Eric Bogosian is everywhere. Odds are, you've seen him in something and not even noticed because he's everywhere. Currently, he's probably best known for playing Senator Gil Eavis on HBO's Succession, reporter Daniel Molloy on AMC's Interview with the Vampire, and Captain Danny Ross on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Outside of theatre and history circles, few people are probably aware that over the last few decades, Bogosian (who is a playwright, novelist, historian, and comedian in addition to being an actor) has written nearly two dozen books. Two of these in particular are most impressive to me: his 2009 novel Perforated Heart, and his 2015 historical monograph, Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot That Avenged the Armenian Genocide. To me, these two books show not only the extent of Bogosian’s knowledge and perspective of the world, but also his mastery of the conventions of both fiction and non-fiction writing.
Born in 1953 to a second-generation Armenian-American family, Eric Bogosian began writing and performing professionally in the mid-1970s. Since the beginning of his career, his goal has been social commentary, prompted by the culture shock of moving from a small town outside Boston to New York City in his early twenties straight out of college. For the first time, Bogosian saw hatred and prejudice firsthand, and he saw the hardships of homeless people and people with mental illnesses, and he wanted to do something about it. However, as a young artist still new to New York, he wasn’t sure what he could do to help fix the problems he saw every day on the streets. He barely had enough money to support himself, and he didn’t have the connections or status to make any major changes. The most effective thing he could do, he decided, was to put what he saw on the stage in hopes of bringing it to the attention of his audience and the New York Theatre crowd. In the almost fifty years since, Bogosian has remained committed to that goal.
Bogosian doesn’t shy away from sensitive subjects or try to make them more palatable. Instead, he explicitly presents his audience with a variety of American prejudices, primarily those held by white American men. Rather than showing his audience the perspective of the broken, beaten-down victim, he confronts them with the unsavory perspective of those doing the beating—or, at the very least, those who would stand by and do nothing, or even judge the victim. Thus, he sparks guilt in another, much more visceral and self-reflective way, seeming to ask his audience members, “Do you think like this? Do you know someone who does? Do you want to continue thinking this way or associating with people who do now that you’ve seen how hurtful it can be?”
Perforated Heart tells the story of Richard Morris, a writer in his fifties who finds himself looking back on his life after a series of rather unfortunate events which include the death of his Aunt Sadie, his own diagnosis with a serious heart condition, and the lack of success of his most recent novel. He also must contend with his elderly father’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, the failure of his current romantic relationship due to his infidelity and his refusal to marry and start a family with his partner, and a potential lawsuit from his ex-partner Elizabeth who believes a character he wrote was based on her. Throughout the book, Richard fails to take responsibility for his actions. Instead, he blames others: doctors, the women in his life, his Jewish family members, and various colleagues and acquaintances. It isn’t clear to Richard that the roadblocks he faces are often ones he built himself, but to the reader, it’s obvious that Richard’s bigotry and selfishness are the root of most of his problems.
At the opposite end of the spectrum sits Bogosian’s Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot That Avenged the Armenian Genocide. The first half of this book summarizes the history of the Armenian people, from the time of their arrival in what is today Armenia several thousand years ago until the Armenian Genocide in the 1910s. The second half focuses on Operation Nemesis itself, a mission organized and executed by a handful of Armenian and Armenian-American citizens who sought to kill the government officials responsible for the Armenian Genocide, and who were later executed for these assassinations. Prior to this book’s publication, no books in English had ever been written about Operation Nemesis. As a result, it took Bogosian over seven years to write this book, during which time he worked with top researchers and translators from across the globe to gather sources. The final product was a historical monograph which was both accessible for readers unfamiliar with the history of Armenia and the Armenian Genocide, and eye-opening for experts in the field because it contained information and analysis not previously found in any other books on this period in history.
With both these books, Eric Bogosian shows an unwavering devotion to not sugarcoating details, and instead painting as accurate and authentic a picture of his subjects as he can. In Perforated Heart, he gives his readers a look into the minds of older, privileged white American men and shows clearly that he does not condone the unsavory mindset of its narrator, which is, unfortunately, not an uncommon one (at least according to Bogosian). In Operation Nemesis, he similarly gives his readers a glimpse into a disturbing but largely forgotten period of world history, the Armenian Genocide. Looking at these two entirely unrelated books in conjecture with one another also demonstrates the breadth of Bogosian’s skill and talent as a writer, a researcher, an artist, and a historian.
Perforated Heart is available to read online through the Internet Archive, a free, legal, and safe-to-use online library. Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot That Avenged the Armenian Genocide is available to check out from the SJR State Library.
Operation Nemesis by