Wow, what a phenomenal collection of essays. I don't buy a lot of physical books anymore, but I will be definitely picking up a copy of this. The audiobook is gorgeous, though, if you are so inclined - hearing Castillo is a real joy. Her emotion and inflection adds so much to the endless quotes that I could spam the forum with.

I mentioned in a comment somewhere in the forums, but I have not personally consumed the vast majority of the media dissected in these essays, and while you don't need to have consumed them, I do think it would be interesting to make a list of these works and consume them, and then come back to the relevant essay here for a deeper engagement with Castillo's words. Definitely not necessary, but since I'm planning on rereading anyway? Tempting.

Highly and generally recommend. I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from this collection, and the writing is approachable enough that even if you aren't a big non-fiction reader I think you'll find something in these pages for you.

This book had a lot of potential to be a useful, broad look at fascism and how it arises across history and the world.

Instead, it was poorly organized and rooted in capitalist and imperialist propoganda. I was hoping for better critical thinking from a former Secretary of State, but I also started this book back in January which was when I started, in earnest, my quest for knowledge in the political realm.

Yes, it took me 11 months to finish this book. The writing itself is terribly dry and never once was I looking forward to turning the page. The poor organization of ideas, particularly in the first half of the book, was really challenging to overcome.

For all of Albright's acknowledgements of fascism taking root during economic hardship combined with social and cultural change, she never once examines capitalism's role.

There is also overtly anti-communist ideology as well, pitting communism as the opposite of democracy and freedom. The "both-sides"ing of the issues was also grating. It was telling that in her worst-case scenarios, the right rising wasn't labeled as fascism but the left rising was explicitly labeled as fascism. Doubly interesting since this was written during Trump's first term, and now almost every part of her "dramatization" of the worst-case scenario has now come to fruition.

Lastly, it also is pro-US imperialism with Albright touting that the US interfering with elections is different (acceptable) from other countries doing it because it's under the guise of promoting democracy, therefore it's okay to do. In the same breath, she's not afraid to say that Russia isn't allowing other countries to operate with their own autonomy.

A man gets a sunburn that forces him to do math

I have read a lot of fantasy and am always cheered by a truly unique feeling story and style. There's so much more to read!

The author clearly measured every word and sequence, and I sometimes felt like I wasn't fully grasping or was missing some sections' complete meanings. To be fair, I would find myself caught up in the descriptions of the fantastical world and have to go back and reread what I had just read while daydreaming. I felt a little lost in the sauce during the Esi sequence because I finally had figured out and was invested in the first pair of sister's journey when we moved on to the second pair's story. I did really like how the storytelling and world were really told by focusing on individual characters rather than telling. I think I would need a second read to truly appreciate everything that was going on in this truly ambitious story!