Unabomber Survivor Tells All

by Lee Bockhorn

It is not often the case that you read a book, find it to be vastly different from what you expect, yet nevertheless enjoy it. One of these rare experiences is found in David Gelernter's Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber. Gelernter, a computer science professor at Yale, ostensibly wrote the book to chronicle his experiences after receiving a mail bomb from the infamous Unabomber in 1993. While Gelernter does provide a compelling account of his physical troubles, his book is really about one man's struggle to reassemble his shattered soul, and about his attempt to understand why he was the target of such a cowardly act of malice.

Gelernter provides an interesting narrative about his injuries and recovery; there is an element of suspense to the whole thing whether he will ever be able to paint or play ball with his boys again, for instance as well as good humor. What makes this memoir engaging, though, are the author's musings on his experience with the media after the bombing, as well as his analysis of other aspects of American society, including popular culture and contemporary cultural values.

Gelernter pulls no punches in expressing his loathing for the media, decrying a field which described the Unabomber as a "mad genius," but never as evil. He also recounts with scorn his experiences with journalists intent on making him wallow in his victimhood, eager to make him the latest icon in the victim culture. Another target in Gelernter's crosshairs is the sorry state of current writing, especially among journalists, and his book demonstrates that he can comment on the subject with authority. Drawing Life is a brisk read; even in the midst of trying to contemplate Gelernter's serious arguments, one's attention is wafted from page to page by bits of wit and many shimmering examples of fine writing, such as the author's summation of the kindness demonstrated by his students and colleagues in reassembling the contents of his office: "If you insert into this weird slot machine of modern life one evil act, a thousand acts of kindness come tumbling out."

Gelernter covers a wide range of topics in this book, from the aforementioned problems of the media, to the perils of feminism, modern art, the debasement of learning in our universities, and, of course, computer technology. However, lest one begin to think that Gelernter is simply preaching, he relates his criticism of contemporary culture to his attack and the media's reaction to it. He accurately claims that the overriding importance assigned by intellectuals to "tolerance" and victimhood has blunted the once­sharp edge of one of society's greatest tools: the ability to be judgmental. Reflecting on the absurdities of the media's depiction of Ted Kaczynski (one of People's "most fascinating people of 1996"), he declares that "a society too squeamish to call evil by its right name has destroyed its first, best defense against cutthroats." Eventually, Gelernter draws a metaphor between himself and the nation, suggesting that the things which helped him recover family, religion, community, the arts, and a stubborn refusal to call himself a "victim" might be just what the country needs, too.

Some may approach this book expecting a tale of horror and agonized recovery, and may be disappointed to instead get an apparent sermon by Mr. Gelernter on a variety of contemporary issues. However, the book is a reminder that often a life­shattering event such as that suffered by the author gives a person unusual clarity and insight into the triumphs and foibles of human nature; and further, when the Unabomber made Gelernter one of his victims, he happened to attack an extremely thoughtful and articulate person. Gelernter, fortunately, lived on to provide us with this memoir, and he has done us a service by resisting the temptation to play the victim and instead focusing on what larger lessons can be drawn from his experience for our whole nation. MR

This article was published in the 21 January 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 16, Number 6).
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