Customer Reviews

Back in the USSA

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While it's adequately believable as alternate history, "Back in the USSA" is primarily satire. The role reversal between USA and USSR puts a mirror to the real world: to especially telling effect when there's no change. For instance, "In the Air" has a lot to say about the double standard that makes people see identical behaviour - platoons of children in military uniform honouring war heroes, and saluting the flag - as healthy patriotism in their own country, but sinister militaristic indoctrination in another. Other targets are the US Vietnam movie mythos ("Teddy Bears' Picnic" features classic English comic characters conscripted to a British Indochina war); British royalty ("Abdication Street" is a bad-taste mimic of the Charles/Diana wedding); and the late tycoon Robert Maxwell. This may not be to your taste; many of the TV and movie in-jokes are far more accessible to UK readers. But if it is, you'll find it a wonderfuly dark and witty take on the major events of this century.

I thought USSA would be a better book, and indeed the beginning of it displayed much promise. However, past the Revolution itself it slipped downhill. You never get a good feel for the events that surreound the individuals. Also, the mixing of real-life and fictional characters just didn't work for me. USSA could have been a much better book, given its premise.

The premise is that Teddy Roosevelt was assassinated by Annie Oakley after a successful presidential win by the Bull Moose Party. His Vice President, millionaire Charles Foster Kane (yes, watch out for the fictional characters who appear in the narrative as well as the historical ones who appear in new personnas), plunges the USA into a disastrous early entry into the Great War. This leads to a violent Revolution and the establishment of of a new Socialist state in America, while Russia evolves into a constitutional monarchy.

This is quite a trip! The book is told in the form of separate narratives, from the young Buddy Holly under the regime of Chairman Capone (the USSA's Stalin), a wonderland mirror version of the Untouchables and the Grapes of Wrath, a tale about Ed Gein coldcut supplier to the Party big-wigs, the British experience in the Vietnam War ("Teddy Bears Picnic" -- a wonderful sequence), television under the csar during a Royal Wedding, and much more.

Newman and Byrne are mishugah, and I like it.

Most other AH books are meant to be serious-this one most definitely isn't. It's great mix of alternate history as well as characters and scenes "borrowed" from other great works of fiction. The scenes in the Indochinese War were taken straight from "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket", "Tigerland", and especially "Apocalypse Now" (complete with the musical chopper raid, an analogue to the 'napalm' speach, and even a Kurtz); Hannibal Lector is a USSA Communist Party psychologist; after the USSA falls, the Blues Brothers ride around a war-torn USSA remeniscant of "Mad Max". All in all, a good romp, although the authors should be on the lookout for people seeking to terminate them with extreme prejudice for their borrowing of other fiction.

Some reviews below may be missing the point here. This isn't intended as a hard core alternate history tale (actually several tales adding up to a schmorgasboard). I think Newman and Byrne wrote BACK IN THE USSA to have FUN with the WHAT IF? concept, and taken at this face value, the book is a playful hoot and a half. Other tales have a deeper soul. If you're up for some fiendishly sly and clever REMIXING HISTORY Funky Dub fun, then this may be your speed. Very creative, very clever, highly recommended. If you liked the "spot the reference" sense of humor in Newman's DRACULA CHA CHA CHA (aka JUDGEMENT OF TEARS in the US), you'll have no prob "getting" this book. It's not just a lark, though. The tales all have something interesting to say about human nature, hippocracy and the American spirit.

This novel is a complete trip thru the history of the United Socialist States of America. You heard me correct, Eugene Debs lead a revolution and established a socialist republic during WW1. Byrne and Newman paint a vivid picture of an America that could have been. Their use of characters both real as well as fictional is incredible. This is a must read for anyone interested in Alternative History. It is much more than a novel. This book deals with British and Russian involvement in the Vietnam War, the Great Purges of Capone's dictatorship, to the creation of the Common Wealth of Independent North American States. I highly recommend it to anyone.

This book is the most I've enjoyed an alternate history since reading Turtledove's "Guns of the South." Byrne and Newman do an excellent job on extrapolating from their premise of a United States gone communist.

The one flaw with the book is that the authors go a little heavy into the "oh, so that's what so-and-so is doing" alternate history scenarios; some of the "real" characters seem to have little purpose more than just to be mentioned in the book. But this is only a trivial flaw.

The book tries to make parallels between the rise of communism in the USA in this other reality and the rise of communism in the USSR and barely pulls it off. Then it tries to follow how the lives of certain Americans would have turned out diffently in the USSA and does it most uncovincingly. Finally it just seems to give up and tries to be cutesy after a while. I wanted to like this book but it just never got off the ground for me.

Authors approach the fictionalization of history in a variety of ways. Some choose to illuminate events with behind-the-scenes information or through the use of unusual perspectives--George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series and Lewis Shiner's Glimpses are examples. Borges proposes a garden of forking paths, where each decision creates another reality. Writers like Howard Waldrop warp reality to suit their purposes. Finally, there is the "what if" kind of alternate reality. Stephen Baxter's Voyage asks: What if John Kennedy survived Oswald's assassination attempt and went on to champion the space program? Robert Harris' Fatherland proposes a world where Germany won World War II. Terry Bisson's Fire on the Mountain depicts a United States where slaves successfully revolted during the Civil War and founded an independent southern country.

Back in the USSA belongs to this last school, asking: What if the Communist revolution of 1917 took place in the United States rather than in Russia? Byrne and Newman posit a world where Eugene Debs takes the place of Lenin, Al Capone the place of Stalin, and First Secretary Kurt Vonnegut leads the USSA into a new era after communism fails. Composed of seven novellas, this collection explores the political, global, but most of all the personal repercussions of this change in history. Historical figures take the lead roles, but famous fictional characters are also prominently featured. Thus, Charles Foster Kane, champion of the robber barons, becomes President, and Norman Bates, Lou Ford and Andy Taylor appear as peripheral figures in a story about Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein.

The first story, "In the Air (1989)," takes place shortly after the fall of communism in the USSA. Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley reminisces to Brit newspaper reporter Lowe about the events of Labor Day 1951. On that day, the Revolutionary Fraternity Squadron visited Holley's hometown of Rosewell, Kansas. These "flying aces" of W.W.II --Lt. Lafayette R. Hubbard, Joseph "Bomber Joe" McCarthy, Gen. Curtis LeMay, Gen. "Duke" Morrison, and Col. Charles Lindbergh--are considered heroes by an adoring populace unaware that their superlative war records have been fabricated by the Party. Holley learns the truth about his former heroes from an unlikely pair of itinerant fliers named Howie Hughes and Jack Kerouac, and from that day forward questions the veracity of the Party line.

"Ten Days That Shook the World (1912-1917)" provides much of the backstory behind the socialist revolution in the United States. Here, we learn that abuses by the robber barons precipitate unrest and, ultimately, revolution among the working class. The story covers such seminal events as President Teddy Roosevelt's assassination by Annie Oakley in 1912, the Mexican-American War of 1917, and Eugene V. Debs' triumphant seizure of the White House from President Charles Foster Kane on July 4, 1917. Also included are the sinking of the Titanic (in which escape artist Erich Weiss proves himself a hero), the assassination of Aleister Crowley by Nick Carroway and Tom Buchanan (paralleling the murder of Russian mystic Rasputin), and an appearance by Noah Cross (of Chinatown fame) as an unrepentant robber baron.

"Tom Joad (1937)" is like a Frank Capra movie, but with an edge. I-Men Elliot Ness and Melvin Purvis are sent by Director Hoover to discover the truth behind the legend of Tom Joad. The migrant workers massing on California's borders consider him a combination of Robin Hood and Moses, someone who will protect them on their journey to the promised land. The powers that be think he's a myth, albeit a dangerous one. Ness and Purvis discover that everyone, including themselves, has a piece of Tom Joad inside (a piece of "one big soul"). The story is notable for appearances by Lyndon Johnson, Charlie Chaplin, and Boxcar Bertha. Frank Nitti, Beria to Al Capone's Stalin, also appears, gleefully slaughtering, among many others, John Boy Walton and the rest of his clean cut clan.

Contemporary war movies like Full Metal Jacket, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, and Platoon inform the next story, "Teddy Bears Picnic (1965-1969)". A British soldier, identified only as Bob (not Tommy?), returns to the UK after fighting for King and country in Vietnam (referred to here as Indo-China). Bob writes a book about his
experiences there, which is adapted into a motion picture by British director Michael Powell. A commentary on how perceptions can supplant reality, the story features some clever business about Alfred Hitchcock, director of "Nutter" (the story of a young man "who keeps the mummified corpse of his mother in the attic of his boarding house in Skegness"). Failing to produce a major hit in England, Hitchcock becomes a restaurateur rumored to have poisoned several customers he disliked.

The focus returns to the USSA in "Citizen Ed (1945-1984)," a story about serial killer/cannibal/ghoul/transvestite Ed Gein. Besides being an aberration in a society that can't admit such figures exist, Ed is also a highly valued member of the Party, a butcher who, like his mother before him, rations choice cuts of meat to party officials. This tale, both satire and horror story, features cameos by a number of fictional serial killers and lawmen (and some, like Lou Ford, who are both). It also plays on the legend of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

"Abdication Street (1972)" is set in Tsarist Russia. Charles Windsor, the Duke of Cornwall, is in Russia to meet his future wife, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Nicolaivna, daughter of Tsar Nicholas III. Charles, however, falls in love with a commoner, Cinzia Davidovna Bronstein. Charles renounces his throne in the name of love (echoing the story of Edward VIII, who, in this reality, managed to retain the throne despite his marriage to Mrs. Simpson) only to discover his intended is far from upset--it seems she has fallen in love with Russian cosmonaut Pavel Chekov. Byrne and Newman also give us Harlan Ellison as a cultural attaché from the USSA, and Isaac Asimov as a famous television prognosticator.

Reporter Lowe returns in "On the Road (1998)," a story of post communist America. Lowe is in the US to cover media mogul Sir Robert Maxwell's Freedom and Enterprise Roadshow, "a circus that would spend eight weeks traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles, bringing Americans the gospels of capitalism and Christianity--and selling all sorts of rubbish on the way." The jaded journalist finds love in the US in the person of Lady Penelope Creighton Ward. For those who might not know, Lady Penelope was a character on Jerry Anderson's THUNDERBIRDS, a show produced via "puppetmation". Byrne and Newman have some fun with this, describing her as follows: "Her skirt seemed to restrict her movements, forcing her to bob in tiny steps, as if she were on wires." The story also features appearances by Jake and Elwood Blues and easy riders Billy, Hanson, and Comrade America.

A book like this depends in large part on the frisson of encountering a familiar character in an unfamiliar context. Byrne and Newman recognize this, salting these novellas with many such moments. Because of this, the stories reward rereading, as I found out firsthand when I went back to the text--the book is packed with nice flourishes and witty in-jokes. Of course, using icons as characters simplifies the authors' job--readers have an easier time relating to characters they already know. All the same, this is sometimes dangerous, as the authors assume a certain degree of cultural awareness that not every reader may have. For instance, "Abdication Street" and "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" will mean more to those familiar with the long running British soap opera Coronation Street or the work of British director Michael Powell. Readers in the UK and other countries will doubtless experience similar difficulties when confronted with certain American cultural references.

The collection suffers slightly from repetition. Things that are witty in the first stories seem less fresh by the seventh. These pieces have more power when read on a stand alone basis with short breaks in between, the way they originally appeared in Interzone. Separately, each story shines. Taken together, they tend to steal each other's luster. Still, the stories work well--surprisingly little suspension of disbelief is required. Byrne and Newman create convincing scenarios, populating them with vivid characters, much as Newman did in his solo "alternate world" efforts, Anno Dracula and The Bloody Red Baron.

With the majority of the twentieth century as a canvas, ample storytelling opportunities remain. As with the Flashman series, I look forward to reading about the areas of history that the authors have not yet explored--World War II would seem an obvious choice (given the huge amount of alternative history that uses that conflict as a springboard), and the Cold War also seems promising (perhaps 007 of SMERSH, Austin Powers, John Steed and Emma Peel could team to battle Derek Flint, Matt Helm, and the IMF?). Of course, Byrne and Newman will probably offer up something totally unexpected, as they have done in the past.

This is an ambitious but very odd and uneven book, more an anthology than a cohesive--not to mention coherent--tale of alternate history. It is also a very British book, filled with character and pop-culture references unfamiliar to the average Yank. Even so, it's often laugh-out-loud funny, and occasionally moving.

Alternate history most often falls into two categories--plausible, and farcical. This book doesn't even attempt realism; it mixes historical figures and fictional characters into the same batter, which results in a surreal batch of Special Brownies. (Charles Foster Kane is a contemporary of Teddy Roosevelt; J.R. Ewing is shot in the White House rather than on Dallas...)

Each chapter is a story in itself, and (unless I'm mistaken) are deliberate spoofs of literary and other media genres and styles. Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (with Absinthe replacing Thompson's pharmaceuticals of choice and a Rolls Royce providing transport) and Ernest Hemingway are three of the most glaring examples, and there are references to and styles reminiscent of other writers, lyricists, poets, talking heads, et al. Sometimes the names are changed, slightly or severely. At times they are restored to their birth names. Sometimes, they just use whole cloth.

The Russian/American ideological swap doesn't always translate, especially when the emphasis on the European audience leaves Americans scratching their heads. Even so, the AU version of the Vietnam War, with the British shouldering the burdens and the losses, and the parallels to Apocalypse Now, was simply brilliant.

All in all, it was a worthwhile read, but I did come away disappointed. It's hit and miss--but when it hits, it's fabulous.