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Graham and Wasserstein

the breakfast table
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from: Stephen Graham

No Comment

Posted Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998, at 5:22 PM ET

Hi Wendy,

I too was struck by the New York Times story on the allegedly false holocaust memoir. A woman quoted in the story--"The author and Holocaust researcher Konnilyn Feig"--shares your concern that "a case like this could give Holocaust deniers ammunition; this doesn't worry me, since Holocaust deniers, like Creationists, seem to draw their conclusions independently of what you would consider 'evidence.'" But it seems to me that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Jewish Book Council (whoever they are) are acting irresponsibly in deciding to "take no action and adopt a 'no comment' policy" on what seems, at least from reading the Times article, clearly a fraudulent book. If Holocaust deniers are in search of ammunition, these groups' abstention from comment surely provides it.

The odd thing is that--apart from trying to pass off fiction as fact--it sounds like a wonderful book, i.e., well written, moving, etc. And people have trouble with the seeming contradiction that a moving, well-written literary work could also be, in terms of veracity, a fake. I'm sure that if I were one of those editors who read this book, loved it, made an emotional (not to mention a financial) commitment to it, I too could commit the doublethink of continuing to believe in it despite the overwhelming evidence that is isn't true.

Which brings us back to Sally Hemings (I thought Annette Gordon-Reed's piece was very sensible). Jefferson scholars who have always denied the possibility of the Jefferson-Hemings liaison, despite what Gordon-Reed terms the "overwhelming circumstantial evidence" to the contrary, clearly lack what Keats called negative capability: the ability to dwell amid doubts and contradictions. Yes, Jefferson was a great President and a fascinating, cultured, admirable human being; yes, he was also capable of slipping off to the slave quarters to boff Sally Hemings. Or--to phrase the contradiction in a more nuanced way--Yes, Jefferson expressed in print repeatedly what we today consider racist views, and showed no qualms about owning slaves; and also Yes, Jefferson had a long-term romantic liaison with a black woman. It doesn't make sense, strictly speaking, but there it is.

I guess I'll go vote now. See ya later.

xxxooo,

Stephen

the breakfast table
entries
1234567891011121314151617181920
from: Stephen Graham

No Comment

Posted Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998, at 5:22 PM ET
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Stephen Graham lives in New York City, where he is pursuing a doctorate in English literature. He is co-publisher of Ecco Press and a contributing editor at Grand Street. Wendy Wasserstein, a playwright, is author of An American Daughter, The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig, and others.
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