Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring by Bassem Youssef

I bought Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring by Bassem Youssef at his performance in Eugene, Oregon. His performance was as interesting as the clips I'd seen of his show, so I was interested in seeing if the book would expand on his show or be totally different. His courage to speak the truth infiltrates both his performance and his book. His ability to apply humor to devastation is both uplifting and heart wrenching. There were times when I read about the Arab Spring from his point of view that I was astounded by how badly people can treat one another even though it's in the news all the time. I was taken aback by how easy it is for people in power to create a narrative to hold onto that power and take more power when they can control the media. Youssef shares his story, his struggle, his hopes, and his disappointments in this memoir of how he went from being a surgeon to a comedian as well as from a patriot of his country working for change from the inside to a politic fugitive for hosting a political/news satire show against the Egyptian government as the revolution evolved into another dictatorship. Youseff maintains his comedic edge and his satirical viewpoint throughout. Revolution for Dummies is a look into the way power manipulates society and how manipulation leads to more power. This book could just as easily be titled Dictatorship for Dummies for the way it breaks down the way authoritarianism works without ever losing its comedic edge.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

Image
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert grabbed my attention from the first page. Kolbert illustrates the future of extinction by illuminating the history of extinction. She tells a story of the Earth we inhabit in both scientific and historical terms related to the myriad species of animals that have and do inhabit the Earth. She travels to myriad places on the Earth to talk to scientists and historians. I felt like she took me along on her journey to places I would never go on my own. She discussed the effects of natural processes as well as unnatural processes affecting the extinction of species and how those extinctions lead to other extinctions. Her references to previous mass extinctions were always linked to the story of our Earth and present-day extinctions. She talked about frogs, bats, auks, coral, and trees among other things. The Sixth Extinction doesn't shy away from pointing out how each species is a part of an ecosystem and how all our eco...
Read more

A Snitch in Time by Sunny Frazier

Image
Sunny Frazier always delights, and A Snitch in Time is no exception. She writes the Christy Bristol series in a way that feels lighthearted even in its darkest moments. When Bristol goes on vacation to visit her friend, Lennie, she never expects to get drafted into working for a different department doing her job. Bristol is intrigued enough by the crime at hand that her protestations seem half-hearted at times though her annoyance is very real. When she and Lennie get into a fight, she's left with nothing but the work the department expects her to do. Frazier drops the reader in the Sierra Nevada Foothills creating a sense of isolation that makes the reader cheer for Bristol to stand up to her superiors and get out of there while simultaneously wanting to her to solve the crime. When a witness contacts Bristol via phone she doesn't take her seriously at first only to discover she might have vital information. With suspicion cast in multiple directions, Bristol isn't sur...
Read more

Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat

Image
Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat approaches the Palestinian struggle for freedom by delving into how legal maneuvers are used to manipulate politics and political maneuvers are used to manipulate the law to justify the oppression of the Palestinian people. Erakat's explanations had me repeatedly wondering how people can be so cruel and why they choose to be. Erakat demonstrates and examines how the wording in multiple documents including the Oslo accords left loopholes and contributed to the subjugation of the Palestinian people while leaving room to make vague claims of a mirage of progress that falls apart with the smallest amount of investigation. An undercurrent throughout Justice for Some is that oppressors make laws the oppressed are expected to live by keeping the oppressors in power and the oppressed under control. Justice for Some explains much of the law that often gets cited in media and other analysis used to justify the dehumanizat...
Read more