In some ways, you could argue that this is just a reiteration of Frank's ideas, insights, and critiques, and I guess that's true but 1) it's a collection of journalism from the past several years, so, uh, what do you expect it to be? and 2) those pieces are focused with a laser-sharp-eye on some of the most urgent issues of our time- the enervation of the middle class and the Midwest, the goofiness of centrism, the rise of Trump and the possible fallouts (good and bad) from his hypothetical do

Praying Our Way to the ApocalypseHaving most likely entered my final decade of life, I have been drawn into reflecting on my experience with the various institutions in which I have been directly involved - the family, the church, the military, academia, and financial and commercial business. Ticking them off as a has-been in each, I’ve come to the tentative conclusion that I have been a consistent failure in them all. But reading Rendevous with Oblivion gives a glimmer of hope that perhaps this...

The author is reminiscent of Orwell and Hitchens in cutting through the crap and telling it like it is.Two of his books (links below) in particular, What's the Matter with Kansas and Listen, Liberal, exemplify this.This book is a collection of essays. This Guardian column is included in whole and is a rare voice in explaining how the Demo Party shot itself in the foot and, in some ways, still hasn't learned from its mistakes.https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...=====Books....https://www.goodr...

Man, Rendezvous with Oblivion is interesting. The first half of the essay collection is fairly forgettable; Frank certainly raises good points amongst myriad topics, but it was the second half that really got me. His essays focused on the democratic party and the 2016 election were engrossing. A Bernie supporter himself, he seriously digs into the core issues of how Trump was elected not by simply blaming Trump supporters, but by addressing the ongoing failings of the democratic party. There's a...

Having been mightily impressed by Listen, Liberal, I really looked forward to the next insight by Thomas Frank. Unfortunately, Rendezvous With Oblivion is simply a collection of earlier essays, and not any deep new thought to set politicos back on their heels. These reprints are mostly a dated look backward, with much less value than new insight. Once read, they can be forgotten.Some of them are really forced. Frank has access to Lexis/Nexis, so he can research the obscure, like how many nonprof...

Thomas Frank hates everything. He hates airports and colleges and ‘vibrancy’ and mansions and billionaires and fast food and diploma mills and STEM and Doris Kearns Goodwin and the movie ‘Lincoln’ and presidential libraries and Breitbart and the press (in particular the Washington Post) and free trade. He hates it all. What does he like? He likes recycling old essays into a book whose subject matter is largely obsolete by the time it is published. He’s a good writer though.

The essays in this collection are insightful, cutting, and occasionally humorous. Frank does not subscribe to any particular ideology, so he is able to turn an unbiased eye to each of his topics. Add to that his clear support for the little guy, and you have a book that is by turns maddening and enlightening, but never dull.

Leave it to Thomas Frank to take a bad year and make it even worse. His collection of essays spans a few years and several topics: McMansions, middle America, higher education. But mostly Donald Trump and the disaster that befell the nation in 2016 when we elected a spectacularly unqualified man to office. Frank, true to form, goes after the Democrats and how they blew it. And he makes a lot of sense. His Listen Liberal of 2016 made similar warnings to the purported Party of the Left. They’re to...

Who is this guy? I’m not sure, but he waxes eloquent on everything there is to poke a stick at: McMansions, airport architecture and snobby frequent fliers, “vibrant” communities, higher education, presidential libraries, and, of course, The Donald. Cynical, sardonic, and sometimes cranky, Thomas Frank, former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s, and who writes regularly for The Guardian, reams and skewers just about everyone here, liberals and conservatives alike. Flashes of bril...

Frank's compendium of selected essays from the past five years is so compelling, I can forgive him for his presidential vote in 2016. He has admitted on the record that he was one among millions of Americans who, motivated primarily by Trumpophobia, voted for Clinton/Kaine in 2016 when their policy preferences aligned more with Stein/Baraka. Like Michael Moore, Cenk Uygur, and other analysts with progressive cred, Frank has railed tirelessly against the hypocrisy and corruption in the modern Dem...

Frank is one of the most persuasive commentators about the crises inside American liberalism, having garnered attention with his What’s the matter with Kansas and Listen Liberal. Here he offers a series of essays that aims to situate the reader inside the crises progressives in the United States find themselves. The Trump presidency was a shock to many but not Frank who elucidates the real life problems caused by thirty years of neoliberalism and the political party that had chosen to abandon wo...

Rendezvous with Oblivion: Reports from a Sinking Society  is a collection of essays from 2011 to the present that provides a travelogue of the downward journey of the US. Not that it starts at the top of the hill, because for the bulk of the population that's been forbidden territory for several decades—only the nobility gets to occupy the castles.That's sort of the metaphor used in title of the first set of essays, "Many Vibrant Mansions," and the subject of the second piece, "The Architectu

Mr. Frank’s collected essays from the past few years(3 & 1/2 stars) These essays, originally from Harper’s, The Guardian, and two other publications, are from the author of . He delves into subjects societal and political, with the latter third of the book focusing most on Trump and Trumpism. Although the essays were “tweaked,” there’s a certain amount of repetition on topics such as how the Democratic Party went wrong in the last presidential election and what it should do to right itself. The

Really 4.5/5 with one catch: if you are a pre 2016 Thomas Frank fan this book is not for you.Because it's not a real book: it's a patchwork quilt of TF essays and writings over the past 10 years or so. If you've been following those over the years you've already read this "book".However, if your a receipt fan, it's great. It's basically the selected (and highly recommend) works of Thomas Frank.Perfect to catch up with the lefts most bitter, snarky, and insanely on point pundits and commentators....

A collection of hot takes Thomas Frank has written over the past few years. There’s nothing new in here per se; some of the critiques stay biting and incisive while others already feel dated. If you’ve read Frank’s work before, this isn’t essential reading. If you are new to him, however, you’ll find a lot to enjoy.

I really appreciated this thoughtful, impassioned series of essays on contemporary culture and politics from a left populist POV. Frank identifies and inveighs against the rot and subsequent hollowness of several of the US’s biggest institutions, and the bipartisan consensus on core economic issues that is responsible. My only complaint is that he occasionally dilutes an otherwise great argument with a diversion into taste that, even when I agreed with him, still felt like it weakened his point....

I can always go to Thomas Frank for some righteous anger and integrity. Written in the lead up to and immediate aftermath of the 2016 election, these essays eviscerate Donald Trump and the corporatist rot that made his rise possible in the first place. He calls out the cons played on the average person by the student loan industry, media structure, presidential libraries, and the big orange man himself. While I'd probably say his Listen, Liberal or The Wrecking Crew are better overall, I love he...

3.5*Plenty that I liked, and also agreed with, but it also suffers from being a collection of essays written over time - some errors, bias blinkers, etc. He’s a great writer, though. And I do enjoy reading his books.I also think it’s important for Democrats in the US to read authors like Frank, Matt Taibbi, etc. - you may not agree with everything they say/write (I don’t), but they do have some important observations about the electorate and perceptions of the Dems that could help in the future....

Even funnier the second time around. Frank really sells it in the audiobook. Totally recommend.

Thomas Frank has become one my favorite commentators on America's current political situation. In contrast to the hand-wringing incredulity and moralistic scolding that pervade liberal editorial boards across the country, his analysis gets straight to the heart of what made the Trump presidency possible: the wholesale abandonment of progressive politics by the Democratic party.This book is a collection of some of his most incisive and prescient editorials spanning from 2010-2018, with a particul...