Talia Lavin: Culture Warlords (2020, Octopus Publishing Group)
English language
Published July 14, 2020 by Octopus Publishing Group.
Reads more like a memoir than an actual in-depth exploration of white supremacy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and there was certainly a lot of background in there, but I feel like there was a lot more to unpack. The last chapter, "We Keep Us Safe", is as relevant as ever and is probably the most important part of the book.
I read this book pretty quickly, which is testimony that it kept me engaged. I learned a lot about the history of the far right and appreciated the ways she captured some intimate details about individuals involved in these cultures.
Maybe this is ironic since so much of this essay was about her positioning herself in the narrative, but something irked me about her personal anecdotes. I think this has to do with the fact that I am not drawn to corporate social media famous outspoken influencers, admittedly, which it seems like she is. Something turned me off about how she was live tweeting about her escapades at certain events she went to. I'm not totally sure why, though. Ultimately, I probably just want a book on this topic that is a little bit more historical and in-depth analysis of these cultures. The personal narrative I enjoyed the most was …
I read this book pretty quickly, which is testimony that it kept me engaged. I learned a lot about the history of the far right and appreciated the ways she captured some intimate details about individuals involved in these cultures.
Maybe this is ironic since so much of this essay was about her positioning herself in the narrative, but something irked me about her personal anecdotes. I think this has to do with the fact that I am not drawn to corporate social media famous outspoken influencers, admittedly, which it seems like she is. Something turned me off about how she was live tweeting about her escapades at certain events she went to. I'm not totally sure why, though. Ultimately, I probably just want a book on this topic that is a little bit more historical and in-depth analysis of these cultures. The personal narrative I enjoyed the most was probably in her introduction and her afterward section.
That said, if you enjoy reading about stuff like this and are as fascinated by 'the culture wars' as I am, I would definitely recommend it!
