Barry Graham: Illusory Flowers in an Empty Sky

Anonymous Asks:

I think you are extremely insensitive about the subject of Gabrielle Giffords. She is so much more than just a survivor of a bullet. She is dedicated, hard-working, and a fighter in every way. You do not know her.

barrygraham Said:

There is a difference between the public and the private self, and with Giffords - whom you’re correct in saying that I don’t know personally - I comment on the public self. She may be hard-working and dedicated, but what she has worked hard at and shown herself to be dedicated to is conservative, pandering, racist politicking.

Her objection to SB 1070 was not that it was racist, but that it was impractical. She cheered the deployment of the National Guard to the border, to combat a problem that does not exist. Even though her being shot has been cited as an example of why guns ought to be banned, she herself supports gun rights.

In Phoenix, Public Transport Will Only Work If We Have Shade

Image: dustinphillips via flickr CC license

Here in Phoenix, the predicted high temperature today is 115 degrees. On Sunday morning at The Sitting Frog Zen Center, we discovered that all the candles had melted in the heat.

The light rail (We built it, you bastards, as Jon Talton is fond of saying) which opened at the end of 2008, has been a success, and has proved the potential of an efficient public transport system - something that, however addicted you are to your car, is becoming increasingly necessary. But weather like this means that only the youngest and hardiest can get by without a car, unless their home and their destination are adjacent to a light rail stop. For public transport to be viable year-round, we need to spend as much on creating shade as on buying trains and buses.

At The Poisoned Pen Tomorrow

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. I’ll be at The Poisoned Pen, reciting from, discussing and signing When It All Comes Down to Dust.

Steve Shadow Schwartz posted this review of the book on The Poisoned Pen website:

Barry Graham has written another strong and affecting novel. After last summer’s brilliant The Wrong Thing, he is back with a new book that is both short and immensely powerful. This is a love-hate hymn to Phoenix, Arizona and a truly intense story of love and forgiveness. Laura Ponto, an investigator for the public defender’s office in Phoenix is at the prison release of Frank Del Rio, a sexual predator and murderer. When she threatens him and subsequently assaults another person in the course of her work, she loses her job. This brings her into contact with David Regier, a reporter whom she loathes but somehow finds herself becoming involved with. As the story of their respective lives unfurl, to us and to each other, we learn what led them to the relationship they pursue.

The accretion of quotidian detail belies the constant tension that drives the characters and their search for acceptance of themselves and each other. We see the struggle that Frank goes through in trying to control his urges and the response of Laura, whose involvement in Frank’s life is spelled out in a stunning series of scenes. These red-hot words could only be written by Barry Graham as he is someone who has worked these stories and lived these nightmares.

Graham shows us how much can be put into a short novel; his take on Phoenix and all its problems serves as background to a story of breathtaking intensity. As both an ex-professional prize fighter and a Zen monk, his perspective on the moral dilemmas we all face is unique

That love and compassion is the answer seems to be a given. However it is the questions that often seem muddled and inchoate. This engrossing and heartbreaking novel is a must read.

Barry Graham will be at the Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, February 28th. He will discuss and sign his novel. He will also recite, from memory, passages from the book. This a unique talent and a rare treat.

More Gabrielle Giffords Emotional Pornography

Note the arrogance of “we” - the assumption that everybody supports the same racist measures that she does.

My New Novel Just Published

Laura Ponto wouldn’t mind watching Frank del Rio being strapped to the executioner’s gurney, even if her job is to find mitigating evidence in death penalty cases. Frank’s not a client, but a long time ago he did unspeakable things to children - and Laura was one of them.

Now Frank is being released on parole, and they both learn that their lives are still intertwined. Their story will end in a place even darker than it began. This shattering noir tale of suspense, sex, violence, love and death in the urban desert of Phoenix, Arizona, has been called “one of the great post-realist novels” by the French magazine Transfuge. It is Barry Graham’s most uncompromising novel to date, and Laura Ponto is his most unforgettable protagonist.

Paperback Kindle U.S. Kindle U.K. Read a sample

Gabrielle Giffords: Poster Girl for Emotional Pornography

The Arizona Republic has named Gabrielle Giffords as Arizonan of the Year. Her achievement? Getting shot and not dying.

The article praises her recovery as “a hero’s journey.” I’ve read much praise of her “courage” and “heroism” elsewhere. Logically, this means that the people who died after being shot that day were weak and cowardly.

While what happened to her is undeniably awful, Giffords’ recovery is not about heroism, but about luck, wealth and privilege, about access to as much health care as she needs.

In our culture of emotional pornography, people who suffer tragedy are fetishized. Since being shot, Gabrielle Giffords has been presented as a liberal saint. In reality, she is an ordinary conservative. Her position on immigration is as racist as that of Jan Brewer. Her objection to SB 1070 was not that it was racist, but that it was impractical. She cheered the deployment of the National Guard to the border, to combat a problem that does not exist. Even though her being shot has been cited as an example of why guns ought to be banned, she herself supports gun rights.

I could not help but laugh when, in the aftermath of the shooting - which killed six people, whose names are seldom heard now - I saw some people crying while holding a banner that bore the words Gabby Was Always There for Us. Who is “us?” How was she “there?” If “us” means wealthy white people, I suppose she was.

Her being selected as Arizonan of the Year simply for not dying is an insult to those who died, and to those who die in violent attacks every year, and to Arizonans who have actually achieved something. It would make as much sense to give the award to Paris Hilton.

Phoenix Independent Cinemas: Royale Dies, Is Filmbar on Death Bed?

Back in August, I predicted that the Phoenix Filmbar would either close within a year, or become mainly a music club. From the looks of things, it won’t even take that long.

While I was put off by the (lack of) ethics of Stacey Champion, the Filmbar’s P.R. flack, who responded to criticism of the Filmbar without disclosing her professional interest (see the comments to this post, and this follow-up), I hoped my prediction would be wrong. I was never sure if Ms. Champion was showing shady ethics or just incompetence; those in the know told me a large part of the reason for the Filmbar’s hiring her was that she doesn’t charge as much as more professional spin doctors. Her comments on the second post suggest that she doesn’t understand the meaning of “professional interest.”

The Filmbar has, as I predicted, become primarily a venue for bands and D.J.s, a larger version of The Lost Leaf. Though it continues to show films, it seems to be focusing on films that are in the public domain - so the Filmbar can charge admission to see films it doesn’t have to pay for. I’m curious as to how many customers are paying to see films they could watch at home for free.

When the Filmbar’s original programmer, Steve Weiss, was laid off, its programming was done by Andrea Beesley-Brown, the “Midnite Movie Mamacita,” who had just opened The Royale, an independent grindhouse in Mesa. The Royale, which is closing tomorrow, had also been inclining toward old public domain films.

I predict that the Filmbar will close in the first quarter of the coming year, or else will continue as a music venue and will either stop showing films, or just show whatever it can get for free in order to justify the name of the place.

At Phoenix Filmbar Tonight: Lonna Kelley & the Broken-Hearted Lovers, Make My Baby

At the Filmbar in downtown Phoenix starting at 9 this evening, Make My Baby (click here for my review of a recent show) will be playing… and one of its members, Lonna Kelley, will reunite with her old band, The Broken-Hearted Lovers, formerly known as The Reluctant Messiahs.

Admission is $5, with proceeds going to the legal fees of Kevin Pate, who’s also playing tonight.

Vince Larue: Art to Commemorate the Two-Year Anniversary of The Sitting Frog Zen Center

Disguises I Have Worn: Why Subterfuge Is Necessary for Investigative Journalism

Great Eastern Hotel, Glasgow

I’ve been following The Guardian’s coverage of the News International phone-hacking scandal. While I think hacking a person’s phone is criminal and should be treated as such, I disagree with The Guardian’s apparent position that subterfuge should never be committed by journalists.

I’ve misrepresented myself several times: I dressed in rags and pretended to be homeless in order to get admitted to the Great Eastern Hotel in Glasgow, because I wanted to examine the conditions there. When I heard that a nursing home was neglecting its residents, I pretended that I had an elderly relative I wanted to find a place for. I’ve gone on ride-along with cops who didn’t know I was a journalist, because I wanted to report what they actually said when they didn’t expect consequences. When Sheriff Joe Arpaio was acting as a “celebrity waiter” at a charity event, I went to the restaurant for dinner, pretending to be a tourist from Scotland, and asked him whether he was going to run for governor. There have been other such deceptions - these are only the ones that spring to mind right now - and the sad fact is that they are often necessary in matters of public interest. It should be exceptional, and a last resort, but as long as the privacy of individuals is not being violated, I see no ethical problem with it.