A Safeway in Arizona
Subtitle: what the Gabrielle Giffords shooting tells us about the Grand Canyon State and life in America
By: Tom Zoellner
Publisher: Viking
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 276
ISBN-13: 9780670023202
Subjects: Politics and government; Political culture; Arizona; Economic conditions; Social conditions; Assassination attempt, 2011; Civilization
Description: This book is an account of the state of Arizona, seen through the lens of the Tucson shootings. On January 8, 2011, twenty-two-year-old Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a Tucson meet-and-greet held by U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. The incident left six people dead and eighteen injured, including Giffords, whom he shot in the head. The author, a fifth generation Arizonan and longtime friend of Giffords's and a field organizer on her Congressional campaign, uses the tragedy as a jumping-off point to expose the fault lines in Arizona's political and socioeconomic landscape that allowed this to happen. He discusses the harmful political rhetoric, the inept state government, the lingering effects of the housing market's boom and bust, the proliferation and accessibility of guns, the lack of established communities, and the hysteria surrounding issues of race and immigration. He offers a revealing portrait of the Southwestern state at a critical moment in history, and as a symbol of the nation's discontents and uncertainties. Ultimately, it is his rallying cry for a saner, more civil way of life.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.