Stumbling and Raging: More Politically Inspired Fiction

We live in political times where it is impossible not to be involved, inspired, appalled, or motivated by the current administration. It seems like everyone has something to say about politics these days â and fiction writers are no exception. This came to the forefront of Stephen Elliottâ s mind following the 2001 elections and the attacks of September 11th, when he and his fellow novelists began to question their focus and the relevance of their work in such times. Unconsciously, current events had seeped into their writingâ ¦and thus Politically Inspired was born.
So why fiction, especially when itâ s so important for us to read the truth? Fiction can help us see the things that non-fiction canâ t, and the stories featured in this anthology truly represent the diverse voices of our times.

Stephen Elliott is the author of four novels, including Happy Baby, and the political memoir Looking Forward to It: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The American Political Process. He recently journeyed to the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina and contributed several articles to Salon.com.

Elliott returns (after 2003's Politically Inspired) with another anthology of mostly unpublished fiction from both famed and unknown authors, notably Dave Eggers, Sandra Cisneros, Neal Pollack and Audrey Niffenegger. Ranging in tone from incredulous to furious, from hopeful to stricken, these short fictions and illustrated stories explore the political and social culture of America and Middle Eastern societies in a post-9/11, post-004 election world, with varying degrees of success. Standouts include the graphic shorts—Lauren McCubbin and Stephen Elliott's "Survey of Impact," documenting one shared night between American "human shields" camping out in an Iraqi power plant, and Eric Orner's "Morning Martyrs," in which a 2015 government, run by evangelicals, hires bureaucratic social workers to kill women who can be proven to have had an abortion. Jim Shepard's sly, almost tender "John Ashcroft: More Important Things Than Me" speculates about Ashcroft's early life, to surprising effect; Amanda Eyre Ward's "Motherhood and Terrorism" follows the complicated lives of American wives of diplomats living in Saudi Arabia. The anger and hope are leavened by a healthy and much-needed dose of sarcasm. Royalties will support progressive candidates in 2006. (Jan.)
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