Player One

  PLAYER ONE

It's time to pick on Brad Zaun again in our Books for Bigots series. If you are not aware, Senator Zaun is the well-known Republican literary critic of the Iowa Senate.  Having just finished Player One by Douglas Coupland it is time for another recommendation for the possibility of banning or burning.  Now Senator Zaun will not find people with gender issues in Player One although the group that find themselves trapped in a bar outside of an airport when the price of oil goes over 900 dollars a barrel along with an acid storm of some sort will most assuredly not meet with the Senator's approval.

It has never been very clear what would meet with Senator Zaun's approval in a novel - - maybe the Wizard of Oz.  Although finding that the Wizard was a fraud could conceivably have a chilling effect on the Senator's opinion.  Coupland's book has a sniper who not only shoots someone, but scalps the deceased, which we finally learn through the divination by the beautiful girl, is the shooter's father.  Apparently dad made off with the shooter's wife sometime in the past which caused hard feelings.  We also have a pastor who decided to bail on his congregation and departed with the $20,000 building fund.  Worse, he gave no indication of being contrite.  

As I say we do have the required beautiful girl with issues:  (1) a structural anomaly in the limbic system, (2) prosopagnosia, (3) the lack of subjective qualities like humor and irony.  These personal traits, however, did not inhibit her from having an egg fertilized by the bartender during the lockdown where she, the bartender, the cross country hookup, the pastor thief, the male hookup who was killed by the sniper early on, waited out the disaster occurring on the streets.  It was quite a disaster; just think - - $900 a barrel oil and an acid storm.

Clearly none of the characters in this novel will find approval from the good Senator although I'm not sure that it will reach the "disgusting" level.  Snipers and thieves do not seem to be disgusting since they are now somewhat normal behavior   and long distance hook ups and thieves, although not within the scope of approval, seemingly do not reach the "disgusting" level as denoted by Senator Zaun.  These Books for Bigots discussions raise two questions:  (1) Is it a book  recommended to Senator Zaun for his personal edification;  or,  (2) is this a book which should be banned or publicly burned so that our children will not have access to it in school libraries.

I recommend all books to the Senator under the presumption he hasn't read any; secondly there really isn't anything in the book that would require banning or burning.  The impregnation was without detail so even if sex were to have occurred necessarily, innocent ears would not be subjected to details on how that may have occurred.  After all most children in America understand where babies come from fairly soon in their educational progression thanks to extensive extracurricular activities.  Sex sans marriage, however, is borderline banning and burning material.  Unfortunately since half the planet is so engaged it is difficult for our Senator to do anything other than simply fume and cast disparaging remarks.

In conclusion, Player One, with caveats, is not a candidate for banning or burning but should be read by our resident literary critic Brad Zaun.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo