Homeland Security Ate My Speech : Messages From the End of the World

"A worthy addition to the library of resistance." — Kirkus "Dorfman's critique is personal, intellectual, devastating, and at times bitingly funny." — New York Journal of Books Combining elements of memoir, political theory, and literary criticism, Ariel Dorfman's Homeland Security Ate My Speech is an emotionally raw yet measured assessment of the United States after the election of Donald Trump. Dorfman, writing with a bifurcated Latino-American identity, highlights the troubling parallels between Trump and repressive regimes of the past. Specifically, Dorfman relates the election of Trump to the CIA-led coup that installed Pinochet as dictator in Chile: an event that upended Dorfman's life, as well as the fate of the country. With corruption and repression looming, he wonders, can the United States avoid the same kind of political interference it practiced in the past? Reflecting Dorfman's virtuosity across genres, the essays of Homeland Security Ate My Speech are concise, yet highly original and playful; one takes the form of a letter from a sixteenth-century King of Spain to Donald Trump, praising him for his intolerance, and urging a revival of the Inquisition, while another begins with Dorfman's memory of seeing a monster movie as a child ("I can remember gripping my mother's hand tight") and segues into a thoughtful meditation on Trump via Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein . Dorfman brings a rich array of literary references to his discussion of America's current malaise; other authors he invokes include Faulkner, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Melville, Lewis Carroll, and Dave Eggers. Introduction: Grieving for America Part one. The rise of Donald J. Trump Philip II, the sixteenth century Spanish monarch, writes to His Excellency Donald Trump America meets Frankenstein My mother and Trump's border Latin American food and the failure of Trump's wall Faulkner's question for America Part two. The judgment of history Now, America, you know how Chile felt The River Kwai passes through the Latin America and the Potomac: what it feels like to be tortured Words of encouragement for Donald J. Trump from James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States A message form the end of the world Should Iago be tortured? Mission akkomplished: from Comrade Bush to Tovarisch Trump Part three. Models of resistance from the past Martin Luther King marches on Searching for Mandela The truth that made her free Reading Cervantes in captivity The dancing cosmos of Albert Einstein Revisiting Melville in Chile Part four. What is to be done? Homeland security ate my speech Alice in Leftland: will you, won't you dance? They're watching us: so what? How we overcame tyranny before: take heart, friends! The whispering leaves of the Hiroshima ginko trees. "Ariel Dorfman's latest collection is an emotionally raw yet measured assessment of the United States after the election of Donald Trump, highlighting the troubling parallels between Trump and repressive regimes of the past. With corruption and repression looming, Dorfman wonders, can the United States avoid the same kind of political interference it practiced in the past? Concise, original, and even playful, Dorfman provides a clear-eyed take on our state of disunion. The Inquisition, Frankenstein, civil rights struggles, "the bridge on the river Kwai," Pinochet and Nelson Mandela all have a role to play in this far-ranging collection from a writer Time magazine calls a "literary grandmaster.""--Jacket flap. "Ariel Dorfman's latest collection is an emotionally raw yet measured assessment of the United States after the election of Donald Trump, highlighting the troubling parallels between Trump and repressive regimes of the past. With corruption and repression looming, Dorfman wonders, can the United States avoid the same kind of political interference it practiced in the past? Concise, original, and even playful, Dorfman provides a clear-eyed take on our state of disunion. The Inquisition, Frankenstein, civil rights struggles, "The Bridge on the River Kwai," Pinochet and Nelson Mandela all have a role to play in this far-ranging collection from a writer Time magazine calls a "literary grandmaster.""--Dust jacket