Once upon a time men and women gathered together everyday. The marketplace served as a hub where people bartered, gossiped and traded expertise. One imagines the odor of meat as it was seared from the bone, hearing the forging of metal as the blacksmith repaired a cooking pot; apothecaries grinding seeds and herbs to fill a prescription.
One needed only to have watched a small amount of NBCs copious coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games to know the importance China places on maintaining face. As was often cited by commentators and news presenters, the Games provided the emerging superpower with its one opportunity to turn the tide of public sentiment its way. And so China had much riding on its 17 days in the world spotlight.
Although the need for stricter gun control doesnt take center stage in Jonathan Fasts nonfiction debut, Ceremonial Violence, it is an unshakable co-star in this harrowing observation on the causes and effects of SR (school rampage) shootings.