Book Review: Squat by John Safran

Well, after saying this was going to be a light month for new books, four audiobooks I had been waiting on landed in my apps! Happy days, and the reading pace immediately accelerated as I listen to audiobooks while driving, shopping, exercising, cleaning and cooking (usually at least 3 hours a day between all those activities). The first cab off the rank was John Safran's latest book, Squat, which, being only 8 hours or so long, I knocked over in 3 days :-)

This book is an enjoyably out-there piece of gonzo journalism from Safran, whose reputation as a talented but unpredictable enfant terrible of the Australian docu-art scene endures despite the fact that he is now (like me) 52 years old. I have been a fan of his work since his late 90s debut as part of the ABC documentary-making competition, Race Around the World, and this book did not disappoint.

The set-up is quite simple: Safran, having heard Kanye West's increasing forays into public anti-semitism, decides to travel to LA with his girlfriend Antoinette (a major "character" in the narrative) to see if he can meet the rapper. This is a common tactic for Safran, whose endless curiosity and seeming taste for testing extremism even it puts him in danger has seen him (a Jewish man from Melbourne) go undercover with a white supremacist group, for example.

However, rather than confronting Ye himself, Safran ends up exploring the story through places - particularly, the properties that West has now seemingly abandoned despite them being once in very prominent public view. Chief among these is West's mansion and grounds in Calabasas, the once-home of the church gatherings led by West in his preaching phase. Safran breaks into the property and ends up squatting in the abandoned buildings (and cars) for a week.

Although this book is frequently very funny, it also tackles really serious issues around anti-semitism, the construction of the Other, and the fluid nature of identity. Yes, it's a personal story, so if you are looking for academic analysis or any kind of purported objectivity, you won't find it here. But Safran makes connections and has insights that feel meaningful, even at times weighty.

I've seen suggestions that he could have written the same book from the comfort of his Melbourne home, but I strongly disagree. Part of what makes the book work is the constant unease occasioned by his trespassing, and the collapsing, creepy nature of the abandoned buildings themselves (fungus on the walls, collapsing ceilings, birds of prey in the attic...) The unease is oddly bifocal - I was both worried for Safran's safety the whole time and willing him not to get caught, and AT THE SAME TIME, was extremely uneasy that the book was asking me to cheer for, or at least accept as justified, a crime. (For clarity, I think squatting when you have nowhere else to go is at least understandable, but that was not what happened here - Safran had a perfectly nice hotel room and a home back in Australia, what he did was straightforward breaking and entering).

At the end of the day, the book is not actually about Kanye West, except for the extent to which he serves as an avatar for "rich celebrity with bananapants views". The book is about Safran himself, and the mental journey he goes on while holed up in the collapsing houses. I really liked it, and will probably read it again at some point.