Jeff Sharlet is an explorer. The Dartmouth professor shows sides of the United States that most of us don’t fully understand in his 2023 book The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, one of The New York Times 100 Books of the Year. I picked up the book at the Telling The Truth 2023: THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE event sponsored by The New York State Writers Institute on Friday, November 17, 2023, at Page Hall on the Downtown UAlbany campus.
He was paired with Juliet Hooker, a noted political scientist, who had a then-brand new book Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss, in a discussion of The American Backlash: “A conversation about the politics of revenge, and the impulse to punish ‘out groups’ who have made political gains — particularly racial, sexual, and cultural minorities, and women. ” Jeff’s book was about that, of a sort, but it didn’t mesh with the moderator’s questions.
Jeff delves into the religious dimensions of American politics as he did in The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, the 2009 book that inspired the Netflix documentary series. He does so by talking to people whom most reporters do not speak to, sometimes in perilous situations.
Asking the questions
As the Amazon review notes: “Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies―sometimes realities―of violence.”
The book is a series of essays, and the first chapter, Voice and Hammer, threw me off a bit. He wrote about Harry Belafonte and his participation in the American Civil Rights struggle. Belafonte told Jeff the tale of getting cash for the movement in the South involving a car chase. I heard Donald Hyman tell the same story when he reviewed Belafonte’s 2012 autobiography My Song for the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library on November 7, 2023.
The second chapter, On The Side Of Possibilities, describes his time embedded in Occupy Wall Street encampments. I understand that he “remembers and celebrates the courage of those who sing a different song of community and an America long dreamt of and yet to be fully born, dedicated to justice and freedom for all.”
djt
But the next section of the book, in the Heavy With Gold chapter, starts with seeing the 45th president land in his large plane and one or more of his devotees hoping to punch a protester in the face. And little wonder, given the gory, painted as patriotic ramblings of djt.
In the chapter Ministry of Fun, men, presumably “of God,” glorify materialism, attracting Kanye West, Kardashians, and pro athletes with a theology mostly devoid of a Matthew 25 directive to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Instead, “lies, greed, and glorification of war boom through microphones at hipster megachurches that once upon a time might have preached peace and understanding.”
In Whole Bottle of Red Pills, there is “a conference for lonely single men [who] come together to rage against women.” From incels (involuntary celibate) to Paul Elam’s A Voice for Men, the manosphere loathes “women ‘leaning in,’ women in combat, women who have the gall to think that they too can be funny, or president.”
MRA, Men’s Right Advocate, is a “gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war―a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation. Political rallies are as aflame with need and giddy expectation as religious revivals.
“On the Far Right, everything is heightened―love into adulation, fear into vengeance, anger into white-hot rage.
The Trumpocene shows that “here, in the undertow, our forty-fifth president, a vessel of conspiratorial fears and fantasies, continues to rise to sainthood.” And he has mastered the “kidding/not kidding” motif.
Saint Ashli
In section 3, Goodnight Irene On Survival, the title essay is about the insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt, killed on January 6 at the Capitol, who is beatified as a martyr of white womanhood. Yes, a martyr, not unlike the White virgin in the 1915 movie Birth Of A Nation who leaps to her death rather than submit to the wanton desires of a Black man.
Jeff Sharlet then continues traveling east, analyzing the Ashli movement, even as he deals with the grief of the passing of his stepmother, the widow of his late father Robert, the father he started to live with after his mother Nancy died too young, at 45 on January 1, 1989.
Surprisingly, the last chapter was about the musical group The Weavers, Fred Hellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, and Pete Seeger, the Peekskill riot in 1949, and their career ups and downs.
It is arguable whether the first two and last chapters “belong” here, as he tries to add some hope to the narrative, but the book’s core was extraordinary.
2024
Here’s an addendum from Jeff’s Substack page, Scenes From A Slow Civil War. In the July 15, 2024 post, One Nation Under Fist: “Consider Trump v. United States, the powers of a king now granted to the presidency, in anticipation of Trump’s return. Consider the sermons preached in Christian nationalist churches across the country on Sunday, declaring Trump spared by God for a higher purpose. Consider the widespread contemplation of the millimeters between life and death for Trump on Saturday, the public pondering of a breeze that might have ever so slightly altered the bullet’s course, or a tremor that might have troubled the assassin’s hand. ‘It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening’” Trump ‘truthed,’ and—” Expletive deleted.
“Those who claim calling Trump a threat to democracy is violent rhetoric are doing a kind of rhetorical violence to democracy, screeching it to a halt, making an ever-moving idea a static one, writing a banal and brutal ending onto a story that’s meant to keep going. The historian David Waldstreicher comments that for fascism and its enablers, ‘democracy is not a process, it’s just another word for the nation’—and the fist, under which it trembles.”
I should note that I’ve known Jeff Sharlet since he was six and a half years old. He lived in Scotia, NY, with his mom and sister Jocelyn. The morning after the Telling The Truth event, we went out for breakfast – he paid – and we talked for three hours.
[This is an edited version of the content of my book review at the Albany Public Library on July 30, 2024.]
ProPublica reviewed 12 of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. Few changed in 2023, as state lawmakers caved to pressure from anti-abortion groups opposing exceptions for rape, incest and health risks.
Dollar Stores: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
NYPL service was impacted due to City budget cuts, including ending Sunday service at the vast majority of locations that currently offer it.
About 8.2 Million People Moved Between States in 2022
Of special interest to me
Finally — a PROFESSIONAL Comics Magazine! COMICS SCENE 1, January 1982. At this point in the video, there is a discussion about a FantaCo ad. Tom Skulan noted that the ad wasn’t particularly successful, whereas the ads for horror items in Fangoria magazine were much more profitable.
New York Times: 100 Notable Books of 2023, one of which was written by an author I actually know
Obit for Bob Maye, who grew up not far from my house in Binghamton, NY
Consumer Value Stores
Boston Globe: CVS pharmacists are at a breaking point, imperiling the company’s reinvention plans. The link may be behind a paywall, but basically: “There are not enough pharmacists in the pipeline, and the ones the company employs are reaching a breaking point. The company… has spent billions remaking itself into a sophisticated healthcare conglomerate. A key goal is turning its thousands of stores into community clinics where pharmacists, doctors, and nurses work together to improve patient health. But none of this works if the company can’t hire or retain its pharmacists. ‘Pharmacists are burned out,’ said a former CVS executive.”
Plans
Warner Bros. Reverses Course on ‘Coyote vs. Acme‘ After Filmmakers Rebel. I don’t understand how a studio makes money scrapping a film it’s completed.
Frances Sternhagen, a two-time Tony winner and television and movie actor, Died at 93. I’ve seen her on The Closer, ER, Sex and the City, Cheers, and the movie Misery, among many other roles.
How Fake Fish May Save Coral Reefs (And You Can Help!) and Cops of Coffee and The Very Expensive (and Not Very Nice) Surprise Party and The Man Who Bought (And Returned?) Stonehenge and
The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced the release of Census Business Builder version 5.0, which combines the Regional Analyst Edition and the Small Business Edition into a single, convenient tool.
Librarian and author earns a following after venting about a book signing
DeMane Davis on How Ava DuVernay’s Decision to Hire All Female Directors Offered “Life-Transforming Opportunity
Trevor Noah Urges Viewers to Remember the “World Is a Friendlier Place” Than It Seems in Emotional ‘Daily Show’ Farewell
A U.S. Track Star and the 30-Foot Long Jump That Didn’t Count
The State — and Future — of Free Ad-Supported Streaming
ME
On December 11-12, Albany, NY, received about 6.5 inches of snow, the biggest snowfall of the 2022-23 season. It’s only about six feet (1.8 meters) less than what fell in western New York during last month’s storm.
J. Eric Smith put me on his Best Of My Web 2022 list. I’m fairly blushing.
Most of the JEOPARDY “controversies” I see online aren’t all that. But this question in Final Jeopardy, during the Tournament of Champions, no less, did irritate me. In the category The New Testament: Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations
From here: “The internal evidence presented by the book of Hebrews itself indicates an author other than Paul.” So Amy’s answer of Hebrews is suspect, and Sam’s choice of Romans – my first answer upon reading the question – is more likely correct. The question cost Sam the game. If the question read: This letter to them… would have been acceptable.
Now I Know
The Zoo That Made Itself Look Like a Donkey Why The Government Hid Billion of Dollars Worth of $2 Bills How an Oddball Saved an Island of Little Penguins He’s The Type That Likes Numbers? The Best Medicine is… A Room With A View?
MUSIC
Homeward Bound: Christine McVie (July 12, 1943 — November 30, 2022); 5 Great Fleetwood Mac Songs Written by Christine McVie
Coverville 1422: Joe Walsh Cover Story and Christine McVie Tribute and 1423: Covers, Actually
Some semblance of connectivity. Zoom is good for Bible studies, the Dads group at church. Actually, it’s been great for communicating with my sisters. It’s fine for keeping in touch with the choir, but not nearly as good as singing together.
What did you want and not get?
The sense of the creative. I didn’t sing or see a lot of performances or read a lot of books.
What were your favorite films of this year?
This will be different because I didn’t see a lot of films at the cinema. Note these are not the BEST films, necessarily, which is probably Parasite or 1917, but the ones I most enjoyed.
Our church did a performance of Once On This Island the following day, just before the lockdown. So I spent much of the time at the dress rehearsal.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?
Comfortable footwear. These long-sleeved shirts my wife bought from L.L. Bean that help prevent me from getting sunburned.
What kept you sane?
To the degree that is true – and one could argue that – I play music constantly. Compact discs, because I like the tangible. Then every three months, I put the ones I played away because it involves the mental exercise of alphabetization.
Yeah, most of it is already online, but listening to that doesn’t bring me… JOY. I love reading the liner notes – Ricky Fataar is on a 2016 Bonnie Raitt album; Emmylou Harris is everywhere.
And sometimes, I would alternate between listening to a CD and riding the stationary bike for 15 minutes. The CD might be 29 minutes, or 45, or 74. I like the asymmetrical nature of the process.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Chadwick Boseman (RIP), Kobe Bryant (RIP), Lebron James. Ji-Man Choi – pronounced like Eliot Ness – the pudgy but amazingly athletic first baseman of the Tampa Bay Rays.
There are probably others. But it’s been a long year.
In fact, this is so true that I actually forgot Hugh Downs died in 2020. Of course, he did. And I mentioned it
What political issue stirred you the most?
My general belief that we may have already irrevocably destroyed the planet. Democracy in the USA may be unfixable. Oh, and that – surprise! – racism still exists in America.
Who was the best new person you met?
Who meets new people? Actually, one of the best things, in my telephoning exercise, is to reconnect with people I had not talked with in years, such as Janet, Diana, Jeff, Al, Judith, Kim, Maureen…
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020
Sometimes, the workarounds are successful, and sometimes, not so much.
Small Zoom gatherings work. Or they don’t for reasons some of us can recite in our sleep. I’m betting Jeffrey Tobin’s ZOOM meeting was really boring. Someone failed to mute, so he forgot to turn off the camera.
“Parties” on Zoom I’m most uncomfortable with. If you’re at a real party, you talk for a while, observe for a while, haul empty cups to the kitchen. But online, you’re expected to be “on.”
At one gathering this year with three dozen people, someone asked ME specifically why I hadn’t said anything. It’s mostly because 1) it’s difficult to know when to speak and not talk over people and 2) I didn’t really have anything to say.
Takeout food. Some are great. Pizza, Indian food. I haven’t had Chinese this year, but I imagine it’d be pretty good. But some, from restaurants I love, are lackluster. Italian food is hit or miss, e.g.
Telemedicine, as noted – meh.
Performances – better than nothing, but an ersatz experience. It’s interesting that, because of the pandemic plus the technology, there are MORE opportunities to hear music online than I could possibly take in.
Tell you what, 2021. If you don’t suck as much as 2020 did, my summary about you will be half as long. Deal?
December 36, 2020
Hey, 2021, you’re not starting off very well. Sluggish COVID vaccine distribution.
And such a blatant attempt to steal the election by the Republican party that all living former defense secretaries have condemned GOP attempts to overturn the election and involve the military.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who I do not like, nevertheless is partly correct in opposing challenging the Electoral College tally. “Congress would take away the power to choose the president from the people, which would essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress.”
Newsmax, having sold its soul, said that it has “reviewed the full tape and transcript of [his] call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
It claims “The transcript shows [Trump] pressed the Secretary on serious vote fraud issues in Georgia and Trump never acted improperly.”
Naturally, Newsmax blames the mainstream media for “duplicity” in spreading “false” information. The man said on tape, “I just want to find 11,780 votes” and alternately berated, flattered, begged, and threatened with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims. He is soliciting election fraud, in his increasingly desperate attack on democracy, dammit.
“Why do we sometimes gravitate toward the unknown when we feel alone? The writing in Jeff Sharlet’s gorgeous new book, ‘This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers,’ takes place between lonely traumas: his father’s heart attack and his own, two years later. As a magazine writer and the author of several books, Sharlet has made a long career of telling stories, but after his heart attack he started to re-evaluate the kinds he thought were worthwhile.”
That’s the opening of the stellar review in the New York Times of Sharlet’s seventh book. “He turned to posting snapshots on Instagram. These were not solipsistic selfies but images of strangers and their lives.” It’s a book framed by insomnia, late-night driving and “the companionship of other darkness-dwellers: night bakers and last-call drinkers, frightened people and frightening people, the homeless and the lost (or merely disoriented), addicts and people on the margins.”
Jeff, who was born in Schenectady County, notes that while most of the book is reported, every now and then, it returns to the personal. He says it’s a very upstate book. Three chapters take place in Schenectady, including the longest narrative text-image sequence and the penultimate scene. There are a few other bits of the Capital District, too. It also takes place in L.A., Moscow, Dublin, and Vermont, but there’s a Schenectady sensibility throughout, he believes.
The Family
The acclaimed author and journalist is noted for The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, his bestselling 2008 book. It explores the most powerful and most weirdly secretive Christian conservative organization in Washington. The book was adapted to a 2019 five-part Netflix documentary series, THE FAMILY.
Jeff Sharlet is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth College. His work has earned numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award and the Outspoken Award.
Please join The Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library for the National Library Week Distinguished Author Dinner and Lecture on Wednesday, April 22th with author Jeff Sharlet. The dinner begins at five o’clock p.m. at the University Club, 141 Washington Avenue in Albany and costs $30 per person. If you wish to attend, please purchase tickets online.
The lecture by Mr. Sharlet begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Washington Avenue Branch, 161 Washington Avenue. It is free and open to the public.
Jeff Sharlet is an explorer. The Dartmouth professor shows sides of the United States that most of us don’t fully understand in his 2023 book The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, one of The New York Times 100 Books of the Year. I picked up the book at the Telling The Truth 2023: THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE event sponsored by The New York State Writers Institute on Friday, November 17, 2023, at Page Hall on the Downtown UAlbany campus.
“Why do we sometimes gravitate toward the unknown when we feel alone? The writing in Jeff Sharlet’s gorgeous new book, ‘This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers,’ takes place between lonely traumas: his father’s heart attack and his own, two years later. As a magazine writer and the author of several books, Sharlet has made a long career of telling stories, but after his heart attack he started to re-evaluate the kinds he thought were worthwhile.”