Kramer And Oates

 A friend on Twitter recommended "Death of the Great Man" by Peter D. Kramer. Peter is a psychiatrist.

My friend and I have several videos up on YouTube. Donald Trump and fascism are often topics for our conversations.

Joyce Carol Oates is a fan of Peter D. Kramer. She writes, "To read his prose in virtually any subject is to be provoked, enthralled, illuminated."

I had never heard of Joyce until a few weeks ago. Kathy and I started to watch "Blonde" on Netflix. Joyce wrote "Blonde".

We watched about an hour of "Blonde" and then stopped - we planned to watch the rest the next day.

We watch movies before going to bed and we're old. Sometimes we have to split a movie over 2 days.

We chose not to finish "Blonde". Before resuming the movie, I read up on it. The movie was fiction.

We were angry. Marilyn Monroe was a tragic figure. She was exploited in life and now Ms. Oates saw fit to exploit her in death.

Yes, the movie was about Marilyn Monroe, the alternative Marilyn Monroe who didn't exist.

I really don't know that much about Marilyn's life. I'm 77, so I'm familiar with her movies and I'd heard of her marriages and her involvement with the Kennedys.

If you're going to write about someone and share the intimate details of her life, I don't think you should write fiction.

Lurid details sell - especially when they concern one of Hollywood's best known sex symbols. Lurid details are what supports gossip columnists and film magazines.

I question whether or not lurid details should be reported, but if they are reported, they should be factual.

Make of that what you will. It's my opinion.

What does this have to do with "Death of the Great Man"? Fair question.

"Death of the Great Man" is also fiction. Peter makes that very clear in the lengthy disclaimer at the beginning of the book.

I'm going to make a wild guess and assume "the Great Man" is really Donald Trump. "the Great Man" is certainly hideous, disgusting and without any redeeming social value.

In my posts I often refer to Donald Trump as an anti-Christ. I describe him as a liar, a criminal and a traitor. I say he's a world class idiot. I also believe he's a rapist and a pedophile. I also believe he's a psychopath - so much for jargon.

I'm not a psychiatrist. I was a psychotherapist - an L.C.S.W. to be precise. I'm no longer in practice, but when I was, I was licensed in 5 states.

I wasn't a psychoanalyst. I'm not an MD. I'm critical of a lot of what passes for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis is neither practical nor particularly beneficial in my opinion.

I don't know what kind of therapy Peter practices. He's an MD. I imagine he prescribes medications.

For the record, I regard psychoanalysis as a very long term - lifetime - treatment modality for wealthy, well educated people. People who can afford to pay someone a high fee for sitting and listening to them for 55 minutes.

Peter's book is narrated by Henry Farber. Henry is a psychoanalyst induced into serving "the Great Man".  Henry is one of Peter's fictional characters.

Henry is farcical. In another time, he could've been created by Molière.

So is Peter's book a farce? I'm not sure. It's loaded with psychobabble. The plot is absurd. The characters, with the exception of Henry and "the Great Man" are insignificant - movie extras.

When I began reading about "the Great Man", I got caught up in it. I wanted to know where this was going to go. Peter's writing is excellent. He can clearly make something intriguing out of a very flimsy plot.

Sadly, for me it went nowhere. If it's done anything, I'm guessing it's fed into all the ramblings of those who want to analyze Donald Trump in terms of psychopathology.

I'm content to hear what Mary Trump has to say about her uncle. She knows him personally. She's a member of the family. She's informed, educated and qualified to discuss her uncle.

Here's what there is to know about Donald Trump. We cannot afford to spend time analyzing him. It's a fool's errand. He represents a clear and present danger to our country and the world at large. He's done much damage and harmed millions of people.

Donald Trump needs to be stopped. He doesn't need to be memorialized in a dime store novel - even as a villain.

He needs to be indicted and tried for his crimes and he should spend the rest of his life in prison - along with some members of his family and others who engaged in crimes and the January 6th Insurrection with him.

I bristled when reporters and others in the media started referring to Trump as "The Donald". It helped create the monster that we've suffered under for almost 7 years.

Referring to him as "the Great Man" is just adding to his mystique, his public persona.

Donald Trump is "the scourge of our times". My parents had to deal with Mussolini and Hitler. We have yet to deal with Donald Trump.

When it comes to Mr. Trump I have no desire to be "illuminated". I want to be protected.

Holy Moly!