Harold Jaffe

Jaffe's Death Cafe is a collection of his signature "docufictions," but unlike Anti-Twitter and Induced Coma they are not limited to 50 or 100 words, and unlike OD or 15 Serial Killers they are not tied together by one primary thematic concern. I'm sure that among Jaffe's docufiction collections there are others that are loose like this one and with which I am simply unfamiliar. I suppose one might say death is an overarching concern here - the death of individuals, the death of the earth, the death of consciousness, but Jaffe is wonderfully preoccupied with such themes in almost all of his work so that very likely lazy analysis on my part.

One benefit of the collection not being limited by form or strict theme is that ist has a little room to breathe and because of that I think some of my favorite material among all of Jaffe's writing is here. The title piece of the collection especially is razor sharp, damning, and bleakly hilarious. That said, some pieces (Perhaps "19") didn't seem to be as inspired as others, or maybe didn't fit within the flow of the collection in terms of tone or mood. Overall though, the collection is very strong and some of the pieces here are outright exceptional. Another set of indispensable meditations by an original and unflinching writer.… (meer)