In \Dear Mr. President,"" a collection of short stories by Gabe Hudson, war finally has a face, a name and an unforgettable character. In its daring, tongue-in-cheek sarcastic tone wittily depicting war, its patriots and its effects, it is a masterpiece, nothing short of a blue ribbon itself. Freakishly well-developed characters leap off the pages as stealth fighter pilots become transvestites, a family man grows a third ear from his stomach and a Vietnam veteran father protests the Gulf War by declaring himself gay while his son, a yoga devotee, compassionately cares for the innocent bystanders after deserting his troops.
Hudson, in ""Dear Mr. President,"" always opens and ends with a bang. His writing is fast, clear and full of dark humor found in Kafka and the everyday newspaper. Surreal and ridiculously frank, he will keep you on the edge of your seat and, page after page, never disappoints you. He writes succinctly while using metaphors found in poems, characters found on late-night Jerry Springer and language found on high school restroom stalls. Hudson reminds us that humor is the universal language, while unfortunately compassion is not, and that war is never just a plane flight away'it is growing within ourselves, expanding like a narcissist fungus.
The Daily Cardinal had a chance to speak with Hudson about his perception of war, the anti-Americanism abroad and the elaborate performance of being in the Marines.
The Daily Cardinal: What prompted you to write this collection of stories?
Gabe Hudson: Well, I felt that the younger generation didn't really have a book that spoke about its circumstances and relationship to war in America. We had grown up watching, ""Platoon"" and ""Full Metal Jacket"" and we had all read the books so I felt like I wanted to write something that was a reflection of the way that my generation has perceived war or experienced war'which was obviously a lot different than a hundred hour virtual war where you have a hundred and forty causalities to Vietnam where you have one-hundred-fifty-odd thousand.
DC: What prompted you to join the Marines?
GH: I wish I could say that I was coerced. I was, kind of, an art kid and so I was raised playing the violin and we did not have a television in the house so I always read good books. So I think it was an act of rebellion to freak my parents out. It worked.
DC: Was it a positive experience for you?
GH: Yeah, I think it was good. I mean it was difficult. It was really funny'in a dark way. I mean everyone is wearing a dark fa??ade because you are not allowed to show emotion. It is like really elaborate performance art so yeah it was good for me. It was also good for me because I met lots of different sorts of people that I had not been exposed to, given my upbringing There were ex-gang-bangers from Los Angeles who were given the option to either join the Marines or go to jail. It is always healthy to be thrown into the melting pot of America, right?
DC: Did you actually serve in the Gulf War?
GH: No, but my unit that I served in had been activated but by the time I came on they had already returned, so I heard all these stories. I did receive a blue ribbon for enlisting during a time of crisis. So these guys had all these stories, or what they call ""scudal bud"" in the military and they were the templates for the stories in the book.
DC: Did your father serve in the Vietnam War?
GH: Yeah, but he did not go to Vietnam. He was drafted and he quickly taught himself how to type so he got a desk job. He is not a raging patriot and he did not advocate me going into the military in any way.
DC: We are all told to ""write what you know."" How does this pertain to the stories in ""Dear Mr. President?"" Were a lot of your friends sarcastic patriots like the characters in this book?
GH: That is a good question'write what you know. I mean, I have a big belief in the imagination. So for me, sometimes imagining things is just as good as actually doing it. To some extent the book is an act of resistance against things that bother me about America so I know what it is that bothers me and I am able to poke holes at the hypocrisy.
DC: How do you feel about the recent surge of American patriotism because of 9/11?
GH: It is pretty embarrassing; I worry about getting my eye poked out by an American flag. I think America, as being the biggest power in the world should, be the quietest, but it is being the loudest. It is pretty bothersome. I am concerned about where that is going to take us'mob mentality is the worst thing.
DC: Are you apprehensive about the release of your book after 9/11 and our problems abroad?
GH: It has been really weird. We actually sent a copy off to the president right when it came off the press and I scribbled on the inside of the book, ""there is no anthrax in here."" We got an anonymous letter back, only a few sentences long, saying that the book was unpatriotic and was ridiculous. I was in Portland doing a reading and people came out and heckled me and told me they were friends with Olli North. And then there was this one guy in a suit in the back and I was there with my activist friends and they are older and they told me that there was no question that that guy is FBI. We have a web site for the book, and the government, (we have a device that tells us who has been visiting the site) has been tracking it. It is fun, but it also a little eerie.
DC: Have you been abroad and experienced anti-American sentiments?
GH: Sure I have been abroad and I know people who are abroad now and it is unbelievable'there are people walking around with t-shirts celebrating the one-year anniversary of the crashing of the Towers. I was down in Mexico City working on a book when the attacks happened and I was exposed to a lot of anti-American sentiment. It's really bothersome because you do not want to be as hypocritical as the right is but you still want these people to be a little bit more compassionate.
DC: Who inspired you as a writer?
GH: I guess my dad did, quite a lot actually'he sort of wanted me to become a writer. I guess Kafka is probably the biggest (inspiration). As far as contemporary writers, George Saunders is pretty cool; Dave Eggers has been very kind and David Wallace.
DC: How do you feel about the whole Iraq situation and the War on Terrorism?
GH: I think it seems farcical. I have been touring so I have not been able to catch the news, but from what I understand, troops have been built up. The whole thing is that when Bush came into office, his weakness was his foreign policy'he could not even rattle off who was in charge of foreign countries and now that is what his whole administration is about. I think it is a weird propaganda campaign and some weapons' experts have said that Saddam does not have weapons now, but he will in a few weeks and it is like, whoa, this is not some science project he is working on.
I remember when it became clear that the administration confessed that they knew more about the 9/11 attacks before they occurred and then two days later they were like, ""increased al Queda chatter, but we can't tell you what it is,""'and they just scare the American public into silence. If the book shows anything, I hope it shows that these wars are not clean wars even though they claim that they are and that they are technological, but there is a lot of psychological damage. This is a big deal and they [the government] seem very clever about it.
DC: Where did you grow up and how did that play into you being a writer now?
GH: I grew up, for he most part, in Austin, Texas, and the men there are mega-cheese-mo cowboys. They are like the strong, silent type and they all exude wisdom but, really, I don't think there is anything in their heads. For me it was really difficult; I was very much alone in my desire to write. That made me work hard at it, though, if that makes sense.
DC: Your characters are freakishly well developed in ""Dear Mr. President."" Are they based upon anyone you have met? Have you ever come in contact with Mr. Laverne?
GH: [All the characters] are distilled or a composite that I hear while being in America. I hear these voices all the time of these people and I should say that these people are not who I want to hang out with or become friends with. I do not want to be friends with someone who flies a stealth fighter plane. It was a leap for me to try and be empathetic with these people and try to make them come alive as best I could.
DC: What are you working on right now?
GH: I am kind of an indentured servant to Knopf'it was a two-book deal. So I am working on a novel surrounding the issue of immigration in a contemporary way.
Gabe Hudson will be appearing at the University Book Store, 711 State St., tonight at 6 p.m. ""Dear Mr. President"" is published by Alfred A. Knopf.
