Why Satire?

There are those who will argue that politics these days are too serious to joke about. We are living under constant threat of terrorism. In the name of that terrorism our civil liberties have been curtailed. We have invaded Iraq without provocation. We were lied to in the prelude to the war and continue to be lied to by the President, himself, and the major media. We are feeling frightened, powerless and outraged and have every reason to be. It is just at such moments that we need to take a step back and see the larger picture. That is where Greenfield for President comes in.

Greenfield mimics the very conditions we are currently living under. The candidates lie. The power brokers control the outcome. The journalists pander to the baser instincts. The electorate is enfeebled and confused. Except this is fiction. When we enter this world we accept its premises. When we leave it and return to reality, we do so with a different perspective. The immediacy of what we are told by our leaders and media is viewed with greater scepticism. The emotional impact of current events is seen from a distance, more objectively. We begin to understand that it is not about the particular players about the grander scheme of things which satire reveals through its universality.

And let us not forget the benefits of humor and laughter. They free us from the grip of fear. They clear our mind. They lift our spirits. After a good laugh we are less likely to act out of desperation. What is missing from the current electoral hubbub is sound reasoning, a sense of history and a sense of the future. People are stuck in the present, in the immediacy of apparent chaos and lack of true leadership. Humor fixes that by shaking us free from the fixity of things as given.

Author Speaks About His Book

After 16 years in a debilitating marriage, I was left with the challenge of reconstituting myself. The first thought that came to mind was, "Why not write a novel?" Greenfield for President is the result.

I had been dabbling in fiction over the years ever since Stuyvesant High School where I had to write a short story a week for English class. I turned to poetry in college and then started writing narrative again once I left graduate school.

Greenfield for President is a satire of political process and social attitudes. It is not a satire of particular people. However, the careful reader might note a resemblance between the incumbent in this novel and a president who used a speak in clipped phrases with a jagged use of his right hand for emphasis. He presided over the first invasion of Iraq.

I was deeply saddened by this act of war and could not find a way of relieving the burden. I live not far from a Friends Meeting House on Stuyvesant Square. There, I thought, I will go. These are a peaceful people who will echo my dismay. So I went to a meeting. These non-ceremonial events have a very simple format. Anyone in attendance simply says what he or she has on his or her mind that day. I was just assuming that everyone shared my concern and that not being a regular member of this group I would wait for someone to express my thoughts for me. At these meetings there (Read the entire essay.)