How to Be a Fascist, Michela Murgia
How to Be a Fascist, Michela Murgia
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How to Be a Fascist
A Manual

Author: Michela Murgia, Alex Valente

Narrator: Eliza Foss

Unabridged: 2 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/04/2020


Synopsis

How 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.

About The Author

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 MagazineThe Massachusetts ReviewThe Short Story ProjectPEN Transmissions and currently on EuroLitNet as The Italianist.


Reviews

Man, exam season is ruining my ability to write properly long reviews. I wrote 900 words on fascism in my exam today though? This book is really fascinating. Murgia uses sharp sarcasm as she explains to the readers how fascism can overpower democracy. The fascinating part of this book is that I get......more

“Buonisti, amici degli scafisti, radical chic, donne che vogliono farsela coi neri. Il papa? Li accolga in Vaticano, ma prima paghi l’Imu sugli immobili che la chiesa deve allo stato. Piangi per i morti in mare? Non ti ho visto piangere per i nostri vecchi che non arrivano a fine mese. Le Ong? Complici......more

Goodreads review by John

This is an excellent work of genuine satire -- satire's rare, don't get me started, once you've studied Roman satire you always have a schtick about it in your quiver -- deeply rooted in Italian anti-fascism, whose growth marked one of the bright spots of the 20th century. Its translation into Engli......more

Goodreads review by Sara

Avevo sentito parlare di questo volumetto appena uscito e non nascondo che, apprezzando l'autrice, appena ho potuto l'ho recuperato. Una lettura rapida, veloce ma davvero incisiva che serve assolutamente a far riflettere. Io lo regalerei un pò in giro, così, giusto per sollecitare al raziocinio in que......more

-La sátira desde la hiperidentificación.- Género. Ensayo. Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Instrucciones para convertirse en fascista (publicación original: Istruzioni per diventare fascisti, 2018), y partiendo de la base de lo defectuosa, inútil y perjudicial que resulta la democracia como forma de gobier......more


Quotes

“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)