Seven American Deaths and Disasters Paperback – March 12, 2013

I wasn't really sure what I expected from this book. I admit, I am the type of person who enjoys the raw emotion inherent in something like this, but the degree to which this read like poetry surprised me. There is something much more meaningful in the mundane - and despite the author's objections, I do think there's something very mundane about all of these transcriptions - than we ever give it credit for, and I appreciate that this book gave me the opportunity to see that.It's not perfect by any means. I think some of the event choices were odd, and I wish more time had been spent on something like Columbine rather than Michael Jackson. But then again, the beauty of it is that the author is writing about what moved and effected him - I can always go do my own transcription for things that I find more meaningful.I highly recommend this book!

I really enjoyed this, despite the morbid subject matter. The cultural differences and differences in the way major events were very apparent in JFK. Columbian hit pretty hard, not just because I lived through it, but because of how short and personal it was, not to mention what was left unsaid at the end. 9/11 brought back a lot of memories for me and struck a nerve with the speculation and reactionary hate that has become so common in the U.S. since. Great read.

In an era of abundant information, a chapbook of transcribed disaster reports could easily pass by--like seven clicks on Google News.But Goldsmith's "uncreative writing" is among the most exciting avenues of poetry today, and Seven American Deaths and Disasters is his most beautiful and--really!--readable books yet.It might be reading too much to take the book as a critique of both solipsism and apathy, but in the context of poetry the scripts of these unscripted moments pack a wallop.Also, the book is completely beautiful. I expected the same lackluster design that befalls most poetry books, but the production has remarkable details I don't want to spoil.

I really thought the choices of the first three stories were smart. The selected transcriptions were informing and interesting. However from Lennon on, aside from Columbine, the choices were a bit trite and not diverse enough to represent our nation. It was interesting to watch the change in the tone of radio djs. But after the first part of the book I was just disappointed by the choices the author made in what he included and disclosed.

I saw the author interviewed by Colbert and ordered immediately. It's fascinating to see historical tragedies unfold in these narratives. The first one is JFK assassination as reported by a Dallas radio station. The usual song, ad, song radio show. Then a news brief - 3 shots fired at presidents motorcade - then back to song, ad, song. Then more news that expands and grows. I was too young to experience this when it happened, but tears welled up many times because you know the ending but see the reporters holding out hope. Another chapter is the 911 call from a teacher in Columbine library. Wow.

Kenneth Goldsmith is easily the most obnoxious "poet" of the twenty-first century. His blatant disregard for the true practice of literature and his insistence that there is nothing original left to be written mean that, by all rights, he should not consider himself a literary figure at all, and should retire. Yet here he is, making a laughable attempt to contribute something to the canon which he himself believes is complete and falling woefully short of the quality of work required. The transcripts within this book do not properly capture the emotion of the events portrayed, and leave out many of the essential details required to completely understand those events. This book is a blight upon literary history and Kenneth Goldsmith should be ashamed of his pitiful attempt to grasp notoriety.

So far I have only read the first chapter [or what ever this author calls them] about the JFK assassination. It follows the event using a transcript of a Dallas radio's broadcast starting before the assassination and ending with the announcement of the death of the president. If the rest of the book is as interesting I will be even happier about this purchase than I am now.

Reproducing the newscasts as they occurred is a clever gimmick, but the novelty of it wears off before the book is done. Not bad, but not great either. You might give it a shot if the gimmick intrigues you.

To describe a disaster as it explodes into mundane everyday life, with a mass audience listening, finding words for what has not been described before - this is language at its most pressured and most creative. Yet this everyday creativity gets lost as it disappears into the moment, and gets overlooked both by historians for whom it is but raw material, and by poets and writers who want to create their own words, to express their own perceptions. In this brilliant book Kenneth Goldsmith, notorious for not writing his own books of poetry, recovers the live accounts of seven tragic moments in recent American history, from the assassination of JFK to the death of Michael Jackson. Doing no more than selecting the moments and transcribing the words he has created a document of immense emotive power, and traces an arc from what now seems like the innocent world into which the JFK shooting erupted to the culture of celebrity and self-conscious of the Jackson death. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the creative power of language and our ability to respond to the unexpected and shocking. These were American moments but their cultural impact resonated throughout they Western world. Yes, anyone could have done this - but only Goldsmith did.

Fascinating concept. Interesting to read.

this book arrived earlier than the arrival date, was in good shape and met all my expectations, even a great price!