Tragedies of American History: 13 Stories of Human Error and Natural Disaster

Rating:
Summary: Gratuitous, Unnecessary Disaster-Porn.
Review: I'm a big fan of the natural disaster genre. In fact, I may be writing my thesis on it. It isn't as though I was expecting a scholarly, exact, detailed retelling of the events in "Tragedies of American History"; I think it's clear from the beginning that the book is intended for popular audiences, and there's nothing wrong with that.

However, there is something wrong with the disrespectful writing style in this book. Bad writing either fails to convey the author's intent, or it can strip all meaning from serious events. In this case, I am speaking of the latter. Collins may well be a good writer - anyone who hammers out that many decapitations of children in such detail that I, viewer of a thousand Triangle Shirtwaist photos, actually get nauseous reading it must be skilled at description. But part of writing, particularly in nonfiction, is also maintaining a level of decency in your prose. Not only does Collins fail to do this in such a degree as to potentially be emotionally scarring to anyone who reads the book, but the lurid narration destroys any possible meaning one can take from this book or the tragedies the narratives are based on. (I say "based on" because there is many a conjecture made that any responsible nonfiction writer would avoid making.) What is so frustrating about all of this is that if Collins can convey horror this well, he should drop the pretense and just write prose. He'd outsell Stephen King in a minute, and manage to not be disrespectful to the memories of those who died in these tragedies.

If you really enjoy detail on what it must feel like for a terrified 7-year-old to be roasted alive, by all means, pick up the book. If decapitations turn you on, this is perfect. But this book has no value; it is merely an exercise in the pornography of human frailty.