Matt Taibbi's "The Great Derangement"

I started this book with high hopes of a smart but insightful view of US culture/politics. The author writes for Rolling Stone magazine. I expected something good.

The writing style left me cool. He does take a know-it-all, cocky view of things. And he does show some real knowledge of people & things. But I don't come away from this book with a feeling that I learned anything deep. I feel kind of "icky" in that his view of people is that they are stepping stones to his career. He sneaks into a fundamentalist Christian group through lies and then writes condescendingly of their pathetic lives. I don't need this. He comes off as a holier-than-thou know-it-all with no heart. There is no "there" there.

His view of society and government is far to jaundiced for my taste. Here is his put-down of the 9/11 conspiracy crowd:

You don't elect politicians to commit crimes; you elect politicians to make your crimes legal. That is the whole purpose of the racket of government. Another use of it would be a terrible investment and the financial class in this country didn't get to where it is by betting on the ability of a president whose lips move when he reads to blow up two Manhatten skyscrappers in broad daylight without getting caught. (p. 190)

Here is one of his put-downs of religion:

This was a sort of Church of America, where the religious and political orthodoxies were inextricable. You could no more protest on behalf of Nancy Pelosi here than you could question the wisdom of God. It was groupthink in the classic sense of the word, with the rants against Pelosi and against Libby's "enemies" an essentially exactly parallel version of the Two Minutes' Hate. But I couldn't find a way to get off on it the same way they did. Like Orwell's protagonist Winston, I was in trouble because to be a convincing hater you really have to feel it. And when you don't feel it, you give of a kind of stink.

I have no love for fundamentalist religion. But after wading through a couple hundred pages of Taibbi's "personal experience" I don't learn anything authentic or useful. I learn about his ability to manipulate and to make fun of other people. But I don't get any useful insights. Sadly, this book was a waste of my time. I had high hopes. I was recommended to me. But I'm sorry I spent the time trying to get something useful out of this book.