Author:
Michela Murgia
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Sign up todayHow to Be a Fascist
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Learn moreHow fascist are you? A sharp, provocative conversation-starter about the authoritarian in us all
The first and only guide to turning your 21st century democracy into a fascist paradise
Democracy is difficult, flawed and unstable. It involves barely distinguishable political parties taking part in lengthy, overcomplicated and expensive decision-making processes. Trying to engage so many people with political issues seems to lead only to complexity and disagreement. So why bother? Doesn't fascism guarantee a more effective and efficient management of the state?
In this short, bitingly ironic mixture of On Tyranny and The Psychopath Test, Italian political activist Michela Murgia explores the logic that is attracting increasing numbers of voters to right-wing populism. Far from its origins in the 20th century, fascism is once again on the rise in an age of increased connectivity and globalism. Murgia shows how many of the elements of our society that we might think would combat closed-mindedness and xenophobia actually fan the flames. Closing with a "fascistometer" to measure the reader's own authoritarian inclinations, How to be a Fascist is a refreshingly direct, polemical book that asks us to confront the fascisim in our governments, in our societies, and in our own political leanings.
Michela Murgia is an award-winning Italian writer and a political activist. She has written travel books, political non-fiction and novels, for which she has been awarded the Premio Campiello and the Mondello International Literary Prize.
Alex Valente is a European currently living in Vancouver, BC. He is a literary translator from Italian into English, though he also dabbles with French and RPGs, and is co-editor of The Norwich Radical. His work has been published in NYT Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, The Short Story Project, PEN Transmissions and currently on EuroLitNet as The Italianist.
Audiobook details
Narrator:
Eliza Foss
ISBN:
9780593339787
Length:
2 hours 7 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Publication date:
August 4, 2020
Edition:
Unabridged
Reviews
“Murgia…exposes the insidious nature of authoritarianism in this tongue-in-cheek guide to remaking a democratic society into a fascist one…Readers will gain new insight into why illiberalism is on the rise.” —Publishers Weekly"Murgia’s manual...translates fascism into a thoroughly contemporary phenomenon, where democracy is not a given, but a continuous struggle." -- Jamie Richards, Words without Borders
"Among the many strengths of Murgia’s book are the connections she draws between the political methodologies of fascism on the one hand, and on the other the cultural norms they promote. Indeed, the return to normativity – of the traditional family, of gender relations, of social and political hierarchies – and the alleged naturalness of this normativity, are shown to lurk beneath the most basic of political activisms." -- Jennifer Sarha, European Literature Network
"Throws a light on our times." -- Irish Times (Dublin) Expand reviews