Geography Inside Out, by Richard Symanski [Korski] (Book Review)

Geography Inside Out Richard Sym anski (with Korski). Foreword by Peter Gould. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002. xix and 277 pages, photos, appendices, notes, and index. $29.95 cloth (ISBN 0-8156-0732-6). Reviewed by David Nem eth, Departm ent of Geography and Planning, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH. Th e villain y you teach m e I will execu te, an d it sh all go h ard bu t I will better th e in stru ction . —Sh ylo ck, in Merch an t of Ven ice b y W illia m Sh a kesp ea re (III.i.60–65) IF YOU LOVE GEOGRAPHY an d its in tern al affairs bu t are weary of read in g th e u su al h agiograp h ies by geograp h ers abou t th eir m en tors an d colleagu es an d au tobiograp h ies by acad em ics in ten t on p olish in g u p th eir own im ages an d th ose of th eir d ep artm en ts/ in stitu tion s, th en con sid er th is u n u su al book. Th e au th or of Geography Inside Out h as a som ewh at sin ister d u al id en tity an d cou ld well be a d irect d escen d en t of Melm oth , a h orrific Goth ic wan d erer an d villain -h ero wh o sh ocked read ers at th e close of th e Rom an tic Age. Th e Goth ic villain -h ero is ch aracterized in literatu re as “a p erson age wh ose evil is th e resu lt of a clash between h is p assion ate n atu re an d p owerfu l in d ivid u al will, an d th e u n n atu ral restrain ts of con ven tion , orth od oxy, or trad ition ” (Axton 1961, x). “Goth ic villain -h ero” n icely cap tu res th e d u al p erson a of th is au th or. Feared by som e, d isliked by m an y, ou r villain -au th or’s road h ou se n am e is Korski. We learn at th e ou tset th at Korski accep ts “n o au th ority on p rin cip le” (p . 16), an d th is bit of in form ation goes a lon g way toward u n d erstan d in g wh at th e book is all abou t. On th e flip sid e, ou r h ero-au th or, wh o en d orses h is p u blish er’s royalty ch ecks as “Rich ard Sym an ski,” is th e lovin g fath er of “Cole,” to wh om Geography Inside Out is d ed icated , an d to wh om h e beq u eath s an d in stru cts: “… th at h e will con fron t stu p id ity, p reten tiou sn ess, h u bris, d ish on esty, ven ality, an d coward ice—wh erever fou n d .” Th is d ed ication is also essen tial to d ecod in g th e book an d m akin g sen se of it. I will h ereafter refer to th e d u al au th or as “S-K” (Sym an ski-Korski), an d wou ld ad d th at Peter Gou ld , wh o p en n ed th e Foreword , su g- 110 The California Geographer ■ Volume 43, 2003 gests th at an y to attem p t to clarify th e com p lexity of th e book’s au th orsh ip wou ld fru strate th e p leasu re of read in g it. I agree. If th e even ts d escribed in Geography Inside Out are an ywh ere n ear tru e, S-K’s con tin u in g rep u tation as acad em ic geograp h y’s “worstBad -Boy-in -exile” is u n d erstan d able. Geograp h y, as S-K con stan tly rem in d s u s, is stod gy. Th is con flicts with S-K’s acad em ic freed om to p u rsu e h is in terest in sex as a geograp h er. His in itial AAG Annals article on p rostitu tion in Nevad a (1974), an d h is su bseq u en t sch olarly book The Im m oral Landscape (1981), were both su bm itted for p u blication again st th e ad vice of th e th en voices of au th ority in geograp h y an d th u s p u blish ed to th e everlastin g d etrim en t of h is career ch an ces in th e d iscip lin e. “Pu blish and p erish ” was S-K’s exp erien ce as d escribed h ere. An d even n ow, S-K p ersists in d efyin g cen sorsh ip of h is research an d writin g; for exam p le, on p age 16 h e casu ally brin gs th e read er with h im in to th e Bogota ap artm en t of a Fren ch Avian ca fligh t atten d an t, wh ere sh e asks h im to tap e em erald s to h er th igh s an d oth er p laces. In 1971, S-K, fresh from Syracu se Un iversity with a Ph .D. in geograp h y, was a risin g star am on g you n g acad em ic geograp h ers. A d ecad e later, h e sim u ltan eou sly p u blish ed The Im m oral Landscape an d th e coau th ored positivist classic Order and Skepticism (1981). By th en , h is rep u tation in geograp h y as an en igm atic villain -h ero h ad solid ified . Geography Inside Out d escribes h is d ecad e-lon g sp ectacu lar free fall from grace as a strin g of d isp u tes from h ere to th ere with colleagu es an d ran kin g geograp h ers. His wild acad em ic career on th e ten u re track fin ally d erails at th e Un iversity of Texas in 1976, wh ere h e is sh u n ted over to th e exit d oor an d ou t—th u s on e m ean in g of th e book’s title, “in sid e ou t.” S-K is bou n ced from two oth er u n iversity ap p oin tm en ts before fin ally th rowin g in th e towel an d leavin g geograp h y’s acad em ic circle forever. Sin ce “ou ted ,” S-K h as roam ed ju st beyon d th e h orizon of th at circle, gain fu lly em p loyed elsewh ere bu t occasion ally tossin g variou s-sized ston es of d efian ce an d d istraction at h is old en em ies in Fortress Geograp h y. Th is book is a bou ld er th at h as ju st arrived on target. S-K, as th e book relates, is tod ay secu rely teth ered at UC Irvin e as a ten u red facu lty m em ber in th e Dep artm en t of Ecology an d Evolu tion ary Biology, wh ere h e teach es—am on g oth er th in gs—writin g. Bu t h e is on a lon g leash th ere, an d rem ain s th e n otoriou s p erip atetic racon teu r, bar figh ter, an d p rolific writer th at h e was way back wh en , as h e d etails, m an y acad em ic geograp h ers u n ju stly ju d ged Nemeth: Book Review— Geography Inside Out 111 h im in su fferably cen su rable an d vile. S-K still travels th e world with p en , p ad , an d cam era, en gagin g stran gers in broth els an d elsewh ere in exp loratory con versation s, an d baggin g in word s an d im ages th e p ictu resq u e, su blim e, an d em otion al treasu res of ch an gin g cu ltu ral lan d scap es. As I write, h e is in Th ailan d . Geography Inside Out is S-K’s very p erson al critiq u e of th e d iscip lin e of geograp h y, an d of geograp h ers. Th is critiq u e traces its origin s to h is grad u ate stu d en t d ays, wh en h e n aively exp ected reason an d p rin cip le to ru le geograp h y an d geograp h ers—bu t in stead fou n d th ese virtu es m issin g. S-K’s grad u al alien ation from geograp h y can be red u ced for d iscu ssion p u rp oses h ere to th e u ltim ate ou tcom e of h is relen tless p u rsu it of th e an swer to on e sim p le q u estion : “W h at is wron g with th is d iscip lin e called geograp h y?” (p . 244). He first asked th e q u estion system atically an d scien tifically as a n aïve assistan t p rofessor. In Geography Inside Out, h e sh ares h is fin d in gs: Geograp h y “is a d iscip lin e th at, on th e wh ole, is an in tellectu al d esert” (p p . 6–7), from wh ich h e elaborates on th at list of sin s q u oted above from th e book’s d ed ication p age. His m ajor com p lain ts are th e “lack of a vigorou s critical trad ition ” in geograp h y an d lack of “q u ality in tellectu al ou tp u t.” S-K is esp ecially critical of th e “liberal Fascism ” h e d iscovered am on g geograp h ers. S-K h as several h obbies. He likes to en gage p eop le in con versation s, both in real an d in virtu al sp ace. Th is in volves “m ixin g an d ch attin g with th e locals” arou n d th e world (p . 153) an d also “en gagin g in roarin g e-m ail corresp on d en ces” (p . 240). Most of all, h e en joys writin g essays “on an yth in g th at catch es h is atten tion ” (p . 244). Th is book is a collection of som e of h is essays, all of wh ich offer d irectly or in d irectly h is atten tive in sigh ts in to th e cau ses of wh at h e d etects as th e geograp h ical m alaise. Taken togeth er, th ese essays con stitu te a p ostm od ern p astich e of irreveren t, m ockin g, an alytical, an d seriou s—bu t always well-written —in d ictm en ts of geograp h y an d geograp h ers. Am bigu ou s, su rreal p h otograp h s au gm en t th e text. Geography Inside Out in toto resem bles a David Lyn ch p roject. I was left exh au sted at th e en d of it all an d won d erin g wh eth er S-K was eith er a clever an d d eliberate stylistic d evice or a p ath ological con dition of th e au th or…in wh ich case th ere m ay very well be n oth in g wron g with geograp h y an d geograp h ers? Geography Inside Out m akes p lain th at alth ou gh S-K is n ow p u sh in g p ast fifty, h e p ersists in h is an ger an d rem ain s d an gerou s to h is en em ies, wh o are always with in h is ston e’s th row. W h at m akes S-K so 112 The California Geographer ■ Volume 43, 2003 d an gerou s, as th e book clarifies in five p arts an d twen ty-fou r ch ap ters, is th e com bin ation of h is u n d ergrad u ate d egree in accou n tin g, h is skill as a m aster word sm ith , an d h is love of geograp h y. He loves n ot th e corru p t discipline of geograp h y bu t th e p u re spirit of a reason ed an d p rin cip led geograp h y, wh ich h e h im self em bod ied at th e tim e of h is betrayal. He wan ts to h old accou n table all th ose en tren ch ed elites in geograp h y wh o d id h im wron g an d / or em bod y wh at is wron g with geograp h y. So h e barrages th em u n m ercifu lly with word s, d etails th eir betrayals an d in ep titu d es, an d su llies th eir n am es. He even p rovid es a h an d y glossary of n am es for read ers on th e ru n , wh ich takes th em d irectly to th e trash talk. Geography Inside Out begin s with Korski m akin g a “m isgu ided” David Sack an offer h e sh ou ld n ’t refu se, bu t d oes (p . 9). Th e rest of th e book is a m erciless broad sid e (or blood bath ), wh erein S-K system atically roam s th e h alls of th e d iscip lin e like Od ysseu s search in g for Pen elop e’s su itors, an d d isp atch es ju st abou t everyon e wh o was in stalled in geograp h y’s p an th eon of h eroes du rin g th e p ast fifty years. An d so p roceed s, ch ap ter u p on ch ap ter, th is p erh ap s ep ic q u est by a self-styled reason ed an d p rin cip led m an in fu tile search of a reason ed an d p rin cip led geograp h ic d iscip lin e. I p erson ally h ated to see alm ost all th e cap tain s of th e Berkeley Sch ool, an d esp ecially its ad m iral Carl Sau er, com e crash in g to th e floor as I tu rn ed th e p ages, an d toward th e en d of th e book I tired of th e carn age n o m atter wh o was th e target. Th at was wh en I ch ose th e ep igrap h for th is review, for it seem s th at S-K becam e as ad ep t an exp loiter of d esp otism in geograp h y as h e on ce was a victim of it, argu ably betterin g h is in stru ction . S-K is q u ite aware th at h is lifestyle/ ou tlook in vites trou ble u n to h im self. He h as exp erien ced both en d s of th e u gly stick, as we learn on p age 241 wh ere h e d escribes a bad n igh t in Tiju an a’s rou gh Zon a Norte (in th e h eart of its red -ligh t d istrict), wh ere two th u gs take h im d own h ard before th ey rob h im blin d . Perh ap s geograp h y an d geograp h ers were ju st too tam e for S-K—th ou gh “borin g” is n ot on e of h is m an y com p lain ts. If S-K h ad n ot in d eed su ffered th e in ju stices h e d escribes, th en th e late, great Peter Gou ld , wh o p erson ally kn ew m ost of th e p layers in th is steam y m elod ram a, wou ld likely n ot h ave en d orsed an d recom m en ded th e book by con tribu tin g its foreword. An d sin ce a m ajor acad em ic p ress h as seen fit to p u blish th e book, S-K’s cran ky cri- Nemeth: Book Review— Geography Inside Out 113 tiq u e of geograp h y an d geograp h ers req u ires som e th ou gh tfu l resp on se—it can h ard ly be ign ored . To th e exten t th at S-K’s com p lain ts in Geography Inside Out can be su ccessfu lly d ism issed as u n tru e an d th e ran ts of a m ad m an , geograp h y an d geograp h ers n eed n ot be obliged to ch an ge th eir ways. Of cou rse, acad em ic geograp h y an d geograp h ers have ch an ged sin ce S-K left th eir fold , bu t su ch ch an ges—th e ad ven t of GIS an d so on — m ay be m ore su p erficial th an p rofou n d as th ey relate to S-K’s critiq u e. Man y cop ies of th is book will be sold , if for n o oth er reason th an its en tertain m en t valu e for an yon e p ossessin g th ree sawbu cks an d a m orbid cu riosity. As S-K con ced es, “Ju st abou t everybod y likes to see a little blood flow” (p . 245). Geography Inside Out will be req u ired read in g for m y own grad u ate-level p h ilosop h y an d m eth od ology cou rse, wh ere its fresh an d p rovocative focu s on issu es an d p erson alities in acad em ic geograp h y can p rom ote critical th ou gh t an d d iscu ssion . I recom m en d it as a revealin g critiq u e worth y of seriou s d iscu ssion . Geograp h y an d geograp h ers are n ot with ou t sin , an d (fortu n ately) th e con scien ce of geograp h y is n ot an elected office in tern al to th e d iscip lin e. References Axton , William F. 1961. In trod u ction to Melm oth the W anderer: A Tale, by Ch arles Robert Matu rin . (Origin ally p u blish ed in 1820.) Lin coln : Un iversity of Nebraska Press. Sym an ski, Rich ard . 1974. Prostitu tion in Nevad a. Annals of the Association of Am erican Geographers 64: 357–77. ———. 1981. The Im m oral Landscape: Fem ale Prostitution in W estern Societies. Toron to: Bu tterworth s. S(z)ym an ski, Rich ard , an d Joh n Agn ew. 1981. Order and Skepticism : Hum an Geography and the Dialects of Science. Wash in gton , D.C.: Association of Am erican Geograp h ers. 114 The California Geographer ■ Volume 43, 2003