Bloodbath Nation

An intimate, unforgettable series of photographs by Spencer Ostrander documenting American gun violence, interwoven with writing by Paul Auster, one of our greatest living writers and "genuine American original" (The Boston Globe),

In this short, searing book, Auster traces centuries of America's use and abuse of guns, from the violent displacement of the native population to the forced enslavement of millions, to the bitter divide between embattled gun control and anti-gun control camps that has developed over the past 50 years and the mass shootings that dominate the news today. Since 1968, more than one and a half million Americans have been killed by guns. The numbers are so large, so catastrophic, so disproportionate to what goes on elsewhere, that one must ask why. Why is America so different--and why are we the most violent country in the Western world?

Spencer Ostrander's haunting photographs of the sites of more than thirty mass shootings across the United States are highlighted in this edition of Bloodbath Nation. And through it all, Paul Auster presents a succinct but thorough examination of America at a crossroads, and asks the central, burning question of our moment: What kind of society do we want to live in?

Author: Paul Auster
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 01/09/2024
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.75lbs
Size: 9.60h x 8.10w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780802160775

About the Author

PAUL AUSTER (1947 - 2024) was the bestselling author of Baumgartner, Bloodbath Nation, 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature. His other honors include the Prix M?dicis ?tranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Burning Boy, and the Carlos Fuentes Prize for his body of work. His novel 4 3 2 1 was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. He lived in Brooklyn, New York.