Bleeding Optimist
A fragmented narrative of private and public calamity, reflecting some of the better-known disasters of the US in the 1990s.
Praise
In Bleeding Optimist — a 92-page self-declared work of "fractious prose" complete with internal organs on every other page — Mary Burger presents us with a "happening," a series of fractured and fragmented writing events designed to provoke our reactions — spontaneous or sardonic, defensive or devastated — to a similarly fractured and fragmented series of reported (real-life?) events. Against the public backdrop of the O.J. Simpson trial, Oklahoma City bombing, social anarchy, and desperate individuals exposing their desperation on the local news, Burger eavesdrops on the private spectacle.
—Pamela Lu
Excerpt
The shallow tableau replays all day every day.
"Behind this wall is where rescuers expect to find the missing children."
"The worst in American history."
500 yards from the building.
He stopped at least every five miles to siphon something out of the gas tank that was
blocking the fuel line. Twice he stalled and pushed the truck across traffic to the shoulder. He
caught my eye.
"I told you not to worry."
• • •
I met him when he said, "It was ... inspiring."
"I told you I'd take care of it."
I got three plants, an office chair, and assorted dishes. A file of phone numbers I don't want.
Everyone is shocked. Everyone is horrified. Everyone is angry. Everyone is grateful for
their life. Or, everyone is sad at senseless tragedy.
That is, that American history is different from anyone else's.
• • •
Meanwhile at the courthouse, sheer doggedness has made sensations sag. Some don’t even notice when it's taken off TV.