Newsworld

by Todd James Pierce

News is “one of the few things that connects us as a nation” observes the protagonist in the title story of Newsworld , a new collection by Todd James Pierce that explores America’s obsession with news and entertainment culture. The characters in “Newsworld” seek to design realistic theme park attractions, such “OJ’s The Ride” and “Seige at Waco,” that allow park guests to experience the complexities of contemporary news events for themselves. In the story “ The Musical,” high school students stage a musical written as a means of discussing school violence, while their vice principal wrangles a 10 percent discount on a school security system in exchange for corporate sponsorship of the play. In “Wrestling Al Gore,” a national wrestling federation uses costumed wrestlers to cast the Gore/Bush election recount into the ring. In an ironic twist, fans become sympathetic to the underdog Gore, champion his cause, and ultimately reflect on the fate of the real politician. In “The Yoshi A Story of Post-Waco Texas,” the followers of the Dalai Yoshi amass weapons and riot gear in hopes of attracting media attention in order to spread their message of love and world peace. The characters in Newsworld , like many Americans, are engulfed in a life-imitating-art phenomenon caused by the hyperreality presented in the media, and they struggle with this overwhelming influence trying to understand whether their own lives fall within or outside its domain.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

216 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

The author of the novel, The Australia Stories and the story collection, Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize and was a finalist for the John Gardner Book Award and the Paterson Prize. His work has been published in Fiction, The Georgia Review, Harvard Review, The Gettysburg Review, Indiana Review, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, North American Review, Shenandoah, The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Willow Springs. He lives in a little town called Orcutt (just north of Santa Barbara, California) and co-directs the Creative Writing program at Cal Poly University. Aside from his work in creative writing, over the past decade, he has interviewed over 100 men and women who worked in animation and outdoor amusements during the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each story seems to begin with 'We saw on the news' or 'I heard about this from...' and this fascination with the public eye is one of the primary themes that inform the book. The narrators, who tend to have the same voice, no matter the story line, are apt to be more influenced by how they will be viewed by others rather than how they experience themselves. In my favorite segment, the author not only explores what makes a person famous (a theme that crops up in many of the stories), but manages to suggest a way that fat/weight might obscure that fame.
Overall, a clever examination of our national obsession with the stardom of a person in the limelight, juxtaposed with the insecurities of the individual in private life, and spiced with pop culture references. I hope to see more of this from the author in the future, but rather than these sound bytes of personality I would like to see his relatively shallow explorations of his characters in society expanded and explored in a deeper and more rigorous fashion.

[dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant collection of pop-infused stories. Here, the pop culture elements -- a musical called "Columbine: The Musical," an amusement park called NewsWorld, the television show the Real World -- play a minor role in the stories, which are mainly about the connections people make with one another. Rise Up and Walk, Christopher Reeve, for instance, is a rather heartbreaking story about a handyman at the estate next door to Christopher Reeve's, and the way Reeve's fight against paralysis influences the way the narrator views and deals with his own wife's Alzheimers. A lot of reviewers got carried away by the pop elements of this collection and, I think, failed to see the human elements that carry these stories along. I read and write a lot of short stories, and these are some of my favorites.

[Adam Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite short story collections. Its eye for cultural commentary never looks past the pathos of the characters, even when they're pop culture figures like OJ Simpson or Al Gore. In fact the story "Arise and Walk, Christopher Reeve" is a deeply sympathetic portrait of living life in the face of the unknown and incurable. "Columbine: The Musical" is as funny as it is tragic, a combination that makes it one of my favorite stories ever. This is a collection with a vision that all adds up and stands the test. Highly recommended.

[Heather Colacurcio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of satirical short stories that address our media saturated, tragedy exploiting society. Standout pieces include "Columbine: The Musical", "Newsworld", "Newsworld II", "The Real World" and "The Yoshi Compound: A Story of Post-Waco Texas". Todd James Pierce creates a collection of truly thought provoking fiction here.

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had some pretty interesting stories. He definitely has some different perspectives on the world :)