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tildahlia's review against another edition
5.0
Gessen is just such a smart, thoughtful writer. It's hard to go wrong with her books. If you think you have reached max saturation with all things Trump, be assured Gessen will find new angles to examine the mess and novel and concise ways of summarising the nightmare of the administration. I particularly appreciated her incisive observations of how the media enabled Trump through it's 'both sides-isms' which aimed to avoid alienating a huge part of its consumers but ultimately just gave Trump a legitimacy he did not deserve. She also made the great point that part of why night-time comedians like Colbert resonated with so many was because, unencumbered by media conservatism, they just told it like it was, in all its jaw-dropping shock and horror. A lot of her analysis of the use of language was superb and her explanations of how autocrats essentially gaslight citizens on a mass scale to destabilise their sense of reality. The audiobook (read by Gessen) is great.
angelsrgorgeous's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book quite exceptional. It covers a lot of ground efficiently, is tightly written, and pushed me deeper into what now appear to have only been surface level thoughts I've considered previously. Highly recommended.
old_nikon_fm's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent analysis and a chilling overview of the challenges facing democracy in America.
ymrana's review against another edition
4.0
Kinda odd reading this *after* the inauguration of Joe Biden but, after reading this definitely came away feeling a sense of just barely escaping hell.
kwheeles's review
4.0
This an intellectual view of the Trump presidency, and the weaknesses in our society that it exploits. The loss of truth - not so much by the triumph of lies, but the loss of meaning. The use of normal language to describe a cataclysm outside of the norms of our government's structure, the media, the public. How do we discuss it without normalizing it? The exposure of the ugly parts of our society's thinking. The loss of ideals and moral authority. And how we get past it. Not a book enumerating Trump's faults, but one that presumes your understanding of them and the questions the adequacy of our institutions, media, and civil discourse to describe and deal with them.
nina_rod's review against another edition
5.0
Masha put into words what I and millions of Americans have gone through. We have suffered a trauma as we watched our norms and democracy crumble before our eyes. And then a compounding trauma from an inept handling of Covid-19.
In the beginning of the Trump presidency, I thought norms and government institutions would save us. Early on, Masha was on MSNBC to tell us they won’t. I wished I listened. I believed that Mueller would save us, the State Department would save us or even later in the Trump Presidency, the election would save us. Eventually, as Masha says in this book, we had to adapt to new norms or go crazy. And this anxiety of “oh boy, what will my president do next?” became my new norm.
Also rethink what words mean became my new norm. For example, when Trump say “I don’t see why Russia wouldn’t be,” does that means he believes Russia didn’t meddle in our election or as Press Sec Sarah Sanders says because Trump’s sentence is a double negative of course Trump believes our country’s intelligence over Russia. And Masha says this confusion was by design.
Also, we had to use and watch on the news words and terms we would have never used before in political discourse like “shithole countries” or “alternative facts.” Or debates on is it Covid-19 or the China Virus?
Masha even explains that there are lies, which Trump does all the time and there are lies about the weather. Trump lies about the weather. He says the sun was shining at his inaugural (it was not) or that a hurricane could hit Alabama (it did not). In essence, Trump will lie about things another people are clearly experiencing making people go crazy!
Thanks to Masha for explaining what I went through. It helps me come to a reckoning of what I experienced and how to begin to go about deprogram.
Instead of getting back to normal, Masha encourages us to welcome diversity into our discourse, such as that represented in women of the Squad, LGTBQ, younger people, etc. Masha says we need to focus on a different politics that values dignity rather than power or equality rather than wealth. So reworking a vision of what a new America could be. And judging from the Republicans handling of their election loss, they are not willing to give up on their power.
In the beginning of the Trump presidency, I thought norms and government institutions would save us. Early on, Masha was on MSNBC to tell us they won’t. I wished I listened. I believed that Mueller would save us, the State Department would save us or even later in the Trump Presidency, the election would save us. Eventually, as Masha says in this book, we had to adapt to new norms or go crazy. And this anxiety of “oh boy, what will my president do next?” became my new norm.
Also rethink what words mean became my new norm. For example, when Trump say “I don’t see why Russia wouldn’t be,” does that means he believes Russia didn’t meddle in our election or as Press Sec Sarah Sanders says because Trump’s sentence is a double negative of course Trump believes our country’s intelligence over Russia. And Masha says this confusion was by design.
Also, we had to use and watch on the news words and terms we would have never used before in political discourse like “shithole countries” or “alternative facts.” Or debates on is it Covid-19 or the China Virus?
Masha even explains that there are lies, which Trump does all the time and there are lies about the weather. Trump lies about the weather. He says the sun was shining at his inaugural (it was not) or that a hurricane could hit Alabama (it did not). In essence, Trump will lie about things another people are clearly experiencing making people go crazy!
Thanks to Masha for explaining what I went through. It helps me come to a reckoning of what I experienced and how to begin to go about deprogram.
Instead of getting back to normal, Masha encourages us to welcome diversity into our discourse, such as that represented in women of the Squad, LGTBQ, younger people, etc. Masha says we need to focus on a different politics that values dignity rather than power or equality rather than wealth. So reworking a vision of what a new America could be. And judging from the Republicans handling of their election loss, they are not willing to give up on their power.
wannabekingpin's review against another edition
4.0
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: With Soviet childhood, and a couple years of writing on resurgence of totalitarianism in Russia, Gessen was well equipped to spot the rise of autocracy in USA, the meanings behind Trump’s speeches during his election and presidency. This book points at the corrosion, where and why it appeared, what it means to have it there, and how to outlive it first, and then, hopefully, heal.
My Opinion: There are some good points made in regards to USA’s interactions with other nations, the good, and the bad effects, what rubbed off on whom, and who made what damage to whom. In a way, fits events today too (RU federation committing war crimes and genocide in Ukraine as we speak), as author points to where certain ideologies lead, naming names, and pointing fingers.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: With Soviet childhood, and a couple years of writing on resurgence of totalitarianism in Russia, Gessen was well equipped to spot the rise of autocracy in USA, the meanings behind Trump’s speeches during his election and presidency. This book points at the corrosion, where and why it appeared, what it means to have it there, and how to outlive it first, and then, hopefully, heal.
My Opinion: There are some good points made in regards to USA’s interactions with other nations, the good, and the bad effects, what rubbed off on whom, and who made what damage to whom. In a way, fits events today too (RU federation committing war crimes and genocide in Ukraine as we speak), as author points to where certain ideologies lead, naming names, and pointing fingers.