Edward Snowden’s ongoing revelations have unveiled not just information but a total feast of complex visual and stylistic material, and the sprawling range of leaked interior documents—from the naff to the authoritative (and arriving in as many formats)—is proving to be among the richest cultural content released within the past year.
In this unparalleled news experience, Snowden’s authorial equal might be Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, whose comprehensive No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (Metropolitan) will likely stand as the best of many recent books on the subject. In contrast to Luke Harding’s widely read page-turner The Snowden Files (Vintage, 2014), described by the London Review of Books as a “super-readable, thrillerish account,” Greenwald’s take promises a deeper analysis and new revelations. It will be a fantastic addition to my growing stockpile of surveillance-related intrigue titles—a collection begun with reporter Nicky Hager’s thoroughly researched Secret Power (Craig Potton, 1996), which offered the first publicly circulated information about New Zealand’s participation in the multinational, heavily hierarchical “Five Eyes” spy network.
Simon Denny will represent New Zealand in the 56th Venice Biennale.