The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
October 9, 2024–Anthropomorphic animals as a vehicle for telling morality tales has a history that stretches back millennia. Orwell's Animal Farm is perhaps the best known contemporary form of this style that combines a sweeping morality tale with biting political commentary. These types of stories are difficult to write, as the author has to walk a fine line between the reality of the situation he or she wishes to skewer and the suspension of belief needed to accept talking horses, pigs and goats. I've seen this attempted with various degrees of success, but recently I was sent a copy of a new collection of short stories that not only does anthropomorphism well, but also has a dollop of the supernatural stirred in to leaven the mix.
P. R. Infidel's Tales of American Idiocy (Liberty Hill Publishing, 2022) is prefaced with the following:
"America has entered an age of Idiocy-an age in which its citizens promote and practice self-destruction in exchange for a nebulous sense of security and self-righteousness. Worse, few Americans realize it."
P. R. Infidel (@proudinfodel911), who describes herself as a "Based Christian author. I wear a harem maiden's or slave's veil to commemorate the political veiling we underwent during COVID," wrote her Tales to reframe our national idiocy, and hopefully aid the awakening of Americans from their collective stupidity and mass psychosis.
Infidel's seven short stories, grouped into three sections (Regarding Evil Politicians and Immigration without Representation, Regarding Rioters and Rabble-Rousers, and Regarding Covidiocy) fearlessly and mercilessly tackle the issues of the day. Stolen elections, unwise immigration policy, tin-foil hat-wearing "conspiracy theorists" who turn out to be right, lockdowns, jab mandates, BLM and Antifa-all are laid bare in their collectivist, authoritarian, woke glory.
It's not pretty, but then again, neither is the subject matter. It is, remarkably, quite humorous at times.
I enjoyed the book immensely, and would highly recommend it with the following caveats:
First, while it is short, it's not a quick read. The writing is very tight, and trying to catch all the references Infidel has put in on the first reading is nigh-impossible. Tales is one of those books you'll want to read at least twice, just to see what you missed the first time.
Second, Tales is highly topical. If you're the average low-information voter who still gets their information from the Mockingbird Media, you'll be mostly clueless about the book. Buy it anyway, and ask one of your conspiracy theorist friends to explain it to you.
Third, Tales is NOT a children's book. If you have bright young teens around, it's a good work to have them read (bribery works on teens as well as corrupt politicians, I suggest you use it) and then discuss it over the dinner table. Assuming, of course, that you're a good parent who actually insists on having at least semi-regular dinners with your teens. If not, don't come crying to me or P. R. Infidel when they come home from school waving a progress flag and telling you they've started "transitioning" to a gender you've never heard of.
Fourth, Tales will make wokey liberal heads explode. At least, those few who can actually read and understand it. I regard this as a feature, not a bug. As a gift for them, it's wonderful! Present them a copy as a Yule, Solstice or Kwanzaa gift (because they won't celebrate Christmas, of course) with a smile. It's for their own good, really.
In short, Tales of American Idiocy is an excellent read for its target audience: those who are already awake, or are ready to be awakened from the zombified somnolence and serfdom the Regime has encouraged these last few years-and will be imposing again all too soon. It's a great read for America First-minded citizens, and a great gift for those who are just starting to be red-pilled.
Has P. R. Infidel written the Great American Short Story Collection of the '20s? Possibly. Is it another Animal Farm? No-but then again, there will never be another Animal Farm. Is it a wonderful contemporary, highly topical work? Absolutely. Will it have legs? Again, possibly. I suspect that in years and decades to come, as historians yet unborn struggle to understand the lunacy that was American society in the late 2010's and early 2020's, Tales of American Idiocy will be a valuable resource for them. Yes, it's that good.
Once again, I highly recommend Tales of American Idiocy.
P. R. Infidel's Tales of American Idiocy, illustrated by Bosch Fawstin, Liberty Hill Publishing (2022) is available from all the usual suspects.
You can find links to buy Tales of American Idiocy below. I follow P. R. Infidel on Gab at https://gab.com/proudinfidel911
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75364706-tales-of-american-idiocy
This review was first published in slightly different form on Doc Contrarian's Substack, September 28, 2023.
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