Review by Booklist Review
Kendzior, veteran journalist and cohost of the Gaslit Nation podcast, contends that "the fringes [of American political thought] have been pulled to the center, with the result that the center no longer holds." In her new book, she deftly dissects the tangled truths behind the conspiracies that intertwine American and international politics, business, and criminality with a style reminiscent of Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill (2019) or Bob Woodward's recent books. The author delineates concrete political and criminal conspiracies from those conspiracy theories that are quickly becoming ubiquitous to American society. She posits that true criminal and political machinations and their conspiracy-theory counterparts are detrimental to a diverse American public. Challenging the power structures that allow individuals of various political affiliations to commit crimes against other citizens, Kendzior details current events to support the assertion that both the actions and the inactions of U.S. leaders have created an unstable and unsustainable country. Kendzior's compelling and urgent prose will speak to readers who are working to make sense of the current political and social landscapes.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Right-wing propagandists, white-collar criminals, and corrupt government officials are seeking to undermine democracy in the U.S. by fostering political division and spreading conspiracy theories that mask actual conspiracies, according to this eye-opening yet overheated account. Journalist Kendzior (Hiding in Plain Sight) delves into numerous controversies, including the Iran-Contra affair, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International money-laundering scandal, and the 2007 plea deal that granted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal charges, to make the case that "of course people will flock to conspiracy theories when nearly every powerful actor is lying, obfuscating, or profiteering off pain." Contending that "criminal elites" and "mega-millionaires" with deep ties to the government have set the U.S. on the path to dissolving into "multiple mafia states, which will possibly war with each other for profit," Kendzior suggests that the key to combatting "a lack of transparency and a history of state abuse" is for citizens to protest and leverage their voting and financial power to demand accountability, including public hearings on "the broader bipartisan network of corruption and complicity surrounding ." Though Kendzior's deep dives into recent scandals are illuminating, her relentless pessimism and overwrought prose somewhat undermine the force of her arguments. The result is a hit-or-miss diagnosis of what ails America. (Sept.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The New York Times best-selling Kendzior (Hiding in Plain Sight) takes a long, hard look at the conspiracy theories--and real conspiracies--prevailing in the United States and concludes that they stem not from on-the-fringe crackpots but from a blind faith in ailing institutions and a desire to maintain power. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A sharp dissection of a culture of lies, secrets, and conspiracies--including "the original conspiracy theory: American exceptionalism." Even paranoiacs have enemies. In the case of current citizens of the U.S., the enemies are countless, as demonstrated by Kendzior, author of Hiding in Plain Sight and The View From Flyover Country. By the author's account, the GOP is one, and particularly Republicans in state legislatures who insist that their states are naturally "red" when, in fact, almost everywhere is purple--"like a bruise." Alas, Kendzior notes, Americans are gullible people: A week after the 2020 election, only 3% of the population believed that Donald Trump had won, but a year after, "only 58 percent of Americans--and only 21 percent of Republicans--still believed that Biden was the legitimate president." In such an environment, it's small wonder that conspiracy theories are in wide circulation. Some of them are bizarre enough to seem almost parodies--e.g., "Pizzagate." Others, by Kendzior's account, have stronger legs. For example, we still don't know all the facts about 9/11, particularly when it comes to Saudi Arabia's involvement, and the leaders of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol have yet to be brought to justice. In a corrupt culture of lies (think of the thousands Trump sputtered), chain reactions fire wildly. Since we mistrust authority but yield to power, it's the loudest voice in the room that wins, no matter how ridiculous the matter in question might be. Take QAnon's assertion that only Trump could save us from a pedophile ring, when in fact allegations of pedophilia have long surrounded him. Kendzior's indignation can sometimes wax a touch too righteous, as when she snipes at Anthony Fauci for his supposedly overweening self-regard. Nonetheless, her incisive account of a society in a death spiral, beset by "simultaneous revivals of the worst of the American past," is endlessly compelling. A provocative, pointed challenge to all Americans to dig harder for the truth. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
