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A review by huerca_armada
It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump Into Office by Dale Beran
2.0
A strong first 1/3 of a book that gradually erodes away the goodwill it earned over the intervening chapters. While Beran succinctly details how natal period of the internet, and its growth with radical leanings into a nihilistic jungle, it begins to focus too much on the exploits of certain individuals and alt-right grifters in the later stages of the book. This probably felt more realized years earlier, when the Trump presidency was still in full swing and figures like Milo Yiannopolous and Steve Bannon weren't yet revealed to be flashes in the pan, but at this point i think we can understand that the emphasis placed upon them is misguided.
As others have pointed out, the nature of this book feels more like a lengthened opinion piece with how frequently that Beran refers back to other thinkers and political theorists, to the point where it begins to feel lazily padded. I could only recommend this book if you are in need of a primer on SA/4chan culture, and even then you should take what is written here with a handful of salt. When your book has sentences like "organizations such as antifa or black bloc," you begin to lose a little credence when you talk about other things.
As others have pointed out, the nature of this book feels more like a lengthened opinion piece with how frequently that Beran refers back to other thinkers and political theorists, to the point where it begins to feel lazily padded. I could only recommend this book if you are in need of a primer on SA/4chan culture, and even then you should take what is written here with a handful of salt. When your book has sentences like "organizations such as antifa or black bloc," you begin to lose a little credence when you talk about other things.