by David Mamet
First published 2022
David Mamet surveys the cultural and political landscape of contemporary America with growing alarm. The playwright who created Glengarry Glen Ross turns his attention to what he sees as a creeping conformity that strangles free thought and expression. Mamet argues that capitulating to cultural pressure only feeds its appetite for control, much like oxygen feeds flame. He traces how American attitudes toward rebellion and dissent have transformed over recent decades. Drawing from history, biblical texts, and literature, Mamet builds his case that suppressing open debate kills the innovation and democratic discourse that sustain Western civilization. He warns that cultural enforcers and their followers seek to remake America into an authoritarian state. With characteristic wit and irreverence, Mamet appeals directly to independent thinkers who refuse to surrender their intellectual freedom to ideological pressure.
Genres: american-fiction, american, political-science, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: social-commentary
240 pages · Hardcover · Broadside Books