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A review by readwithmeemz
The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The Quiet Damage is a compassionate and thoughtful book that follows five families and their experiences when a member of each family becomes radicalized by Q-Anon. It’s compulsively readable - harrowing and moving as it highlights the slow and subtle descent into indoctrination for people across different walks of life, and with various lived experiences. It takes an empathetic and careful perspective as it dives deep into the rabbit hole behind these individuals and their family members. It explores the damage of Q-Anon, both from the point of view of the person who became indoctrinated, and the family members they “leave behind”.
It’s a fast read, almost paced like a true crime book of thriller, but with the caveat that it comes from a place of no judgment and clear compassion for everyone involved. It highlights the descent down the rabbit hole for ordinary (often vulnerable) people, who - whether searching for community, or understanding, or even a clear source of blame for their circumstances - found what they needed through Q-Anon.
I also really appreciated the author’s focus on the efforts made to deprogram or reconnect with these individuals - and the varying degrees of success these efforts were met with. While focusing predominantly on American individuals and families, there was a lot of relevance here for all readers in our current social, cultural, and political climate.
This was such a compelling and heart wrenching read, that feels more timely than ever, in this epidemic of fake news, indoctrination, anti-government viewpoints, and coming in after years of a deadly, mass-disabling pandemic that was poorly managed and handled by the “powers that be”. I really appreciated the care and tact with wishing Cook approached this book and the people profiled within it. It really highlighted the perspective that it could be any of us who at affected by these kinds of radicalizations, especially as it explored the insidious ways that Q-Anon brings in and radicalized people. This was a breathless and impactful book, and a must-read for anyone.
It’s a fast read, almost paced like a true crime book of thriller, but with the caveat that it comes from a place of no judgment and clear compassion for everyone involved. It highlights the descent down the rabbit hole for ordinary (often vulnerable) people, who - whether searching for community, or understanding, or even a clear source of blame for their circumstances - found what they needed through Q-Anon.
I also really appreciated the author’s focus on the efforts made to deprogram or reconnect with these individuals - and the varying degrees of success these efforts were met with. While focusing predominantly on American individuals and families, there was a lot of relevance here for all readers in our current social, cultural, and political climate.
This was such a compelling and heart wrenching read, that feels more timely than ever, in this epidemic of fake news, indoctrination, anti-government viewpoints, and coming in after years of a deadly, mass-disabling pandemic that was poorly managed and handled by the “powers that be”. I really appreciated the care and tact with wishing Cook approached this book and the people profiled within it. It really highlighted the perspective that it could be any of us who at affected by these kinds of radicalizations, especially as it explored the insidious ways that Q-Anon brings in and radicalized people. This was a breathless and impactful book, and a must-read for anyone.