4 comments about Considerations on the Assassination of Gérard Lebovici.

1. "It cannot be said too often and it's never said enough that the mass news-media have low-to-no standards of accuracy, whether in relatively minor or peripheral areas of their reporting where their interests may not be obviously at stake (except in that it's in their interest not to go to the expense of bothering to check facts, and to conceal this) or in the larger matters where their prejudices are more apparent. And, as the media leaders know, since almost all news becomes "old" the moment it's broadcast, most victims of their misrepresentations are at a disadvantage not only because of a power mismatch, but because a protester looks like a fool to be challenging yesterday's papers. But the consequences of the media's irresponsibility and maliciousness are real to their victims. Guy Debord finally had to react. A rare and nice touch is where he mentions that he actually has no higher opinion of the consumers of the media than he does of the disseminators of it. Heh heh.

   The tract is full of these sudden sharp insights into Debord. It's great as well for its evocation of the whole intense time and place (Paris art/life radicalism, 1957-84)."
   Richard Hell




2. "It cannot be said too often and it's never said enough that the mass news-media have low-to-no standards of accuracy, whether in relatively minor or peripheral areas of their reporting where their interests may not be obviously at stake (except in that it's in their interest not to go to the expense of bothering to check facts, and to conceal this) or in the larger matters where their prejudices are more apparent. And, as the media leaders know, since almost all news becomes "old" the moment it's broadcast, most victims of their misrepresentations are at a disadvantage not only because of a power mismatch, but because a protester looks like a fool to be challenging yesterday's papers. But the consequences of the media's irresponsibility and maliciousness are real to their victims. Guy Debord finally had to react. A rare and nice touch is where he mentions that he actually has no higher opinion of the consumers of the media than he does of the disseminators of it. Heh heh.

   The tract is full of these sudden sharp insights into Debord. It's great as well for its evocation of the whole intense time and place (Paris art/life radicalism, 1957-84)."
   Richard Hell




3. "It cannot be said too often and it's never said enough that the mass news-media have low-to-no standards of accuracy, whether in relatively minor or peripheral areas of their reporting where their interests may not be obviously at stake (except in that it's in their interest not to go to the expense of bothering to check facts, and to conceal this) or in the larger matters where their prejudices are more apparent. And, as the media leaders know, since almost all news becomes "old" the moment it's broadcast, most victims of their misrepresentations are at a disadvantage not only because of a power mismatch, but because a protester looks like a fool to be challenging yesterday's papers. But the consequences of the media's irresponsibility and maliciousness are real to their victims. Guy Debord finally had to react. A rare and nice touch is where he mentions that he actually has no higher opinion of the consumers of the media than he does of the disseminators of it. Heh heh.

   The tract is full of these sudden sharp insights into Debord. It's great as well for its evocation of the whole intense time and place (Paris art/life radicalism, 1957-84)."
   Richard Hell




4. The very name Guy Debord conjures with it a multitude of images, from Situationist radical to drunken intellectual, capitalist critic to avant-garde filmmaker. This multitude of images, which are themselves caught up in a mechanism of fantasy--for the one who speaks the name "Guy Debord" in turn conjures the very fabrication of that person-is the very subject of his Considerations on the Assassination of Gérard Lebovici. A recent and thoroughly welcomed translation and publication by TamTam Books (an independent publisher in Los Angeles whose growing catalogue is sure to entice and thrill the eager readers of idiosyncratic French literature) of this later writing of Debord's is a testament to both the ongoing "image" of Debord as cultural critic, as well as a strangely touching portrait of a man on the absolute fringe of the culture he in so many ways enables us to see.

   The book is essentially an analysis of the surrounding media coverage on the mysterious death in 1984 of one of France's biggest film producers, Gérard Lebovici of whom Debord was close friends. The mysterious death--or assassination--of Lebovici subsequently is depicted in numerous French magazines and newspapers as being inextricably linked to the producers "association" with the "notorious" Debord. Equating the death with Debord was brought to such a high-pitched fervor as to render Debord a specter of death itself, as if any contact with such a fringe element would leave an indelible mark on one's being. As Le Journal du Dimanche announces: "Behind the most hidden face of Gérard Lebovici, there is always Guy Debord." There, Debord lurks, as a force of extreme criminality, a kind of black magic through which death could be administered without a trace.

   In his Considerations Debord essentially sets the stage for a conversation between the media's rampant output of untruths about his person and himself, as holder of truth, for who would know himself better? Dissecting each article, highlighting and deconstructing paragraphs and sentences by a plethora of journalists, what Debord ultimately enacts is a further analysis of the Society of The Spectacle--by showing the machinery of media as a player in the output of the spectacle itself, which for Debord has no grounding in finding truth, or in representing facts, but rather functions as an implicit wielder of the spectacle itself. As Robert Greene eloquently points out in his introduction to the book, Debord's determination to actually remain aloof--a non-celebrity to a culture that desires and creates celebrities for its own amusement, as a perpetuation of the spectacular--ultimately marks Debord as "sinister", a culprit of uncertain powers. For obviously someone so aloof must have something to hide. Psychologizing Debord, the media in effect treat him as an object for its own play, replacing the actual death of an individual and the process of investigation with the heightened reportage of tabloid gossip. In this way, the media finds Debord everywhere, a lingering and ghostly figure looming over not only Lebovici but an entire network of terrorist organizations, mobs and secret societies--Debord as The Devil himself. Yet Debord counters: "The simple truth, however, perhaps more painful for the amateurs or the barons of the present social spectacle, is that in all my life I have never appeared anywhere." It's this "having never appeared" which Debord reluctantly overcomes in writing Considerations--to once again show that reality is a political arena in which language signifies more than itself. As one paper quoted from Debord's past writings: "In reality one never contests the existence of an organization without contesting all of the forms of language that belong to this organization."

   Brandon LaBelle, Contemporary Summer 2002

1 comments about Death in Washington: The murder of Orlando Letelier.

1. Well-documented, well-written book of the murder of Letelier and Moffet by a car-bombing in Washington on 9/21/76. Letelier was about to testify about the involvement of various U.S. agencies' involvement in the political environment in Chile before and during the Allende government. This book will be of particular interest to those disgusted with the American involvement in Indoensia, Iran, Guatamala, and elsewhere in the world. It's particularly sorrowing that Allende will not be put on trial, nor it seems, the parties responsible in the U.S. government for the terror and economic dislocation caused by U.S. meddling in Chile. But the book is valid, encouraging, and a superb example of how investigative reporting can cause changes for the better. We can only hope that with efforts like this will promote the ongoing legal actions against Kissinger and his trail of economic destruction around the world.

No comments about The Assassins: A Book of Hours.

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No comments about Accidental Presidents: Death, Assassination, Resignation, and Democratic Succession (The Evolving American Presidency).

5 comments about To Kill the Pope : An Ecclesiastical Thriller.

1. This book is virtually unreadable. The author's frequent factual mistakes cast doubt on his research. By page 80, the author had Blackhawk helicopters flying in the Vietnam War and Cardinal John O'Conner being discussed as Cardinal O'Conner in 1972 when he didn't become the Archbishop of New York until the mid eighties. Additionally, the premise of a French Pope attacked by a Polish assassin as the fictional treatment of the attempt on John Paul II completely lacked credibility. And the characterization was stereotypical and unbelieveable. I couldn't get beyond page 80.



2. The book arrived on Monday; I finished it on Wednesday. It is definitely a page turner of the first order. Does it answer the question of Why a Turkish gangster member of a Fascist group called the Gray Wolves was almost successful in assassinating Pope John Paul II in 1981? Maybe, maybe not. One is tantalized by the author's afterword, when Szulc states that his plot is truth, albeit the protagonists are either fictional or composites "to protect his sources." Unfortunately, there is no "Freedom of Information Act" to compel disclosure of his basic source document, and the CIA copy of the Vatican's investigative report would be unavailable as well. Does one need a scholar's knowledge of Roman Catholic history to enjoy this book to the fullest? Not at all, since Szulc fills in the blanks with admirable succinctness, albeit he is overwrought with the details of the the Roman violent suppression of the Cathar heresy/schism: he repeats the dates/facts at least six times without embellishment. Knowledge that it was the CIA that spread the disinformation charging that the KGB used the Bulgarians to have a right wing Turk assassinate the Pope is not mentioned. This by itself indicates that Szulc was in debt to the CIA for the details of his plot. Since the CIA and the FBI are both heavily loaded with conservative Catholics of the Opus Dei cult, this leak to Szulc is unsurprising. I could not rate it with five stars, since the minor liet motif of a romance between a late vocation Jesuit and a most attractive nun just doesn't work. But perhaps, because it is true, this romance is banal. This summer is truly the season of fictional imaginings surrounding historical events of recent vintage. Consider "The Confirmation" which is derived from the appointment of Gates as head of the CIA, and of course, "American Rhapsody" which surrounds the graffitti of Monica Gate with imagined pop psychology stream of consciousness. Szulc has not marred this ecclesiastical thriller with such cheap imaginings. His years as a reporter for the NY Times give him a crisp, complete no nonsense style, which makes this "expose" eminently readible.

   If this is as accurate in broad brush as Szulc claims, then one wonders about the reactions in Rome and Southern France. The timing of publication is exquisite: it obviously triggered the release of the Third Secret of Fatima, despite Szulc's omission of any mention of it. One hopes that the paperback edition will include annotations. This review refers to the hardback version.




3. First of all, the most rediculous fictional mystery plot ever. The protagonist's investigation is unbelievebly lucky each step of the way. Second of all, the statement by the author "that all events prior to 1950 are accurate", causes the book to present a horribly distorted view of history as truthful. Last, it totally slanders both the Society of St. Pius V and the late Archbishop Lefebvre. Whatever the society's faults, this is absurd. Also, to really make matters worse, the Society of St. Pius V is referred to as the Fraternity of St Pius V throughout the book. This way, the author can also condem the Fraternity of St. Peter at the same time. Total Garbage!!!



4. It depends on how you feel towards the Catholic Church , it is obvious that some of the fiction may have mistakes , but who cares , the point is the factual plot to kill the pope , and the simple conclusion that it must come from someone that will benefit from it and is very displeased with the ongoing dramas ,mysteries and others surrounding the Catholic Church , in short , if you are a church follower , you do not want this written down, if you are not , go for it , a very interesting plot , and very real.... leave the fanatism aside.



5. An ordinarily boring and implausible plot is rendered even more absurd by the author's amateurish attempts to portray much of the story as factual. If the perpetrators of this "conspiracy" were the people alleged by Szulc, the Vatican would have released all of the details in a heartbeat.

   Thankfully, this author's attempt to calumniate one of the most important prelates of the 20th century is mitigated by the plethora of factual errors rampant throughout the story.

   Rubbish.

No comments about A Coin in Nine Hands: A Novel (Phoenix Fiction).

No comments about Accident and Deception : The Huey Long Shooting.

No comments about In The Shadow of the Sphinx: A New Look Into The Bay of Pigs and JFK Assassination.

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