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tildahlia's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 - I really rate Sparrow’s writing so hoped for more out of this book. I was wary of it as the title seemed annoyingly provocative and sneering but was encouraged by others to give it a go. It has some good points for those in the post-election doldrums (the importance of community connection, organising and civil disobedience and smug politics) but overall quite lumpy. Some chapters say a lot, some say very little. He also doesn’t really talk to ‘ordinary people’ and just quotes lots of academics and commentators which kind of seems to be what he derides in the left?! Also the failure to talk about the decline of the union movement and offer current solutions to current problems felt like a pretty big omission.
bhavani's review against another edition
2.0
Reading this book felt tiresome at times. It requires the reader to have some basic information on politics in the US and Australia and can be confusing. I enjoyed learning the terms associated with the topic, reading the historical background of left-leaning politics, and the reasons he gives for why liberals underestimated the effects of their own actions.
scribepub's review
In the age of fake news and the seeming triumph of political populism, Jeff Sparrow’s Trigger Warnings is a vital book for our times. With the integrity of political thought and action under threat from social media sloganeering, with Donald Trump holding court in the White House and “political correctness” the catch-all suffocation of dissent, Jeff Sparrow challenges us to respond with intelligence and conviction.
Tony Birch, Author of Ghost River
Standing on the front line of the culture war it’s clear the right are winning. In this new book, Jeff Sparrow draws lessons from contemporary debates and historical struggles to argue for an alternative to the seemingly oppositional binary of class or identity that dominates liberal discourse. Instead, Sparrow calls for a return to a “direct politics” approach that doesn’t rely on mainstream leaders but argues that a rebuilding of an activist left that sees strength in solidarity and strives for liberation is the only answer. In a time that increasingly feels like it’s now or never, this book is an urgently needed intervention. Don’t just read it, do it.
Roz Ward, Co-Founder of Safe Schools Coalition
A crisp, elegant and timely analysis of exactly how the world and everything in it turned to wallaby poop, also whose fault it is and how we might actually be able to do something about it.
First Dog on the Moon, Political Cartoonist for The Guardian
Sparrow writes with a unique combination of dignified sensitivity and a concrete commitment to solidarity and movement building.
Sam Wallman, Political Cartoonist
Hhe’s one of Australia’s most crucial political thinkers … Trigger Warnings is perhaps his most polemic [book] yet, written with clear activist goals in mind: to intervene in the present, he insists we must understand the complex history that led us here.
The Saturday Paper
Australian writer Jeff Sparrow succinctly explains in Trigger Warnings how Trump cleverly skewered his political enemies by appealing to their anger at the elite political and media classes (despite being a member of the elite himself) … Trigger Warnings is a rare book that takes a necessary scalpel to the leftist political persuasion of its author as much as, if not more than, the right-wing agenda he opposes.
Antony Loewenstein, Weekend Australian
Sparrow’s book is a provocative reading of the culture wars that develops a distinction between ‘direct’ and ‘delegated’ politics.
James Ley, ABR’s ‘Books of the Year 2018’
It’s a highly interesting polemic, dense with information, but well written and full of provocative and challenging views.
Graeme Barrow, Horowhenua Chronicle
Trigger Warnings is a brave book, best read as a call for the left to re-examine its strategies during a period of immense danger, to take stock of its key resources and to align itself with the experience of ordinary people without lessening its focus on sexism, racism or homophobia.
Gary Pearce, Overland
Tony Birch, Author of Ghost River
Standing on the front line of the culture war it’s clear the right are winning. In this new book, Jeff Sparrow draws lessons from contemporary debates and historical struggles to argue for an alternative to the seemingly oppositional binary of class or identity that dominates liberal discourse. Instead, Sparrow calls for a return to a “direct politics” approach that doesn’t rely on mainstream leaders but argues that a rebuilding of an activist left that sees strength in solidarity and strives for liberation is the only answer. In a time that increasingly feels like it’s now or never, this book is an urgently needed intervention. Don’t just read it, do it.
Roz Ward, Co-Founder of Safe Schools Coalition
A crisp, elegant and timely analysis of exactly how the world and everything in it turned to wallaby poop, also whose fault it is and how we might actually be able to do something about it.
First Dog on the Moon, Political Cartoonist for The Guardian
Sparrow writes with a unique combination of dignified sensitivity and a concrete commitment to solidarity and movement building.
Sam Wallman, Political Cartoonist
Hhe’s one of Australia’s most crucial political thinkers … Trigger Warnings is perhaps his most polemic [book] yet, written with clear activist goals in mind: to intervene in the present, he insists we must understand the complex history that led us here.
The Saturday Paper
Australian writer Jeff Sparrow succinctly explains in Trigger Warnings how Trump cleverly skewered his political enemies by appealing to their anger at the elite political and media classes (despite being a member of the elite himself) … Trigger Warnings is a rare book that takes a necessary scalpel to the leftist political persuasion of its author as much as, if not more than, the right-wing agenda he opposes.
Antony Loewenstein, Weekend Australian
Sparrow’s book is a provocative reading of the culture wars that develops a distinction between ‘direct’ and ‘delegated’ politics.
James Ley, ABR’s ‘Books of the Year 2018’
It’s a highly interesting polemic, dense with information, but well written and full of provocative and challenging views.
Graeme Barrow, Horowhenua Chronicle
Trigger Warnings is a brave book, best read as a call for the left to re-examine its strategies during a period of immense danger, to take stock of its key resources and to align itself with the experience of ordinary people without lessening its focus on sexism, racism or homophobia.
Gary Pearce, Overland
midlifehedgewitch's review
4.0
My Left Allies Should Read This
This is an indictment on the state of the left and its current obsession with identity politics, thought policing and trigger warning instead of taking up fights against structural inequality and discrimination. My only critique is that the conclusion, where the author offers some hope for us who are the real Left, is that it is rushed and doesn’t go far enough.
This is an indictment on the state of the left and its current obsession with identity politics, thought policing and trigger warning instead of taking up fights against structural inequality and discrimination. My only critique is that the conclusion, where the author offers some hope for us who are the real Left, is that it is rushed and doesn’t go far enough.
jeanieinabook's review
5.0
It took me a while to start reading this after I got it I wasn’t really sure what drew me to it and the topic isn’t of the greatest interest to me. Surprisingly once I started reading I didn’t want to put it down, it challenged my thoughts and gave start to some interesting conversations with peers.
bhavani's review
2.0
Reading this book felt tiresome at times. It requires the reader to have some basic information on politics in the US and Australia and can be confusing. I enjoyed learning the terms associated with the topic, reading the historical background of left-leaning politics, and the reasons he gives for why liberals underestimated the effects of their own actions.
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