A review by niamhannea
The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War by Jeff Sharlet

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Sharlet excels at painting a gritty image of a man travelling through the backroads and diners of America, interviewing families and communities who worship trump, Jesus, and their guns - in that order. Who preach patriotism while praising the insurrection and Sharlet explores it all as he traverses the states, like a jungle tour of the extreme American right and some of their talking points. Except - while some are extreme, their views are varied and their logic explored. This is no political article, this is a book on people, what they eat at night, how they care for their family - and also how they vote and what they believe, however extreme and wrong to me . Sharlet does an amazing job of exploring these people while eating at their dinner tables, sometimes facing danger, and often kindness too.  The writing is extremely immersive, poetic and often beautiful too.