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111 reviews for:
The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason
Chapo Trap House
3.74 AVERAGE
111 reviews for:
The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason
Chapo Trap House
3.74 AVERAGE
The Chapo Guide to Revolution is a zany political manifesto from the hosts of the podcast Chapo Trap House. The book, which comedian Tim Heidecker has described as “Howard Zinn on acid,” combines the sweeping scope of A People’s History of the United States with the snark of an Onion article. Examining important political figures and events in US history, the authors provide a nuanced historical analysis full of ironic asides and silly pop culture references. The Chapo Guide to Revolution is an attack on political elitism and an oddball mission statement from the so-called “Dirtbag Left.” For anyone hoping to look beyond the stale dichotomy of party politics, don’t hesitate to pick up this book. – Anthony C.
Funny as expected but something got lost in translation, this felt a lot less coherent than the podcast.
Even I am not Extremely Online enough to enjoy this book.
Funny because it’s true. I don’t know how well it will age due to the massive amount of referential humor, but that doesn’t diminish the points made.
Enjoy the podcast, but just couldn't finish the book. The sense of humor that drives the show completely fails when put on the page. Tried to force myself to finish it, but only make it about 2/3 of the way through before giving up.
That this is as frequently funny as it is both is and is not surprising. The Chapo hosts are all capable of irreverent, bleak, referential humor, but anyone who has listened to their podcast will know that their worst moments are their most prepared, with nearly every pre-prepared bit an agonizing display of inside-baseball internet drama and thoroughly siloed post-left stridency that only really works off the cuff. Perhaps that's why the funniest excerpts here are the most off-handed, the most conversational leftfield pivots or asides that break down into false infographics. But there's also not much focus here, a lot of undeniable history (or at least, undeniable if you're not completely opposed to the factual truth of America's endless parade of imperial-capitalist bloodsheed and domestic degradation) but with no real throughline, and certainly no recommendation for what to do about the bleak portrait it sketches of why your life sucks. It embodies the worst aspect of these guys and the broader online left, of insisting things can be better while mostly just wallowing in snide nihilism.
The core theme of Chapo Trap House, that Americans have been so politically disenfranchised and disempowered in a sham two-party system that the only thing the average person can influence is the culture they consume, is broadly true, but they lean into this by caring so much about what kind of "cringe" art liberals consume. Though entertaining, I can't help but think this is the logical endpoint for millennials who bought the Daily Show's America: The Book as Bush-era teens and young adults and now want something every bit as flippant to speak to their disgust with the Democrats they thought would save them from the horror of the Aughts. As a podcast, this can be a fun diversion. Something about writing it down makes all of this feel like a pointless feedback loop of jilted, despairing political surrender.
The core theme of Chapo Trap House, that Americans have been so politically disenfranchised and disempowered in a sham two-party system that the only thing the average person can influence is the culture they consume, is broadly true, but they lean into this by caring so much about what kind of "cringe" art liberals consume. Though entertaining, I can't help but think this is the logical endpoint for millennials who bought the Daily Show's America: The Book as Bush-era teens and young adults and now want something every bit as flippant to speak to their disgust with the Democrats they thought would save them from the horror of the Aughts. As a podcast, this can be a fun diversion. Something about writing it down makes all of this feel like a pointless feedback loop of jilted, despairing political surrender.
reflective
medium-paced
This was a fun read. At moments the guys tried too hard, but there were some interesting musings on the US political landscape and the nature of work.
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Like the eponymous leftist podcast, this work is a complicated stew of gallows humor, manic devil-may-care spiels, profound political ideas, completely unreasonable and tasteless claims— simultaneously sniping the opponents while shooting themselves in the foot. It’s like if Holden Caulfield were a millennial with a book deal in all the good and bad implications.
I’m not sure the moments of unadulterated truth bombs justify the surrounding garbage, but it was certainly interesting. I recommend this for those looking for skewed and unique Marxist commentary on the listicle-strewn modern world. I don’t recommend this for those trying to learn more about the dirtbag left.
I’m not sure the moments of unadulterated truth bombs justify the surrounding garbage, but it was certainly interesting. I recommend this for those looking for skewed and unique Marxist commentary on the listicle-strewn modern world. I don’t recommend this for those trying to learn more about the dirtbag left.