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icecurtain 's review for:
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
by Kurt Andersen
Great idea, poorly executed.
How did America fall so deeply under the sway of religions, conspiracy theories and Trump? Interesting and extremely important topic. Normally I'd strongly recommend any book waking people up to how damaging those are.
I hoped the book would build a rock solid case step by step. Instead, it feels more like a conspiracy theorist's murder board, throwing random thoughts out and claiming they're somehow connected. Blame the downfall of democracy on D&D, SCA, adult coloring books, elders getting their hair dyed, and men no longer wearing suits to work? Really?
The book would be improved by removing most of it (why is the author so obsessed with boob jobs?) and focusing on a narrower, stronger case.
Fortunately, I didn't notice any outright misinformation, but the author could have done more quality control. He casually says 8 states prohibit atheists from holding public office. Partially true. It's outlawed in the constitutions of 7-8 states (Pennsylvania technically just says believers can't be disqualified from holding office), but the Supreme Court ruled those clauses to be unenforceable.
Outrage and unfounded claims make this book sound like it could have been written by a conservative. This book could have, should have been so much better.
How did America fall so deeply under the sway of religions, conspiracy theories and Trump? Interesting and extremely important topic. Normally I'd strongly recommend any book waking people up to how damaging those are.
I hoped the book would build a rock solid case step by step. Instead, it feels more like a conspiracy theorist's murder board, throwing random thoughts out and claiming they're somehow connected. Blame the downfall of democracy on D&D, SCA, adult coloring books, elders getting their hair dyed, and men no longer wearing suits to work? Really?
The book would be improved by removing most of it (why is the author so obsessed with boob jobs?) and focusing on a narrower, stronger case.
Fortunately, I didn't notice any outright misinformation, but the author could have done more quality control. He casually says 8 states prohibit atheists from holding public office. Partially true. It's outlawed in the constitutions of 7-8 states (Pennsylvania technically just says believers can't be disqualified from holding office), but the Supreme Court ruled those clauses to be unenforceable.
Outrage and unfounded claims make this book sound like it could have been written by a conservative. This book could have, should have been so much better.