Political fact blended with whimsy at Memorial Union Thursday afternoon as author Peggy Wireman read from her latest book \Alice In Bushland,"" featuring March Hare Cheney and Compassionate King Bush determining the path of the country.
""Her book is a strong compilation of facts and arguments, all against the Bush administration,"" said Mike He of the Sierra Student Coalition, which organized the event.
Wireman said she chose to write the book while working on another book on community development, finding herself ""distressed"" at policy decisions the administration was making in cutting beneficial programs. Digging deeper into the facts, Wireman discovered the public was largely in the dark, thanks to omission on the part of Republicans.
""There's a fantasy element happening in terms of this administration ... a big disconnect between what Bush says and the actual effect of his policies and budgets,"" Wireman said.
Building on this fantasy element, Wireman read excerpts from ""Bushland,"" where Alice falls into a dark hole and grabs hold of a hanging chad for safety. She meets several strange creatures along the way, such as Humpty Dumpty Rove who makes sure King Bush can use any words he wants to. She also comes across the Cheshire Cat, who helps American jobs and budget surplus vanish.
While Wireman said she had fun writing the fantasy aspect, it was less fun to tackle the list of ""What Alice Didn't Know"" and stop making things up. Following a chat with Rove on the ""silly notion"" of environmental issues, the book lists how Bush's policies will raise air pollution and mercury to deadly levels.
""[The administration] didn't take the right steps,"" Wireman said.
Wireman said issues like this are hard to tackle, because their complexity is not handled well by a ""30-second"" media. She said she hoped that with her book being ""short, funny and factual,"" it would help to open the issues up.
UW-Madison senior Rebecca Petzel praised Wireman's skill in bringing out the ""sheer facts"" on the issues, countering the rhetoric without becoming nasty.
""It wasn't inflammatory, it just documented succinctly the reality of this administration's position,"" she said.
