William Vollmann is the author of dozens of novels, short stories, essays, and articles, and the recipient of a multitude of nominations, grants, and prizes, including the National Book Award.
He is also, according to a piece he wrote for the latest issue of Harper’s, the subject of a 785-page FBI file related to suspicions that he was the Unabomber or some other manner of terrorist.
The Harper’s piece is, sadly, behind a paywall, but this Washington Post summary hits some high points: “His file incorrectly claims that he owns a flamethrower. (“I would love to own a flamethrower,’ he writes.)”
One response
I’m a Harpers subscriber and this article is an important read. Among other things (1) Vollmann was unable to obtain hundreds of pages from his file; (2) Vollmann had a low-profile digital trail and yet ended up on various lists; (3) most importantly, the story demonstrates how difficult it is to get off a list once you’ve ended up on one – and that scenario could play out with any of us due to data errors such as confusing domestic with international area codes (e.g., Tallahassee has North Korea’s code). The NSA already made this error once with Egypt’s code. The whole story has the uneasy feel of a clumsy but well-funded Stasi pursuing anyone with Noam Chomsky’s shoe size.
Click here to subscribe today and leave your comment.