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thescottcoffey's review
challenging
funny
fast-paced
4.0
Despite being most 90 years old, this scathing critique of capitalism and the systems of misery it upholds feels shockingly fresh and relevant to our time. So many of the problems it finds feel exactly like leftist critiques you might find on social media today, which is both comforting and depressing.
My only issues with it are its gender and racial politics, which are very progressive for the time, but that time being 90 years ago, they don't hold up perfectly to a modern lens. This was written by a white man long before intersectionality was a concept, so Capitalism is the root of all evil in his universe, with only passing thoughts to the experiences of women and people of color in his Hell. All of this is said not to "cancel" him or whatever, but to try to understand the nuances and limitations of perspective in a groundbreakingly progressive book.
It's funny and sad and very much worth your time.
My only issues with it are its gender and racial politics, which are very progressive for the time, but that time being 90 years ago, they don't hold up perfectly to a modern lens. This was written by a white man long before intersectionality was a concept, so Capitalism is the root of all evil in his universe, with only passing thoughts to the experiences of women and people of color in his Hell. All of this is said not to "cancel" him or whatever, but to try to understand the nuances and limitations of perspective in a groundbreakingly progressive book.
It's funny and sad and very much worth your time.
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