The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire
by: Matt Taibbi
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Product Description:
A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement.
Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places.
Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.
A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement.
Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places.
Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Classic Taibbi: brilliant, if disorganized
Matt Taibbi is one of our greatest living journalists. His book The eXile sits on my top shelf as one of my very favorite books, period. His Spanking the Donkey blew me away with his incredible and hilarious attempt to cover the presidential elections with human compassion -- for both sides. His reviews of Thomas Friedman fall on the same shelf as Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" and Twain's "The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper".
This book is rather more confused ... Read More
Rating: 
- Tabbi looks at extreme right and left Americans
In this book, Taibbi goes undercover in a Christian megachurch, and spends time with the 9/11 truth movement in order to demonstrate a theory about how a lack of honesty in our political discourse has lead to two delusional extremes.I have to admit that I didn't know what goes on at either until I read this book.Between descriptions of both, plus a digression on how a corrupt Congress writes laws as political favors for donors, I was left flabbergasted at some of the things that go on in the U.S. ... Read More
Rating: 
- Not bad...
Interesting and informative, but the author takes too much time to point out how much cooler he is than the people in the groups he infiltrates.His deceptive treatment of the earnest Christians borders on cruel, and the book bogs down about two-thirds of the way through with an over-long depiction of what a 9/11 conspiracy planning session would sound like.
Overall, Taibbi provides some very interesting perspectives and several moments of genuine wit and humor.There's a temptation to ... Read More
Rating: - The funniest book I've ever read
I first heard of the author when he appeared on Bill Maher's show. Of his writing I became aware when I read his rather biting appraisal of John McCain's campaign not long ago. Then he wrote a piece on Thomas Friedmann which had me rolling on the floor. So I couldn't resist this volume.
Taibbi "infiltrated" an evangelistic church. I don't recall whether he referred to himself as an atheist, but, to put it mildly, it wasn't easy for him to fit in with a bunch of bible thumpers.
Read More
Rating: - Just the book I was looking for...
A hilarious and cynical peek into two of the loonier "movements" of recent years. I'll probably read it again sometime soon when I need to be reminded just how weird things got during the dawn of the 21st century...unless of course things just keep getting weirder; then I'll need Taibbi to write another book.
- Classic Taibbi: brilliant, if disorganizedMatt Taibbi is one of our greatest living journalists. His book The eXile sits on my top shelf as one of my very favorite books, period. His Spanking the Donkey blew me away with his incredible and hilarious attempt to cover the presidential elections with human compassion -- for both sides. His reviews of Thomas Friedman fall on the same shelf as Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" and Twain's "The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper".
This book is rather more confused ... Read More
- Tabbi looks at extreme right and left AmericansIn this book, Taibbi goes undercover in a Christian megachurch, and spends time with the 9/11 truth movement in order to demonstrate a theory about how a lack of honesty in our political discourse has lead to two delusional extremes.I have to admit that I didn't know what goes on at either until I read this book.Between descriptions of both, plus a digression on how a corrupt Congress writes laws as political favors for donors, I was left flabbergasted at some of the things that go on in the U.S. ... Read More
- Not bad...Interesting and informative, but the author takes too much time to point out how much cooler he is than the people in the groups he infiltrates.His deceptive treatment of the earnest Christians borders on cruel, and the book bogs down about two-thirds of the way through with an over-long depiction of what a 9/11 conspiracy planning session would sound like.
Overall, Taibbi provides some very interesting perspectives and several moments of genuine wit and humor.There's a temptation to ... Read More
- The funniest book I've ever readI first heard of the author when he appeared on Bill Maher's show. Of his writing I became aware when I read his rather biting appraisal of John McCain's campaign not long ago. Then he wrote a piece on Thomas Friedmann which had me rolling on the floor. So I couldn't resist this volume.
Taibbi "infiltrated" an evangelistic church. I don't recall whether he referred to himself as an atheist, but, to put it mildly, it wasn't easy for him to fit in with a bunch of bible thumpers.
Read More
- Just the book I was looking for...A hilarious and cynical peek into two of the loonier "movements" of recent years. I'll probably read it again sometime soon when I need to be reminded just how weird things got during the dawn of the 21st century...unless of course things just keep getting weirder; then I'll need Taibbi to write another book.
