Bloodbath Nation

'Remarkably powerful.' Washington Post
'A compelling polemic, dismaying and often moving.' Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph
No issue divides Americans more deeply than the debate around guns. Paul Auster begins his examination of gun violence by looking into his own past, knowing first-hand how families can be wrecked by a single deadly act.
Bloodbath Nation traces the origins of America's obsession with guns through one hundred and eighty years of history. The armed conflict against the native population and the brutal methods used to protect the institution of slavery created a nation that has never fully come to terms with its own past.
This fraught heritage still hovers over the social and political landscape of the present moment. Change is necessary but it seems all but impossible. Auster asks the ultimate question: what kind of country do Americans want to live in? The answer, he argues, will not come from the legislature, but from the American people themselves.

Paul Auster (1947-2024) was the bestselling author of The New York Trilogy, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace and 4 3 2 1, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Among his many international honours were the Prix Médicis Étranger, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and the Carlos Fuentes Prize, given in recognition of his body of work. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lived in Brooklyn, New York.
Spencer Ostrander was born in Seattle in 1984. He has done extensive work in all forms of photography and has recently completed two other book projects: Long Live King Kobe with text by Paul Auster and Times Square in the Rain.