An Afghanistan Picture Show; Or, How I Saved the World

VOLLMANNIA

In this inaugural episode, hosts Ryan Alexander & Jordan Rothacker discuss the 1992 memoir An Afghanistan Picture Show; Or, How I Saved the World. Specific topics include how the book can be categorized in terms of genre and style, the bipartite identities of The Young Man & William T. Vollmann, the failure of the individual to affect systemic change, and how “the Other” is depicted. They also discuss their backgrounds as Vollmann readers, their favorite Vollmann book(s), and their goals for the show.
Show Notes:

“The True Story of William T. Vollmann’s Research Assistant”: https://heavyfeatherreview.org/2018/06/20/carbon-ideologies/

Excerpt from The Cloud Shirt: http://www.grandstreet.com/gsissues/gs46/gs46c.html

Excerpt from A Table for Fortune: https://goodtimes.sc/cover-stories/heading-toward-nowhere/

The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40”: https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1999-06-21/flipbook/

KCRW Bookworm – Fathers and Crows: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/william-vollmann

Ted Koppel’s favorite books: https://theweek.com/articles/587103/ted-koppels-6-favorite-books

“Across the Divide”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/05/15/across-the-divide

“American Writing Today: A Diagnosis of the Disease”: http://www.conjunctions.com/print/article/william-t-vollmann-c15

KCRW Bookworm – The Dying Grass:

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/william-t-vollmann-the-dying-grass-part-i

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/william-t-vollmann-the-dying-grass-part-ii

“Life as a Terrorist”: https://harpers.org/archive/2013/09/life-as-a-terrorist/

The Celestial Bandit: A Tribute to Isidore Ducasse, the Comte de Lautréamont, Upon the 175th Anniversary of His Birth: http://www.kernpunktpress.com/store/p29/celestialbandit.html

“Unnatural History of Construction: The Interim by Wolfgang Hilbig (translated by Isabel Fargo Cole)": https://statorec.com/unnatural-history-of-construction-by-ryan-alexander/
Credits:

Show logo (“An Incomplete Map of Vollmannia”) created by, and used with the permission of, Anna Roth

Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/strollology/shop
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Homepage: https://vollmannia.buzzsprout.com