FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2006
Verso author Karen Finley offends the Nation
The Nation, America's oldest left-wing magazine, has abruptly cancelled its story on George & Martha by Karen Finley (publishing on April 13th). The assigned journalist was "offended by the anal sex," and refused to meet with Ms. Finley, though an interview had been scheduled. George & Martha is an illustrated political satire which imagines a torrid hotel room encounter between George W. Bush and Martha Stewart on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Interestingly, anal sex is never portrayed in the book. Verso is alarmed by the journalist's decision to cancel an interview rather than delve into material that surely would have provided an interesting dialogue on contemporary US social and sexual politics.
The magazine offered to extract part of the book on their website, though "not the sexual parts."
* What is offensive about this book? * What is inappropriate about sex? * Why does the Left find anal sex disturbing? * Should artistic expression cater to these fears or challenge them?
To receive a review copy, please contact [contact info deleted to frustrate spammers].
A note from Verso Publisher, Amy Scholder WHO'S AFRAID OF KAREN FINLEY?
A journalist for the Nation magazine cancelled her interview with Karen Finley yesterday morning because she was "offended by the anal sex, and wanted nothing to do with it." Technically, there's no anal sex in George & Martha, which is a political satire about an imagined affair between George W. Bush and Martha Stewart. In the book, Finley paints a nearly plausible picture of the Commander-in-Chief, in all his bellicose, illiterate, sexist glory. He gloats about invading Iraq, and invading Martha, and also reveals himself as an infantile, narcissistic personality who at one point imagines that Osama bin Laden is hiding in his asshole. Could this point really be what's offensive about George & Martha?
What's offensive is current US foreign policy, the war on terror, and the state of this Union today. What's offensive is how women with money and power are publicly perceived and persecuted, and how they are caught up in abusive relationships at home. We at Verso are shocked and dismayed that a journalist from one of the few national progressive magazines in the US finds a critique of imperialism and sexism offensive; what's more, we're offended by the suggestion that anal sex is offensive! Who would have thought that a Nation journalist would have so much in common with all those Right wing bigots who have complained about the sexuality in Brokeback Mountain? At least they confront-and write about-the art that offends. A rigorous critique about what is difficult about George & Martha is most welcome. Like Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," on which Finley modeled her novella, George & Martha is a satire meant to make readers confront-and laugh at-our deepest fears and realities, about the world and the human heart. In addition to her finely tuned ear for dialogue, Finley uses humor and images (the book is lavishly illustrated) to demonstrate what's deeply troubling about being an American today. I highly recommend you read it and judge for yourself.
Amy Scholder US Publisher Verso