Insane Clown President

By: Matt Taibbi

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Dispatches from the 2016 election that provide an eerily prescient take on our democracy's uncertain future, by the country's most perceptive and fearless political journalist.

The 2016 presidential contest as told by Matt Taibbi, from its tragicomic beginnings to its apocalyptic conclusion, is in fact the story of Western civilization's very own train wreck. Years before the clown car of candidates was fully loaded, Taibbi grasped the essential themes of the story: the power of spectacle over substance or even truth; the absence of a shared reality; the nihilistic rebellion of the white working class; the death of the political establishment; and the emergence of a new explicit form of white nationalism that would destroy what was left of the Kingian dream of a successful pluralistic society.

Taibbi captures, with dead-on, real-time analysis, the failures of the right and the left, from the thwarted Bernie Sanders insurgency to the flawed and aimless Hillary Clinton campaign; the rise of the "dangerously bright" alt-right with its wall-loving identity politics and its rapturous view of the racial "holy war" to come; and the giant fail of a flailing, reactive political media that fed a ravenous news cycle not with reporting on political ideology but with undigested propaganda served straight from the campaign bubble. At the center of it all stands Donald J. Trump, leading a historic revolt against his own party, "bloviating and farting his way" through the campaign, "saying outrageous things, acting like Hitler one minute and Andrew Dice Clay the next." For Taibbi, the stunning rise of Trump marks the apotheosis of the new postfactual movement.

Taibbi frames the reporting with original essays that explore the seismic shift in how we perceive our national institutions, the democratic process, and the future of the country. Insane Clown President is not just a postmortem on the collapse and failure of American democracy. It offers the riveting, surreal, unique, and essential experience of seeing the future in hindsight.

©2017 Matt Taibbi (P)2017 Random House Audio

Slow Motion Horror

Taibbi is the best long form journalist in America. his wit and keen understanding of our corrupted and disgusting political system is seen in this amazing collection of stories from the Trump campaign trail. God help us. Trump is President.

Great book. Tragic story.

I shudder to think of the hours of bs he had to endure to put this together. Great story (sad!), great writing. Good luck America!

We missed the obvious

Mr. Taibbi points out what we all should have noticed from the beginning; there ain't no middle America any longer. And because of that, people are mad as hell. Unfortunately, Donnie won't be able to deliver.

Now I understand bettet...

...how we got to this point, both from the Republican and Democrat point of view.

Not impressed with voice talent

Would you listen to Insane Clown President again? Why?

I am still reading this book and will update this review to reflect my thoughts on the subject matter and information. At this point, the voice talent annoys me.

What did you like best about this story?

It is current and is helping me to cope with this disastrous political climate. I am a liberal and am struggling with my own socio-political beliefs in light of this election. I am a fan of Matt Taibbi's work and have read his articles and books over the years. So far so good, though listening to the content has caused me to be depressed.

What didn’t you like about Rob Shapiro’s performance?

Taibbi is a Rolling Stone journalist who writes in the muckraking style of the late Hunter Thompson and PJ O'Rourke. His writing is straightforward, gritty and in your face -- all qualities that this narrator's vocal delivery does not possess. To me, it is dissonant to Matt Taibbi's writing style. He is the wrong narrator for this book.

I was impressed, for example, with the narrator for Michael Hasting's posthumous fiction "The Last Magazine". I believe that the publishers should have hired someone with a similar persona to deliver the narration. The current narration is milquetoast and devoid of the emotional depth that I believe, Matt Taibbi's work deserves if for no other reason than to underscore the irony and horror of this past election. This narration is jarring and I am resentful of it during the entire time that I am listening.

Any additional comments?

I will continue listening to this book despite my prejudices because I trust and value Matt Taibbi's reporting. A book like this will help me in the coming year.

The Title will keep this book from reaching both sides of the aisle

I thought this was an amazing look at this debacle of an election. It truly was a clown show. Matt Taibbi is a great writer and shows all the angles of why Trump won, the largest parts were the failure of the media and the DNC aka TEAM CLINTON. Trump does understand the unintelligible angry masses and knows how to appeal to them, much as Bernie did to the younger progressive audiences that are a little more well read. All in All many mistakes were made and that is why, we are where we are.

I would have given 5 stars, but this title is awful! As much as I believe it to be true, the Trump supporters and Alt-Right which most can read will not pick this up. Under the Big Top of the 2016 Circus may have been better. Truly a Swell book besides that!

Matt Taibbi is our Generations Hunter S. Thompson

excellent narrative of the hell we are moving into

If it wasn't so sad it would be laughable. Excellent narrative on how we got to where we are now

Good "sequel" to SHATTERED

Really 3.5 stars, but rounded up as the audio narration fit very well, with my main issue being Taibbi's no-holds-barred blunt style; at times I would've preferred a bit of tact.

Read "Shattered" first, using this one as a complementary story of how he won after understanding better how she lost. Taibbi's epilogue does go into her loss, as part of an indictment of the Democrats in general, but this book is all about failing to "stop the 'unstoppable'." In a sentence: many voters wanted change, not more of the same establishment insiders (including Cruz) in both the primaries and general election. The book is structured as dispatches from the campaign front along the way, rather than reflective chapters.

Taibbi has no respect for Trump, or any of the Republicans, ever. Biased - check! The thing is that his "hitjob" is backed up in pointing out politicians' hypocrisy. Moreover, his prime target is not the Republicans (or even the Democratic establishment), but the media . . . or what passes for such these days. So, in that respect I recommend the book to all, except partisan Republicans. However, if you think every so often "Man, this guy can be really obnoxious!", it's not you!

Interesting book, nothing new.

I found this book to be relatively interesting and definitely worth the read if you were in a medically induced coma in 2016.
The book explains how president Donald Trump won the presidential election but does not really shed any new light, I was expecting a lot more behind the scenes stories, but nothing. More of an opinion piece. Not withstanding a decent book.

This is why the country NEEDS immigrants

What made the experience of listening to Insane Clown President the most enjoyable?

The prose is a smorgasbord of wit and satire which would have been more hilarious had it not been for this hangover called the Bannon/Trump administration

What did you like best about this story?

It vivid re-telling of the train-wreck of an election from the eyes of a reporter who (to quote conservatives) "tells it like it is"

Which scene was your favorite?

the part where the author quotes a a Trump follower saying: "He must really want to make America great again..it's written on his hat!" (I paraphrase)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was.... I drive 1 hour everyday to work and I wished the traffic lights were a little bit longer and the traffic jams a bit heavier just so I can keep listening. It's that good!

Any additional comments?

After listening to this book, a question dawned to me: "Which VOTING citizen would you rather bet the future/welfare of America: an immigrant Pakistani/Indian/Mexican/Filipino/Eastern European (enter your preferred origin here) engineer/doctor/nurse/entrepreneur/maid/garbage collector/fruit picker/taxi driver (and your profession here) or these half-wit, incompetent, well-fed, pompous liars and charlatans and their equally moronic minions??" I rest my case.. God bless the USA!!