrations.

In contrast, Riding Toward Everywhere is an unflinching, nonfiction work that documents his latest effort in participatory social anthropology (for lack of a better term.)

Vollmann is a relentlessly curious, endlessly sensitive, and unequivocally adventurous examiner of human existence. He has investigated the causes and symptoms of humanity's obsession with violence (Rising Up and Rising Down), taken a personal look into the hearts and minds of the world's poorest inhabitants (Poor People), and now turns his attentions to America itself, to our romanticizing of "freedom" and the ways in which we restrict the very freedoms we profess to admire. 

For Riding Toward Everywhere, Vollmann himself takes to the rails. His main accomplice is Steve, a captivating fellow trainhopper who expertly accompanies him through the secretive waters of this particular way of life. Vollmann describes the thrill and terror of lying in a trainyard in the dark, avoiding the flickering flashlights of the railroad bulls; the shockingly, gorgeously wild scenery of the American West as seen from a grainer platform; the complicated considerations involved in trying to hop on and off a moving train. It's a dangerous, thrilling, evocative examination of this underground lifestyle, and it is, without a doubt, one of Vollmann's most hauntingly beautiful narratives.

Todo: define the term "faux-bo" in the Urban Dictionary:

faux-bo: Shortened form of "faux hobo"
A person who engages in part-time train hopping to experience the thrill of living the "underground" hobo life.
Such a person visits the underground pretending to live there.

A bunch of faux-bos were already in the boxcar, but they didn't know enough to bring sleeping bags.

Vollmann's honesty, courage and aplomb are remarkable. He gracefully deals with questions and concerns regarding illegal or unsafe behavior, but at the same time does not let social conventions interfere with his work. His answer to Dave Iverson's question about smoking crack in order to document its effect was classic:

David, if I told you that I had smoked crack, you might think I was a bad person, and if I told you that I hadn't smoked crack you might be disappointed.

That sort of answer is a really inspired way to deal with a thorny issue. While not answering directly, he clarifies the reason he can't answer, but gives you enough to infer the "truth." To paraphrase:

David, society is not honest enough to allow me to answer that sort of question. Kids, say no to drugs! And don't ask your parents if they ever used them!