frightening parallels to our daily news

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"It Can't Happen Here", published in 1935, is an alternative history narrative of a depression era United States choosing the way of "Make America Great Again" as a way out of the Great Depression, instead of FDR's Liberal Consensus and social programs. With chilling parallels to 2025, the democratically chosen MAGA quickly descends into full blown Fascism, with deportations, exiles and prison camps for the the "Others" which question the administration and dare to bring facts and truth into the conversation. The protagonist is a journalist who is eventually imprisoned for reporting the facts. This story has many parallels to other more famous dystopian tales of the late 19th century through middle 20th century. I was struck by the insight of the story telling, and the frightening parallels to our daily news now that MAGA are fully in the drivers seat. This book is definitely worth a read to help understand how we got where we are.

View all my reviews