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American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy Kindle Edition

by David Corn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 952 ratings
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#1 New York Times bestselling author and investigative reporter David Corn tells the wild and harrowing story of the Republican Party’s decades-long relationship with far-right extremism, bigotry, and paranoia.​

A fast-paced, rollicking, behind-the-scenes account of how the GOP since the 1950s has encouraged and exploited extremism, bigotry, and paranoia to gain power, American Psychosis offers readers a brisk, can-you-believe-it journey through the netherworld of far-right irrationality and the Republican Party’s interactions with the darkest forces in America. In a compelling and thoroughly-researched narrative, Corn reveals the hidden history of how the Party of Lincoln forged alliances with extremists, kooks, racists, and conspiracy-mongers and fostered fear, anger, and resentment to win elections—and how this led to Donald Trump’s triumph and the transformation of the GOP into a Trump personality cult that foments and bolsters the crazy and dangerous excesses of the right.
 
The Trump-incited insurrectionist attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was no aberration. American Psychosis shows it was a continuation of the long and deep-rooted Republican practice of boosting and weaponizing the rage and derangement of the right.
 
The gripping tale in American Psychosis covers the last seven decades. From McCarthyism to the John Birch Society to segregationists to the New Right to the religious right to Rush Limbaugh to Newt Gingrich to the militia movement to Fox News to Sarah Palin to the Tea Party to Trumpism, the Republican Party has deliberately nurtured and exploited rightwing fear and loathing fueled by paranoia, grievance, and tribalism. This powerful and important account explains how one political party has harnessed the worst elements in politics to poison the nation’s discourse and threaten American democracy.

"[Corn is] a great journalist. I love the way he thinks. I love the way he writes. I'm so glad he's done a super-readable, modern history of the right...We just need smart, digestible history about this stuff right now...[American Psychosis] is perfectly timed...Relevant history for where we are right now." —Rachel Maddow, host, The Rachel Maddow Show

"With American Psychosis, David Corn 'did the full homework to take us all the way back to where it really begins.’" —Lawrence O'Donnell, host, The Last Word
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From the Publisher

American Psychosis, David Corn, Political Commentary & Opinion

American Psychosis, David Corn, Political Commentary & Opinion

American Psychosis, David Corn, Political Commentary & Opinion

Editorial Reviews

Review

“David Corn’s AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS is essential reading for anyone hoping to restore political sanity in America. He argues convincingly that the toxic brew of bigotry, conspiracy theories, and lies that define Trumpism started long before Trump. Corn chronicles the Republican Party’s decades-long slide into the gutter and weaves this investigative history into a compelling narrative that is equal parts horrifying and entertaining. Corn has managed to make brilliant sense of American senselessness.”―Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money

“In this searing and deeply reported work, Corn recounts how the modern GOP succumbed to the extremism, alternative realities, and paranoia that spread the ‘American psychosis’ that exploded on January 6. A desperately important read.”―Charlie Sykes, author of How The Right Lost Its Mind

“David Corn makes the powerful case that Donald Trump didn’t come out of nowhere. He expertly traces the antecedents of Trump and Trumpism over the decades. This is a must-read if you want to understand what brought us to Trump and why the GOP remains a threat to American democracy.”―Jennifer Rubin, columnist, the Washington Post

“AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS requires us to revisit the dark forces that have shaped our government and charges us to safeguard American democracy from those who inflame our worst instincts to destroy it.”―Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history, Boston College

“The hatred, bigotry, conspiracism, paranoia, and rage inside the GOP didn’t start with Donald Trump. In this important and convincing account, David Corn shows that such poison has been in the marrow of the Republican Party for more than seventy years.”―Jonathan Alter, author of The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies

"AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS is a brave and important book, written by one of the sharpest political writers of our time."―Molly Jong-Fast, contributing writer, The Atlantic

"The genesis from a conventional party to a fanatic cult did not start with Donald Trump. The roots go much deeper and much further back. David Corn, with rich detail and in compelling prose, gives us a full history of the journey to crazy. Whether you have read a lot about the Republican Party or are just beginning to examine how the country could have come to this deeply dangerous point, AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS is a must read."―Norman Ornstein, Emeritus Scholar, The American Enterprise Institute

"David Corn was at the forefront of journalism in detailing the corruption and danger of the Trump campaign and the Trump Presidency. Now, he has taken a highly useful long look back at the far right's role in Republican politics over the decades. Trump and Trumpism did not come from nowhere. There is a long back story. Corn tells it here, bringing to history the verve and energy he brings to all of his reporting."―E. J. Dionne Jr., author, Why the Right Went Wrong

"The veteran political journalist connects the authoritarianism and White supremacism of yore with the Trumpism of today... It’s a zigzag line indeed, but Corn makes important connections. ...A sobering look at the ideological destruction, born of cynicism and opportunism, of a once-principled party.”―Kirkus Reviews

"David Corn’s new book chronicles how Republicans themselves made the MAGA Monster that now devours their party. Every modern Republican, Trump supporter or not, has been complicit in this nightmare"―Elie Mystal, correspondent, The Nation

"[Corn is] a great journalist. I love the way he thinks. I love the way he writes. I'm so glad he's done a super-readable, modern history of the right...We just need smart, digestible history about this stuff right now...[AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS] is perfectly timed...Relevant history for where we are right now."―Rachel Maddow, host, The Rachel Maddow Show

"With AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS, David Corn 'did the full homework to take us all the way back to where it really begins.'"―Lawrence O'Donnell, host, The Last Word

"David Corn “documents in this colorful and persuasive treatise ‘the Republican Party’s decades-long relationship with extremism.’…[Corn] draws a clear through line from the rise of Barry Goldwater to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot….[I]ncisive political history.”―Publisher's Weekly

About the Author

David Corn is a veteran Washington journalist and political commentator. He is the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine and an analyst for MSNBC. He is the author or co-author of four New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 bestseller Russian Roulette, Showdown, and Hubris, and the author of the novel Deep Background.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B2P2RMLG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Twelve (September 13, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 13, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1295 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 402 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 952 ratings

About the author

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David Corn

David Corn

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David Corn is a veteran Washington journalist and political commentator. He is the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine and an analyst for MSNBC. He is the author or co-author of four New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 bestseller Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump; Showdown: The Inside Story of How Obama Battled the GOP To Set Up the 2012 Election; and Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War. He is also the author of the Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades and the novel Deep Background.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
952 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

SpeedReader
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read history lesson
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2022
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You may think that this is just another book about the former guy. And while he is discussed at the beginning of the book and then again at the end, with the last 5 or so chapters devoted to the entirety of his run for the Presidency and Administration, the bulk of the book is spent going over the history of the GOP from the time after the Civil War up to the former guy. The author, David Corn, draws a straight line from the shift of the Democratic and Republican parties after the Civil War, through the McCarthy era, the creation of the John Birch Society, to the Former Guy. Corn's argument is that the former guy did not take over the party so much as he was an end result of what was a long time coming. He pretty much excoriates everyone along the way and he brings receipts citing specific events throughout the years (really focusing on the 1950s forward) to support his assertions. The only thing I wish he would have focused on more is how the defection of some of the "Dixiecrats" from the Democratic Party to the GOP during and after Reconstruction set the stage for the whole thing. He does mention it in passing but does not focus on it enough in my opinion. That said, the book is very well-written and informative and is a must-read for anyone who is into history or politics.
21 people found this helpful
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joan whelan
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and well written
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
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I enjoyed this book. Interesting history of the politics in this country
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Jim Lester
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent piece of modern history
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2023
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A well written and well argued look at the history of the Republican Party from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump as slowly the kooks and the nuts took over the Party and the moderates refused to stand up to them. An engrossing read.
8 people found this helpful
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Robert Aguirre
5.0 out of 5 stars Blow your mind!
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
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Much like the title of the novel this title hints to, Corn, like Bret Easton Ellis, give us a true horror story. I've been a professor of literature for some 30 years now and could easily see this book on a reading list in my dystopian literature class. This book tells the story of monsters who prey on others to satiate their lust for blood and power. Like Patrick Bateman, from Ellis's American Psycho, the GOP, republicans, the "moral" majority, new rightists, and all the rest, assault without remorse the body politic of this country, ripping its very fabric to shreds. If you want to know why Trump and Trumpism is what it is today, and why it is so obscene and vulgar, read this book now. And while you are at it, give it to a friend.
2 people found this helpful
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Mike C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff.
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2024
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A informative look at Republican political strategy since the end of WW2.
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T. Burton
5.0 out of 5 stars Uncommonly good research and writing covering a well worn topic
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2023
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This book helped my understand why and how I had badly misjudged the mood of the country before the 2016 elections. It is well researched, breezy and well written, with (from my liberal standpoint) a mild bias against conservatives
5 people found this helpful
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Lex Alexander
5.0 out of 5 stars David Corn ties together the strings of Republican craziness in one package
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2023
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The Republican Party didn't suddenly go crazy when it nominated Donald Trump for president in 2016. That event and all that followed flowed from a decades-long, ever-worsening pattern of paranoia, grifting, bigotry and cruelty. Students of modern politics won't find much new information here. But the book is valuable for presenting, in one place, all that history in all its interrelatednessvalue of this book is that it ties that history together and shows how one event led to another in an ever-worsening pattern of ineptitude, craziness and -- it must be said -- evil. Corn, a journalist by trade, proves himself an adept historical researcher as well, and he presents his findings with a clear eye always on the big picture.
18 people found this helpful
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Matt Roush
5.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustively reported, and a bit exhausting to read
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2023
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David Corn goes into unbelievable detail, going back the better part of a century, in tracing the history of how the Republican and Democratic parties switched sides when it comes to progressivism and race -- believe it or not, 120 years ago, the REPUBLICANS were progressive, in favor of clean civil-service government, in favor of public policy decisions based on sound science, and open to racial integration, while the DEMOCRATS were the party of ignorant superstition, religious fanaticism, and racism. Somehow, culminating in LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, the Republicans became the party of institutional racism, and through the John Birchers and later the Religious Right, also became the party of religious fanaticism and public policy decisions based on a very selective reading of the Old Testament. Then you add in Lee Atwater and Newt Gingrich's demonization of the Democrats, treating them not just as people with different public policy ideas, but actively evil, tools of Satan. And then you add in Trump's completely brazen, constant lying, his ridiculously crude and stupid rhetoric, and his constant incitements to violence -- and you get where we are today. (Oh, and you also have to consider how weakly the Democrats have responded to all this -- bringing not even a knife to a gunfight, but a sternly worded memo and a plate of cookies.) I'm not sure whether American democracy survives, given the fact that our system of government virtually guarantees only two parties, and the fact that one of those two parties today is completely batbleep insane.
36 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Richard Banville
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2024
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I bought this for a gift for my husband, and he says it’s well written and very engrossing!
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Mike's
5.0 out of 5 stars Will the GOP learn from the facts presented in this book?
Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2023
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I have my doubts, as research shows that right-wing rhetoric appeals to the fears of the undereducated masses and Republicans of the Trump-variety know only too well that these constitute their electorate. Therefore, my prediction is that Trump or a younger version of Trump will follow him, spreading his grievances in due course in very much the same way and by then Democrats with an elderly gentleman at their helm will not be able to win again.
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Mr. R. M. Munoz
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2023
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fascinating unfolding of how we are where we are in terms of the insanity unfolding in the USA and to some extent many other nations. couldn't put it down. a must read!
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fender bender
5.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly "happy making" - but well worth reading if you care about the United States
Reviewed in Canada on October 12, 2022
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Very thorough summary of the denigration of the GOP over the last 20 or 30 years.
2 people found this helpful
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