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The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True…
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The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion (original 2008; edition 2009)

by Matt Taibbi

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6262037,138 (3.87)23
A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN--FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush's America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off--or radicalized--by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders ("they hate us for our freedom") that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement. Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places. Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.… (more)
Member:sfarmer76
Title:The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion
Authors:Matt Taibbi
Info:Spiegel & Grau (2009), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 336 pages
Collections:Your library
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The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire by Matt Taibbi (2008)

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» See also 23 mentions

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Are we a society, or a sorry collection of deluded, implacably antagonistic interest groups? Is America still a nation of progress, or are we doomed to repeat the Soviet Union's slow decaying rot due to our inability to directly engage the unpleasant reality of our completely dysfunctional culture? Taibbi is easily my favorite journalist working now because he matches the most awesome, effortless prose since Hunter S Thompson (whose position at Rolling Stone Taibbi now fills) with the kind of incredulous anger that can only come from having to cover some of the most degrading and worthless media stories our culture has to offer (the Michael Jackson trial, Lynndie England). The basic premise of the book is that American discourse has become so infected with meaningless sports team-ish tribalism that it's almost impossible for our political system to function effectively. There's tons of hilarious yet depressing reporting on how irredeemably corrupt Washington has become, cheered on by a public that's nearly incapable of making informed decisions on any issues whatsoever due to an utterly worthless media that can only report the most banal and useless stories. I would say that the best part of the book is where he pretends to be born again at Pastor John Hagee's San Antonio megachurch (the same anti-Catholic nutcase who was briefly in the news last year when McCain tried to seek his endorsement), but the writing is superb throughout. ( )
  aaronarnold | May 11, 2021 |
I actually had a lot to say about it, so feel free to go over to my blog and read my review on it. ( )
  bloodravenlib | Aug 17, 2020 |
Really? Prep school douche travels to middle America and chuckles at fatties? I agree with everything Taibbi says but I still found this book unpleasant and unfunny. Rolling Stone journalist from NYC insinuates himself in a Texas megachurch, exhausts himself early thinking of creative ways to describe white trash, makes some pretty obvious points about church and state, sits on his laurels as "the next Hunter S. Thompson," eats shit. Great for people who haven't seen "Jesus Camp" but still would like to have an opinion. ( )
  uncleflannery | May 16, 2020 |
Disappointing. Taibbi picks targets that are miles wide and then strikes them with tiny little arrows of personal irritation and snark. I learned nothing. ( )
  CSRodgers | Jun 24, 2017 |
Wants to be HST, isn't, but that's okay after all.

Also, pretend I gave it a 3.5

I enjoyed reading this, it was great on the COMMUTE. I don't know enough about what he writes about to properly critique the book, but I learned something and appreciated his argument that people of all political affiliations say and do absurd things. All the time.

For all you TO THE POINT with WARREN OLNEY listeners (or former listeners, comme moi), Taibbi is buddies with TTP regular Winslow Wheeler, so that's kinda cool. ( )
  behemothing | Oct 25, 2014 |
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A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN--FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush's America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off--or radicalized--by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders ("they hate us for our freedom") that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement. Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places. Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.

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