Re: Andrew Vachss

Tara Allison (allison@indirect.com)
Sun, 20 Aug 1995 20:37:15 -0700

Dear Fred:

Sorry it took me so long to write back, but I just got back online. Please
feel free to post my letter as a letter to the editor, but do fix the PS
where I said a"a good book in his" rather than "a good book in him" (Sorta
makes a big difference in readability.)

Thanks,

David Munier

>Dear David,
>
>Thank you for taking the time to write. I appreciate your comments.
>
>First of all, may I post your letter in its entirety as a letter to the
>editor? It does make several points that I should have made.
>
>I should add that I admire Vachss and support his work. He's changed a
>lot of people's lives for the better.
>
>Second, thanks for pointing out my absent-minded error in title. I've
>fixed online.
>
>Lastly, I've read "Stella" and all his Burke novels and I have no
>hesitation in classifying them as "good", actually "excellent". But I
>don't think any of them quite rise to the standard of "great", as in
>future classic that will be read 50 or 100 years from now--and I am
>hoping maybe he has that in him, if he keeps fresh, and finds the right
>subjects.
>
>Regards,
>
>Fred Zimmerman
>
>> I just wanted to comment on your review of Andrew Vachss
>> forthcoming Batman novel.
>>
>> It is not "Batman Forever." That is quite a disservice!
>> ;) The title is "Batman: The Ultimate Evil." It has
>> nothing to do with the movie currently in theatres.
>>
>> I have not read the book, but I have read the end of it,
>> titled
>> "Child Sex Tourism" which I wish you would mention.
>> Vachss doesn't care at all about batman, he just wrote
>> this book to try to reach a mass audience on the
>> subject of child sex tourism in Thailand. It has
>> become so ingrained in the lives of the people of
>> Thailand that selling their children into prostitution
>> has become a part of their culture. Children are
>> bought, gang-raped until they get too old, say 9 or so,
>> and then killed for fun. If you go to Thailand you can
>> buy a child for whatever purpose you want him/her for.
>> Rape it, murder it, you name it. And the Thai
>> government supports this (though not officially to the
>> rest of the world, how would it look?)
>>
>> The whole point of the novel is to try and make people
>> aware of this evil and to try and get people to do
>> something about it. Mr. Vachss hopes that people will
>> quit buying any products made in Thailand and will push
>> for a national boycott of the country. The only way we
>> were able to make a difference in South Africa was to
>> economically boycott them. That's what we need to do to
>> Thailand to force a change.
>>
>> If nothing else, you should recommend that even if
>> people don't read "Batman: The Ultimate Evil" that they
>> at least read the essay at the end so that they know
>> what horrors are being committed in Thailand.
>>
>> Hope you enjoy his next book, "Footsteps of the Hawk,"
>> due out the end of this month.
>>
>> And as a fan of his work, I'd hate to see him waste his
>> time writing about the murder trial of Susan Smith.
>> Even though children were murdered, I don't think that
>> really falls into his category of child crimes.
>>
>> - David Munier
>>
>> P.S. Since you mentioned that you think Mr. Vachss has
>> a good book in his (and imply he hasn't written it
>> yet), have you read
>> "Shella" ?
>
>
>