You, Me, and the Violence

by Catherine Taylor

“Things puppets can do to charm, deceive, captivate, fool, trick, remind, amuse, distract, bore, repulse, annoy, puzzle, transport, provoke, fascinate, stand in for, kill.” In  You ,  Me, and the Violence,  Catherine Taylor ponders the nature of personal and political autonomy, focusing on the surprising juxtaposition of puppetry and military drones. In a book at once politically significant and narratively engaging, Taylor blends genres to question the roles of individuals within society and expose the gritty and emotional underpinnings of the seemingly mechanical process of a remote soldier.
From conversations with her own brother about his military experiences to Punch and Judy, from the original tale of Pinocchio to the radio chatter of soldiers in active drone operation, Taylor writes about family, power, and the “theater” of war in a voice both sly and sobering, heartbreaking and hopeful.
 

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

166 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2017

Reviews

[Delia Rainey]

such exciting experimental nonfiction ~ brilliant to compare puppets and drones, & the puppet metaphor for americans within the US war machine. the puppet blurs the line of real and not-real, which taylor argues pulls us to our own questioning of the realness of ourselves. lots of voices infiltrate this book, from Adorno to US military drone operators deciding whether or not to strike, to political puppet operators, to the author's own drone-operator brother. the writing style here is collagey with lots of theory and research, but also so personal. especially the question of: can we still love our family members if they help commit violent acts? the book itself, an object, is an act of puppet theater, speaking emotional and painful ideas through a seemingly lifeless surface.

[Alissa]

A musing on war, puppets, and drones.

Profound, thought-provoking, masterfully written. Disjointed, subtly incomprehensible, complex.

It doesn't pretend to have the answers. It is merely a journey of questions.

[Alexander Wolff]

Really refined prose. However, I found that threads of this lyric essay never quite connect. Or it may be that the threads aren't interesting. This book is like lukewarm water

[Lizard]

I read this book years ago, but I still think about it all the time. Highly recommended.