I was out of the office for almost all of today (helluva day considering today’s release on the Justice Department IG report). So the next few posts may have me catching up on some of the day’s news. But I wanted to start by making sure you saw the TPMCafe Book Club we’re hosting this week on Philip Gourevitch’s new book Standard Operating Procedure.
It doesn’t really do the book justice to say it’s about Abu Ghraib. But if this is the first you’re hearing about it, that is the general topic. The book is a collaboration of sorts between Gourevitch and the documentary film maker Errol Morris, who shared with Gourevitch transcripts of interviews of American service men and women who’d served at Abu Ghraib. I’m tempted to take a crack at explaining the book and trying to impart some of its flavor. But far better that I point you to the author himself.
Here’s Philip’s introductory post, kicking off the discussion yesterday. He’s also discussing the book with readers at great length in the comments section. So it’s really a great opportunity — a treat you shouldn’t miss — to dig into this vividly awful, shameful story with a writer of non-fiction who can turn a mirror on us with the art and moral insight of the finest novelists.
Of course, it’s a discussion. So joining Philip are poet and essayist Mary Karr, author Rory Stewart, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly, E.J. Graff, senior correspondent at The American Prospect and novelist Robert Stone. And you can follow the unfolding discussion here.
At TPM, as you know, our core mission is news and reporting. But having a venue where we can host these kinds of more searching discussions — less tied to the immediacy of the news cycle — into politics, culture, foreign affairs, the arts, etc. has always been a goal of mine. But it’s one we’ve — or, I’ll take responsibility for it, I’ve — not always had the resources or the focus to follow through on in the way we’d like.
But your readership — both in loyalty and expanding numbers — has allowed us to slowly build up our ad revenues. And that makes it possible for us to hire new employees who make more of this stuff possible. So with that segue, let me also take the opportunity to introduce you to our newest staffer, Lila Shapiro. Lila is our newest associate editor. And among other tasks, she’s takings over the site editorship of TPMCafe from Andrew Golis. So in the coming weeks and months she’ll be organizing new book clubs, table for ones and more at TPMCafe. So if you have ideas in mind, drop Lila a line.
