Dishonesty of intent

For many reasons, Lou Michel believes we must "look evil in the eye." But is selling books one of those reasons? "American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & The Oklahoma City Bombing," was written by Michel and Dan Herbeck about Timothy McVeigh, the unremorseful killer of 168 people in 1995. The authors of the book have heard criticism by many people, especially the families of the victims and the residents of Oklahoma City, Okla., for giving an exclusive voice to a monster.\n In an interview with Larry King, co-author Michel said, "…For us to turn our back on writing this book, we would be castigated by fellow journalists and most of the American public, though we have a deep sympathy for the Oklahoma residents. And the important thing is for the American public to look evil in the eye. Evil deeds, the perpetrators, to try and understand what's happening."\nSounds reasonable, even noble, doesn't it? It's history, after all, and we can only gain from learning our history lessons. But taking the hype out of the history is the challenge at hand. The authors insist they are writing some sort of reference book, destined for mildew and silverfish. God bless 'em, these boys don't know the meaning of the word "hype."\nBut asking people to separate the bombing from the recounting is quite different from capturing McVeigh's evil thoughts in print and selling it at Borders. The book features McVeigh's picture on the cover surrounded by shredded layers of garish, red type against a black background. McVeigh's eyes are wrathful slits looming over a mouth drawn tight with rage. Anthony Hopkins couldn't have played him better. The cover looks an awful lot like a movie in the suspense/ thriller aisle at Video World.\nResponding to exploitation criticism, co-author Herbeck told King, "Well, I understand people in Oklahoma City reacting with great emotion to the words of Timothy McVeigh. But to say we shouldn't have written this book, I just don't agree with that. That would be like saying that reporters shouldn't have written about what Hitler was doing to the Jews in World War II. This is history, this is a telling of a horrifying event in American history. And this book will be on library shelves 100 years from now."\nIsn't an exclusive book, laden with quotes, just what McVeigh would want? He wrote hundreds of letters to Michel and Herbeck and gave them about 80 hours of interview time. He was more than delighted to comply with their research. How much of what he fed them was actually true? How much actually enriched national history? \nAnd yet another question: Who is going to buy this book to put on the coffee table? \n"The only people who are likely to buy it are the Waco wackos, and secondly I think it does illustrate, it does point out, his evil, and that's really what we're talking about," National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg said. But one of my friends, an employee at Borders, sees another readership -- tons of normal joes -- who he says will salivate all over the book, thinking, "Dude! These words came straight from Timothy McVeigh's mouth! Look how creepy he looks on the cover!" \nMeanwhile, Michel and Herbeck are awash in profit, astonished their scholarly history text was so popular! Their book alone spurred a scholarly renaissance! Our nation is safer with scores of normal joes gathering clues over too sweet mochas on how to prevent another such tragedy.\nTotenberg and many others said we need this book to show us evil. So we need a 448-page book with a scary picture on it to tell us McVeigh is evil? Dozens upon dozens of news articles detailing the bombing should have done the trick.\nAnd are Waco wackos who pick it up just feeding their inner history geek -- a quality inherent to Waco wackos? Maybe they fancy a book deal themselves, so they too can glower evilly from their own tome's cover. So they too can smartly correct the journalist, saying, "No, I don't consider myself a martyr. I prefer 'freedom fighter.'" \nHerbeck told CNN he did not glorify McVeigh. The fact that lengthy interviews of McVeigh fill the book, his name is splattered across it and his picture stares back from the cover can't help but glorify him. McVeigh is set to die in the Terre Haute penitentiary on May 16. Attorney General John Ashcroft still can't decide whether to let us watch it on television. The execution is a slim month after "American Terrorist" came out. \nMarketing majors, take notes, this is how the big boys do it! Just don't coordinate every new product with an execution. At least seven books about the bombing already fill the shelves. If history isn't preserved by this time, maybe McVeigh can pencil in one more interview. Better hurry, before history's eager resource disappears.