The United States of Paranoia: Readings, Reviews, Interviews
A roundup of links.
This week HarperCollins sent me a big box filled with copies of my book The United States of Paranoia, which I expect means it'll soon start showing up on bookstore shelves and in the mailboxes of Amazon customers. Herewith some notes on readings, reviews, and interviews:
• On August 20—the official release date—I will be speaking about the book at the D.C. store Politics & Prose. The program starts at 7 p.m., and according to the Politics & Prose website, "Beer and wine will be available." Come for the book, stay for the brew.
A couple other D.C.-based events are planned for late August and early September. I will post more information about those as soon as the details are nailed down.
• On August 27, also starting at 7, I'll be doing an event at the Ivy Bookshop up here in Baltimore. Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at UMBC and columnist for The Baltimore Sun, will do a public interview with me; I will also read a portion of the book, and there will be the inevitable audience Q&A. For more information, go to the Ivy's page.
• I've mentioned the kind notices the book has received from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus; this week I learned that the Booklist reviewer liked it as well, calling it a "lively, extremely interesting, and occasionally more than slightly scary book." The piece is behind a paywall, but it's also reprinted here.
• C-Span interviewed me recently about the book, and they plan to air the conversation this coming Sunday at 1:15 in the afternoon, Eastern time. You can set your DVRs, or you can just figure we'll be posting it here at Reason the next day.
• Quick reminder: You can order the book! It will make me happy if you do!
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Any chance you'll hit Powell's in Portland?
I love Powell's, but there's no west coast plans for now.
You Easterners, always avoiding the best states because they are "too far" away. You need to come to the Tattered Cover in Denver. I can bring homebrew if that helps.
Christ, you're going to Baltimore and you can't squeeze in Denver?
you're going to Baltimore
I live here!
I...I am truly sorry...truly.
I used to live in Glen Burnie, which is close enough. Living in Bamer should, in any TRUE LIBERTARIAN, engender a desire to get as far as fuck away as possible as often as possible.
Oh wait.. you're one of those Fell's Point bastards I bet. All becoming clearer..
It did for me, but it wasn't just Balmer's fault. Johns Hopkins played its role as well.
Jesse Walker... Baltimore... Oh, shit! JW is Jesse Walker!
SHHHHHHH! Now I need a new secret identity. I'm thinking MW.
MW = Mangu-Ward.
Just saying.
It's all a plot to keep Reasoniods west of the Mississippi ignorant of the true threats arrayed against us.
A conspiracy about a conspiracy book?
HOW DEEP DOES THE RABBIT HOLE GO
IS THERE REALLY EVEN A RABBIT? OR A HOLE?
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A HOLE. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT, THOUGH.
Ah. The STEVE SMITH theory of Holes.
You know who else from reason wrote a book?
I wish Welch and Gillespie would write one.
Yeah and then the Browns cal carry it to me...
The more relevant question is, which reason writer's book gets the least (self-)promotion in H&R?
Balko.
He's ex-Reason, but they give him the "retired-cop respect" treatment
Thick orange wall!!
I want a book that discusses conspiracies that were found to be true and accurate, but, of course, it will never be written because THEY won't allow it.
Any NYC or Jersey events?
John Steinbeck was sent to a mental institution because he thought that the FBI was following him and tapping his phones. 30 years later it turned out that everything he said was true.
I'm glad that the government would never do anything so heinous today.
I thought that was Hemingway??
It was both. Hoover was a crazy motherfucker.
That would make a good first chapter, so get going on it.
If you feel your sanity slipping at any point during the writing, construct a hat made from tin foil (I understand it protects the brain)and wait for a message from Jason Bourne. 😉
The U.S. once tried to murder Castro with an explosive cigar. I think my favorite was the plan to blame Fidel Castro for sabotage if John Glenn's space ship crashed.
The FBI and CIA in the 60's were even crazier than today.
Operation Northwoods is probably my favorite crazy conspiracy theory that was real. Or maybe MKULTRA
From the link:
"The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or other operatives, to commit perceived acts of terrorism in U.S. cities and elsewhere. These acts of terrorism were to be blamed on Cuba in order to create public support for a war against that nation, which had recently become communist under Fidel Castro"
Jesus, that's messed-up. It makes the 9/11 conspiracy stuff look rational.
See? It's writing itself. Self-publish on amazon. I'd buy it.
Just read about the counterintelligence chief for the CIA during that time. Paranoid beyond belief. Also who the Angleton character in The Laundry series is named after.
Of course, Castro also considered using those Soviet missiles to launch a nuclear first strike against the US, so there was a lot of craziness going around.
Any NYC or Jersey events?
We'll probably have a New York event next month. Details to come.
/Looks left
/Looks right
No HM, Nikki, FoE, or Warty to be seen...
DOOM is coming.
Walker, you resilient basatrd!
/"Cliffhanger"
Love the cover! Why no mention of "The Declaration of Independents", though? Gotta give The Jacket his cut...