Review by Eleanor J. Bader

Katherine Stewart’s latest book, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, draws connections between the disparate groups and individuals who have spent the last 40-plus years working to turn the US into a theocratic, authoritarian regime. The players include Evangelical/Pentecostal/Catholic churches; men’s rights activists; funders; conservative think tanks, training entities, and organizations; homeschooling and voucher supporters; conspiracy theorists; people who want to erode church-state separation;  anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-LGBTQIA “family values” activists; and MAGA-supporting elected officials and jurists at every level of government. 

Stewart spent years attending conservative conferences and lectures, reading their materials,  and interviewing people on the right. Her eyewitness account is riveting and will terrify anyone who believes in democratic governance. Her conclusion is stark: While the right-wing coalition is fragile, the many groups that comprise its ranks are united by purpose. But they no longer simply want “a seat at the noisy table of American democracy.” Instead, they “want to burn down the house.” Moreover, she writes that the rise of the right intentionally uses obfuscation “to advance its undemocratic agenda by actively promoting division and disinformation.”  Ultimately, she concludes, it’s about power. 

Lies, Money, and God is a compelling read. At the same time, Stewart stresses that resistance by progressive entities and individuals can defeat the right. She urges the left to think long-term, be strategic, and relentlessly exploit contradictions in conservative unity: “Does it want small government or does it want a government big enough to share your bedroom and your body? …Does it want free speech or does it want to ban books, limit the information doctors are allowed to share with patients, and compel religious speech in public schools?” 

Good questions. Stewart argues that “heightening and exposing” these contradictions will benefit both the general public and “supporters of anti-democratic reaction.”  It will require hard work, she writes, but if we want to preserve the republic, it’s the only option.

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Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart. Bloomsbury Publishing, February 2025 (preorder available).

Reviewer bio: Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn, NY-based journalist who writes about books and domestic social issues for Truthout, Rain Taxi, The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Indypendent.

Review by Eleanor J. Bader

When Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian and head of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, spoke before the Livingston Parish Library Board in August 2022, she did so as a concerned community member. Her message was clear and direct: Diverse collections must include books that accurately address U.S. history and offer readers multiple ways to understand race, class, gender, sexuality, and sexual identity. The latter category, she said, is especially important for children, adolescents, and teens as they navigate coming of age.

Although Jones was not the only person to express this viewpoint, four days after she testified she found herself on the receiving end of a well-organized hate-and-harassment campaign coordinated by Citizens for a New Louisiana, a newly-formed conservative group that dubbed her a pornographer and menace to children.

That Librarian, part memoir, part impassioned political argument against censorship and book bans, is a deeply felt exposition of the physical and emotional toll these smears exacted and a strategic workbook about ways for communities to fight back. Moreover, it charts Jones’s personal transformation from a 2016 Trump supporter to become a forceful advocate for civil rights, civil liberties, and the right to read. It’s a powerful, angry, and inspiring book.

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That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones. Bloomsbury Publishing, August 2024 (pre-order available).

Reviewer bio: Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn, NY-based journalist who writes about books and domestic social issues for Truthout, Rain Taxi, The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Indypendent.

Guest Post by Colm McKenna

Translated by Jennifer Croft, The Woman From Uruguay by Pedro Mairal follows Lucas Pereyra’s day trip from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, which is fuelled by two motives: to exchange a 15,000 dollar advance for his last book, and to spend some time with a young girl from a literary conference he is trying to bed.

The unpredictability of the Argentinian economy means that if Lucas were to take his advance in Buenos Aires, he would receive less than half of what he would get in Uruguay. Transporting money that way is illegal, though he really is between a rock and a hard place; dealing with Argentinian pesos is like “being paid in ice in the middle of the summer, and freezers are illegal.”

Anxiety abounds here, anxieties which are further fostered by an ambivalence towards his young son, and suspicions about his wife’s adultery. The story is dejected and hopeless, full of self-doubt and hatred. Hints of ambition filter through though, even if these are buried under familial and professional obligations.

An anti-hero in the truest sense, we are still somewhat drawn to Lucas due to his playful, vivid style, his biting social criticism, and most importantly the strength of his writerly ambitions, which unfortunately butt heads with the bleak reality of literary production, As one of his colleagues puts it, “books have to be written… then you decide how much they’re worth… you polish them like diamonds, and then you sell them like a string of sausages.”

Mairal’s protagonist is far from likable, but it would be unjust to make him so. This man, whose obligations towards his family and his career are at odds with his fundamental desire, holding him back from it; how can we expect him to come up smiling?

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The Woman From Uruguay by Pedro Mairal; translated by Jennifer Croft. Bloomsbury Publishing, October 2022.

Reviewer bio: Colm McKenna is a second-hand bookseller based in Paris. He has published and self-published an array of short stories and articles, hoping to eventually release a collection of stories. He is mainly interested in the works of John Cowper Powys, Claude Houghton, and a range of Latin American writers.