An Afghanistan Picture Show: Or, How I Saved the World

262 Pages·2013·2.26 MB·English

by  William T. Vollmann

ALSO BY WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN

You Bright and Risen Angels (1987)
The Rainbow Stories (1989)
The Ice Shirt (1990)
Whores for Gloria (1991)
Thirteen Stories and Thirteen Epitaphs (1991)
An Afghanistan Picture Show (1992)
Fathers and Crows (1992)
Butterfly Stories (1993)
The Rifles (1994)
The Atlas (1996)
The Royal Family (2000)
Argall (2001)
Rising Up and Rising Down (2004)
Europe Central (2005)
Uncentering the Earth (2006)
Poor People (2007)
Riding Toward Everywhere (2008)
Imperial (2009)
Kissing the Mask (2010)
Into the Forbidden Zone (2011)

AN AFGHANISTAN PICTURE SHOW

Copyright © 1992 by William T. Vollmann
Introduction copyright © 2013 by William T. Vollmann
First published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1992

First Melville House printing: July 2013

Melville House Publishing
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eISBN: 978-1-61219-199-7

A catalog record for this title is available
from the Library of Congress.
v3.1
This book is dedicated
to all who try to help others,
whether they succeed or fail
And I have admitted that the foreigner will probably pronounce a sentence
differently if he conceives it differently; but what we call his wrong
conception need not lie in anything that accompanies the utterance…
WITTGENSTEIN, Philosophical Investigations, I.20
CONTENTS

Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication

INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW EDITION
ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE REVISION
PREFACE
From an interview with Leonid Brezhnev (1980)
Looking due north from Peshawar (1982)
I: THE BORDER

1: SURELY THY LORD (1982)
Surely thy Lord [1] … The red hill [1] … The red hill [2]
2: THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE (1959–81)
The Land of Counterpane … Antarctica … Indiana … My first
demonstration … The red hill [3] … Explanations [1]
3: DIFFICULTIES OF THE MIRACLE WORKER (1982)
Difficulties of the miracle worker … THE BUFFALO-MILK
CANDY … FRIENDS … BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS [1] … POST
MORTEM … BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS [2] … BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS
[3] … HAPPINESS [1] … HAPPINESS [2]
4: THE BRIGADIER (1982)
The Brigadier … MY CLOTHES (1987) … THE BRIGADIER (1982) … AT LATEST
REPORT (1989) … MORNING AND AFTERNOON
(1982) … Democracy … DECIDED OPINIONS … BETROTHED … THE
MARTYR … The ants … THE CONSUMMATION … The statement of the Afghan
Brigadier … Old Nick (1983)
II: THE REFUGEES

5: “OR AT LEAST A LONG HALT”: REFUGEES IN THE CITY (1982)
“Or at least a long halt” … FREE RIDES … THE RICH FAMILY … HIS POWERS
REVEALED … HOWEVER … THE PROBLEM SOLVED … False
impressions … TRUE IMPRESSIONS … IN WHICH WE ASYMPTOTICALLY
APPROACH AFGHANISTAN … The man who would have to go to the
camps … HELPLESSNESS [1] … “A VERY GOOD COUNTRY FOR ME,” or,
HAPPINESS [3] … ANOTHER TWIST OF THE WORM … HELPLESSNESS
[2] … PARASITISM … A QUESTION … ANOTHER QUESTION … Statement of the
Afghan waiter … THE BANDITS … A QUESTION … HELPLESSNESS
[3] … HAPPINESS [4]
6: THE LUCKY ONES: REFUGEES IN CALIFORNIA (1983–87)
The hairdresser … HOW TO BECOME A HAIRDRESSER IN ONE EASY STEP … TWO
MEMORIES … EXPLANATIONS [2] … A FRIEND OF FRIENDS … PRUDENCE … AN
AMERICAN GIRL … An old yearbook (1984) … The waitress… A NICE
THOUGHT … AN AMERICAN GIRL
7: “… DESCRIBED FORMALLY AS REFUGEE CAMPS…”: WOMEN (1982)
“… Described formally as refugee camps…” … “IT WILL TAKE A LONG, LONG
TIME” … THE GIVER … THE PARABLE OF THE BEER CANS … GREAT STRIDES
FORWARD [1] … VARIOUS SIGHTS … HELPLESSNESS [4]: STATEMENT OF DR.
TARIQ (HANGU CAMP, KOHAT—I.R.C.) … STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR … HELPLESSNESS
[5] … HELPLESSNESS [6] … WITH HIS CHARACTERISTIC RESOLVE … The
interviews … STATEMENT OF REFUGEE IN CAMP (KOHAT) … LOOKING BACK
(1987) … THE INTERVIEWS (1982) … STATEMENT OF MARIE SARDIE, U.N.H.C.R.
NUTRITIONIST … THINGS THAT PEOPLE WOULDN’T SAY ON TAPE
[1] … STATEMENT OF MARIE SARDIE (continued) … THE MATTER OF
WOMEN … SUCCESS AT LAST … STATEMENT OF MARY MCMORROW, I.R.C.
NURSE … THE POINT OF IT [1] … A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT … HAPPINESS
[5] … THE POINT OF IT [2] … STATEMENT OF THE AFGHAN DOCTOR (HANGU
CAMP)
8: “… DESCRIBED FORMALLY AS REFUGEE CAMPS…”: CORRUPTION (1982)
An Afghanistan Picture Show [1] … CORRUPTION … THINGS THAT PEOPLE
WOULDN’T SAY ON TAPE [2] … STATEMENT OF THE AFGHAN WAITER
(continued) … HELPLESSNESS [7] … STATEMENT OF THE AFGHAN DOCTOR
(continued) … STATEMENT OF MARY MCMORROW (continued) … STATEMENT
OF THE OLD MAN (KACHAGARI CAMP) … THE MATTER OF FOOD … STATEMENT OF
THE OLD MAN (continued) … THE MATTER OF GUNS [1] … THE MATTER OF GUNS
[2] … Snakes and frogs … AN AFGHANISTAN PICTURE SHOW[2]… STATEMENT
OF HASSAN GHULAM, A.R.C. … STATEMENT OF AFGHAN REFUGEE COMMISSIONER
ABDULLAH (PESHAWAR) … A lesson at school (Hangu Camp) … A THOUGHT
(1987) … GREAT STRIDES FORWARD [2] … Surely thy Lord [2]
9: ALASKA (1979)
Alaska … MY LEADER … ABOVE THE RIVER … HAPPINESS [6] … HAPPINESS
[7] … ERICA BRIGHT AND ERICA GREEN-EYES … THE KNOT, THE ROBOT AND THE
KNIFE … CARRYING MY SWEATER … A THOUGHT (1989) … RASPBERRIES
(1979) … THE RIVER … THE OTHER SIDE
III: THE REBELS

10: A MATTER OF POLITICS: THE GAME (1982)
A matter of politics … Too many puppets, too many strings … “THE
TYRANNY OF DAOUD” (1959) … EVOLUTION OF THE MUJAHIDEEN (1959–
79) … IDIOCY AND IGNORANCE (1987) … “IT WAS NOT JUST BOMB BLASTS; IT
WAS A NATIONAL UPRISING!” (1975) … THE RIGHT OF IT (1987) … THE GAME
(1878–1982) … STATEMENT OF THE RELIABLE SOURCE (continued) (1982) … A
SOVIET AMPLIFICATION … A THOUGHT (1987) … STATEMENT OF THE RELIABLE
SOURCE (continued) … COMMON SENSE
11: A MATTER OF POLITICS: FRIENDLY ENEMIES (1982)
Friendly enemies … STATEMENT OF PROFESSOR S. SHAMSUDDIN MAJROOH,
AFGHAN INFORMATION OFFICE … STATEMENT OF JUDGE DR. NAJIB SAID, ISLAMIC
UNITY (LIBERAL COALITION) … THE OCCUPATION OF DR. SAID … SEMANTICS
(1987) … EPITAPH FOR THE YOUNG MAN … EXTREME
SUBTLETIES … STATEMENT OF THE KIDNAPPED DOCTOR’S FATHER … STATEMENT
OF DR. NAJIBULA, JAMIAT-I-ISLAMI (FUNDAMENTALIST) … THINGS THAT PEOPLE