Name: FSG Untitled NF Sept 2023
ISBN: 9780374610326

FSG Untitled NF Sept 2023 Author TK

Farrar, Straus and Giroux nonfiction Fall 2023 on sale September 12.

FSG Untitled NF Sept 2023

Rochelle Butcher

Naomi Klein is an auto-buy author for me. As a young university student studying social work, I was inspired by her book “No Logo” a primer of sorts on the effects of globalization and brand culture. The Shock Doctrine came next, and her take on disaster capitalism opened my eyes, and since then, I’ve followed her work extensively. 

When Klein announced she was writing a book called Doppelganger, I was intrigued. It seemed like a different sort of book from her usual fair. Well, after reading it, I can tell you it is quite different, but it also has signature Klein vibes. Sure, It's about her Doppelganger, but it’s also a cultural critique of the last ten years or so. It delves into the personal as political that we usually get from a Klein book. 

Klein’s doppelgänger is Naomi Wolf, a once respected Oxford feminist scholar and bestselling author of “The Beauty Myth.” During the Trump years, Naomi Wolf became a far-right conspiracy theorist known mainly online for spewing anti-vaccine rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic. For many years, Naomi Klein noticed that she was getting confused with Naomi Wolf. They both have similar physical features, and they both write social critiques. During the pandemic, this confusion became overwhelming. And so she went down a “rabbit hole” to find out more about her doppelganger.

From there, Klein uses her own experience with a doppelganger as an entry point to discuss how this premise can be used to describe the world’s ever-shifting reality. Klein refers to this phenomenon as doubling or mirroring. Klein touches on subjects like conspiracy theories, right-wing propaganda, and how everyday people and some famous have gone over to what she calls the shadow side. This book also tells the history of some of today’s most significant concerns and the problems we currently debate as a society. 

Doppelganger is a unique and fascinating book. If you ever wonder why you’ve lost a friend or family member to conspiracy theories, this book may offer some explaintion. It is also a primer to today’s most challenging issues. This book will definitely get a reread. There is just so much to absorb and unpack.

FSG Untitled NF Sept 2023

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