The Review of Contemporary Fiction
False Positive by Harold JaffeMichael Hemmingson
Harold Jaffe. False Positive. FC2, 2002. 140 pp. Paper: $12.95.
Jaffe delivers up another slim volume of the lean and mean fiction that’s become his trademark; here he offers up a tapestry of recent headline events, like CNN on acid. Each of the fifteen “fictions” in False Positive takes its starting point from various newspaper articles that have appeared in the national media over the years and are “treated” (or skewed) by Jaffe. For instance, “Carthage, Miss.” delivers various paragraphs from apparent news items, verbatim, followed by Jaffe’s “treatment” of the same paragraph. Sometimes the reprocessed prose varies only slightly by a word or two, sometimes phrases are turned to be more colloquial, and sometimes the items are given a 180-degree turn. It’s almost like channel surfing the half-dozen available cable-news networks—you’re getting the same stories, but there’s often a variation on the spin, the politics, and the facts. Most up-to-date are the pieces that touch on the Islamic and Palestinian issues that dominate today’s newsworthy concerns: “Zealous Hysterectomies” and “Salaam” are virtually frightening to read in their accuracy of violence and impending religious doom. Speaking of the virtual, the collection’s finale, “Dr. Death,” has Jack Kevorkian appearing on an online talk show; he follows Charo, “the original coochie-coochie girl.” As in Jaffe’s three previous volumes, there are a number of dialogue pieces (“Severed Hand” and “Bodybag”), like small transcripts or plays; these are an important part of the style and approach to Jaffe’s fiction, and they are always the most interesting and funny. And funny is the right word to describe Jaffe’s work: reading the dry and subtle work out loud brings forth the satirical nuances, kind of like the comedy of Steven Wright. [Michael Hemmingson]