The Great Derangement

A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire

By: Matt Taibbi

Narrated by: David Slavin

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.©2008 Matt Taibbi; (P)2008 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR
THE GREAT DERANGEMENT

“The Great Derangement is a scabrous, hilarious vivisection of our disintegrating nation. An unstinting reporter and sensational writer, Taibbi shines a light on the corruption, absurdities, and idiot pieties of modern American politics. Beneath his cynical fury, though, are flashes of surprising compassion for the adrift, credulous souls who are taken in by it all. I loved this book.”
—Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism

“Matt Taibbi is the best American journalism has to offer. As The Great Derangement shows, he has absolutely no shred of fear in confronting the corruption that plagues our government and exploring the desperation that is rising in America. And somehow, he pulls it off while making us simultaneously weep in sorrow and laugh our asses off.”
—David Sirota, author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government—and How We Take It Back

“Where other mainstream news sources fail, Matt Taibbi madly embraces his role as an honest political observer/writer/citizen in a democracy. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask for Matt’s hand in marriage.”
—Janeane Garofalo

Excellent!

I loved it. I am not sure how a previous reviewer who loves Taibbi can complain about what he THINKS he is missing. The book was great. Taibbi has a sharp wit and can exhibit a depth and range of speech that can hit you like a truck after some of his more colloquial language. I will listen to this book more than once, for sure.

If he only knew

Book before election for song coming I think it's a pretty accurate description how we as a nation point great read

Scary How Spot On Taibbi Is

Taibbi's instincts piloted him to a good place to analyze the disconnect the American population is. Our country is run by a bunch of crooks, liars, and con men that drove our citizens to embrace radical and crazy conspiracy theories and religious beliefs. That's what happens when people don't have anything to believe in. It's. now 2017 and we have a billionaire celebrity charlatan as our President. Trump was years in the making....let's hope we get out of this mess.

Inadvertently Explains Trump

This is a fascinating read from before the 2016 election cycle, made all the more relevant and terrifying with what we're now learning of the political landscape in the U.S.

Just buy it.

Another great from Taibbi. Awesome narrator, just the best. And this is his funniest by far. I literally almost wrecked my car listening to this for the tears in my eyes. Listened to it twice too.