Vollmann's Poor People

In the LA Times, Ed Champion doesn't think much of Vollmann's new book, Poor People:

There's also the question of how much we can trust Vollmann's stories. His fiction has frequently included a narrative alter ego, inspired by Poe and Lautréamont, who guides the reader into grimy underworlds, thus establishing an implicit trust between reader and author. Novelist Madison Smartt Bell once identified this tic of Vollman's as a "quest for ocular proof" that bolstered Vollmann's narrative integrity. In abandoning this device in "Poor People," Vollmann embarks on a sloppier, more myopic journey. Although meticulous in logging details of almost all his travels, he is conspicuously silent about his sources as he describes a visit to a Times Square transient hotel. There are no photos or footnotes to this episode. Vollmann uses the anecdote to conclude: "Every man is rich or poor to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniencies, and amusements of human life." Fair enough, but this doesn't explain why these people live in such squalor.

Over in The Quarterly Conversation, Dave Munger likes it:

Importantly, Vollmann acknowledges that as a rich man his presence necessarily alters the dynamic of these people's lives. They not only treat him differently because of his wealth, he pays them to be interviewed. Much of the book is reflective: how can he properly show respect for these people? What amount is too large to give? (Too large of payment would make the recipients targets for thieves--often their own family members.)

Vollmann's personal approach necessarily makes the book bad science. While he strives to be thorough, Vollmann makes no pretense of being objective or removed. For example, he takes mind-altering drugs with the courier he profiles in the Philippines. He allows homeless people to sleep outside his own home and then makes critical commentary about their behavior. Yet Vollmann also realizes that the more "standard" approach of a researcher is condescending in its own way.

Comments

[fausto]

I haven't read Volmann's book yet, but when Ed says "this doesn't explain why these people live in such squalor", I am a bit surprised: I thought the author's aim was not to explain at all, but to let people we think of as being poor say if they think they are, and if so, tell us what they think poverty is, what it means and how it affects their daily lives. We have already a lot of studies about why people are poor, so Vollmann's attitude strikes me as refreshing - and for once, it seems that we may go beyond mere statistics (for what exactly is the point in comparing average wages in the US and in Mexico if we don't even know how much cost a loaf of bread in each country?).

[Scott]

fausto,

I have not read the book, but from what I understand from reading Dave's review and discussing it in edits with him, I think you are correct. I get the impression that Vollmann is trying for a more personal explication of the poor's experience than an explanation of why they are poor (and you're correct, social scientists have given us no shortage of explanations on that front).

[Dave Munger]

I finally found someone other than me who doesn't hate this book:

http://www.nysun.com/article/49281