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anthofer 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
This was a big swing and also a miss. I wouldn't be against reading Akkad's second novel, since I like big swings, but the politics of this just seem extremely misguided. The continued evocation of a particular "Southernness" throughout the novel that is somehow disconnected from race just doesn't match US history. I agree that the Reds of our Red States are actually more united by a nostalgia, grievance, and social contagion than they are by White supremacy (witness more POC voting Red in 2020 than ever before), but to imagine that in two to three generations Black and Brown people will join in coalition with White southerners against elitist northern technocrats is...incorrect.
On the other hand, I found many of his descriptions of the coming climate change politics to be correct, and I fear that Blue people may be underestimating the violence of this particular issue in the future.
On the other hand, I found many of his descriptions of the coming climate change politics to be correct, and I fear that Blue people may be underestimating the violence of this particular issue in the future.