Warner (English/Rutgers Univ.) challenges the current stodginess of queer activism—focused as it is on the gay community’s hope to be considered “normal”—through his incisive critique of the banalities and dangers of such normalcy. Criticizing the way some identities are deemed normal while others are not (Ö la Foucault), Warner delineates with lapidary skill the problems of the cultural constructions of the normal, how heterosexual lives are thus validated at the expense of the queer. Using a smoothly textured argumentative style, Warner showcases the functioning of shame within a conservative ideological framework to reward some identities and punish others. His argument stands strongest when he concentrates on how the eradication of shame from sexuality would liberate queer communities from the monolith of marriage and how the rejection of normalcy would accord the gay community a liberated space within the spheres of the sexual culture. Ironically, the trouble with The Trouble with Normal is that it directs its arguments toward the queer community rather than the straight one. Telling gay people that, for various ethical reasons, they shouldn’t even want to marry, when they already can’t, does not change the fact that laws that enfranchise some while disenfranchising others are discriminatory. Warner’s rhetoric persuasively reveals the hierarchical parameters of marriage and the constraints of normalcy, but a more universal approach to his topic would delineate the limitations of marriage for all people—not just queer people. In the end, his polemic leaves standing discriminatory treatment of queers for the sake of a theoretical attack on normalcy. Warner’s ethical vision succeeds as a utopian revelation of sex freed from shame, but a sharper eye for the real-life ramifications of such an outlook might have revealed its limitations.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-684-86529-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Vignettes of prison life, as told from inside the ``big house.'' Washington, who spent 16 years in federal jails after being convicted of murder (he claimed self-defense), serves an anedcotal smorgasbord of prison life and people. He goes for a nitty-gritty tone, as when he informs us that, in jail, ``criticism can come from the blade of a knife or a punch in the mouth.'' The bulk of his text consists of thumbnail sketches of fellow felons, guards, escape attempts, and bureaucratic snafus—all quite unevenly realized. His one-page portrait of ``Old Man Henry Carter'' is typical. Carter had come to the prison ``before rules were rules, and no records of him were kept.'' Although old and stooped, he had a kind word and smile for everyone; even the warden was moved to create a job to uphold Carter's sense of self-worth: He swept floors and delivered empty envelopes to people who called him a ``good old boy.'' Members of the Chaplain's Aid Committee took turns writing Carter so that he would receive mail, as did his fellow prisoners. When he died, the cause of death was listed by the doctor as ``PRISON.'' Washington's sour attitude toward the inhuman and arbitrary prison bureaucracy—it may be justified, but we've heard it all before—contrasts with the cleanly expressed pathos of ``Carter'' and similar still lifes in this patchy collection. His peculiarly fecund material would probably be more powerfully realized as short stories. Righteous anger, pointed questioning, and a plaintive voice that cannot be denied—but a far cry from the rage and fury of the best prison writing.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-936609-33-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
An astute, engrossing examination of the dynamic relationship between comedy and social revolution. Jenkins (Performing Arts/Emerson College), who has traveled the globe both as a student and as a professional clown, draws his material from a wealth of personal experiences. From France come the violent antics of the Archaos metal clown troupe: Costumed in suits of corrugated metal, the clowns play out nihilistic battles against evil machines that symbolize the struggle of the individual against an increasingly hostile environment. In stark contrast to the Archaos troupe are Bali's sacred temple clowns, who ``purify'' traditional rituals with the cleansing power of laughter. The Balinese clowns also inject current events into the ancient rituals, thus bridging the gap between modern reality and tradition. Comedy in formerly Communist Lithuania served to deconstruct the official vision of reality imposed by a totalitarian state. Jokes about the incompetence of the KGB and Communist bureaucracy abounded; turning the oppressor into a buffoon helped ease the burden of fear and harsh living conditions. In South Africa under apartheid, jokes about the police and government were intended to ``subvert the tyranny of a system that leaves its people spiritually homeless.'' In Italy the performer Dario Fo mocks corruption both in the Catholic hierarchy and in the secular government; his comedies serve to rekindle anger in an industrialized nation grown apathetic under the strain of centuries of corruption and political scandal. Japan's informal taishu engeki theater serves as a forum in which the working class can ridicule the stringent rules of etiquette that bind them to conformity in their everyday lives. Finally, Jenkins analyzes American comedy, noting that truly subversive acts tend to be marginalized and replaced by slick, detached performances that render true rage impossible. The author's intimate connection to his material and his tremendous capacity for description strengthen this provocative and entertaining work.
Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1994
ISBN: 0-02-916405-2
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
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