Reading, Watching 06.16.24
Le Front Impopulaire triomphe
This is a regular feature for paid subscribers wherein I write a little about what I’ve recently been reading and/or watching. Hope you enjoy!
“When the republic is threatened, the word ‘republican’ changes its meaning. It takes on its old historic and heroic significance.” —Leon Blum
This morning I’ve got for you a bunch of great articles that will help make Macron’s shocking call for snap elections in France and the chaotic political developments since, but first…
As many of you already know, Tuesday, June 18th is the official release date of my book When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and positive response the book has been greeted with so far.
In case you missed it, this past week it received reviews in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Here’s a sample of those notices:
"[A] terrific new book . . . Vibrant . . . [Ganz] has the skills of a gifted storyteller—one with excellent comedic timing, too—slipping in the most absurd and telling details . . . Urgent and illuminating . . . Like the cultural moment he covers, Ganz gets energized by mixing high and low. When the Clock Broke is one of those rarest of books: unflaggingly entertaining while never losing sight of its moral core." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
"[A] wry and engaging account . . . [Ganz] turns his hand to character studies that double as deft exercises in political critique . . . When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump’s ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly." —Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post
Next week, with the launch at McNally Jackson Seaport, will be quite busy for me and I don’t anticipate getting to do many newsletters, so I just wanted to take this time to say a special thank you to the paid subscribers of Unpopular Front. Without you, this book would not have been possible: you quite literally supported me during its writing. The newsletter and the writing of the book started at almost exactly the same time. The reviews are thrilling, but I’m really most moved by readers’ excitement about the book. I hope it lives up to all your expectations!
I also have a piece in the new Harper’s, which should be on newsstands now. I believe it will be available online next week.
Now, to some other news: Many of you know me on Twitter as @lionel_trolling. That may be how you discovered Unpopular Front. Well, I’ve decided that the era of @lionel_trolling is coming to an end. The site is increasingly unusable, but I also just want to live outside the constant churn of social media and turn to writing that’s more thoughtful and considered. Twitter may be good for my business, but it’s not good for my peace of mind. While I’m promoting the book, I’ll keep the account going, but in a few weeks I will close it indefinitely. (I’ll periodically reactivate so I don’t totally lose the account and its followers —who knows, I may write another book — but, with God’s help, I will no longer post.)
I must say it’s gratifying — albeit worrying — that the history of the French Third Republic is suddenly so relevant. Allow me this: I told you so! But I also must warn you that the political situation is shifting so rapidly that much of what you read my be outdated by the time you get to it.
First, everyone must read Cole Stangler’s guest essay in The New York Times, “France is on the Brink of Something Terrifying:”
Whatever happens next, it’ll go down as one of the wildest gambles in modern French history. President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly and hold snap legislative elections on June 30 and July 7 has given the far right its best shot at governing France for the first time since the Vichy regime of World War II.
The move stunned the country’s political class, including high-ranking Macronists from whom the president’s plans were reportedly heavily guarded. And for much of France, the decision remains perplexing. For those with the most to lose from the far right in power — above all, immigrants and the descendants of recent immigrants — the news is downright terrifying. Mr. Macron, who has a habit of disregarding conventional wisdom, will surely hope the move redounds to his benefit. But make no mistake: France is in danger.
Everyone should also read Arthur Goldhammer’s piece in The New Republic and his blog over at Tocqueville 21. For my money, Goldhammer is one of the best observers of France in the English language:
Having defeated Marine Le Pen twice for the French presidency, Macron hoped to pull off the same trick a third time by framing the election as a choice between Good—himself—and Evil, the radical right. He failed to register the extent to which public opinion has turned against him since his election in 2017. One French acquaintance put it this way: “I cannot wait to see the back of Macron, who has brought France to its knees.… Until we can get back to a choice between a moderate right and a moderate left, we will be paying dearly for Macron’s immaturity.”
“Immaturity” is not the word I would use. Macron’s flaws are arrogance and narcissism. It was impossible to watch his first post-dissolution press conference this Wednesday morning without feeling that he trusts no one but himself to solve the nation’s problems. When everything else is forgotten, he will be remembered as the man who declared that most of a failing meatpacking firm’s workers were “illiterate” and who told two unemployed workers that he could “cross the street” and find a job in an instant. In his press conference, he said, without evidence, that “two-thirds of the French understand and want this dissolution.” Inability to see through the eyes of others is a shortcoming in any human being; in a politician it is dangerous, because it leads to the assumption that the real majority is always with him, regardless of what the polls say.