Tatiana's Reviews > Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

I was super excited to read this book because I felt really uninformed about the history of Trump; and this book really delivers in this regard. Since the 80s, Trump has been allowed to behave with impunity and there were multiple agencies and people who allowed him to form his alliance with Russia, to commit fraud, to have ties with the mafia/organized crime - the list goes on.

My primary complaint about the audiobook is that it's narrated by the author - there were several times where it sounds like she's sighing with exasperation and it's unclear if she's just tired from reading (something that wouldn't happen with a professional narrator) or part of her being exhausted about everything that's happening in her book.

My other issue is how white I really found Sarah and her perspective to be. Although she mentions Black people (and at times by name), I was put off by her fixation on nationalism (I love America and therefore want to defend/protect it from oligarchs like Trump) and in the epilogue, she talks about how she takes her kids on round trips to "see America".

She doesn't mention if she's teaching her white kids to not perpetuate anti-Blackness, or really anything that might be useful when it comes to dealing with racist white people (especially considering how she mentions living in St. Louis and being in close proximity to the Ferguson protests). Instead, she takes them to look at national monuments and national parks (which were formed by removing Native people from their land).

Nationalism isn't a required prerequisite to fight against white supremacist violence, the dismantling of journalism as a career (which is now mostly accessible to other elites who wont speak truth to power), realizing that the ruling elite simply don't want to hold each other responsible for their crimes against America and its citizens (ie: the head of the IRS being unwilling to release Trump's tax forms despite government requests, Obama admin not thinking Russia is a credible threat, a Trump lackey as head of the Treasury, the FBI utterly and completely failing to prosecute Manaford - it goes on).

I think I would've enjoyed the book more if these last two components didn't feel so prominent.

But a very useful read if you want a quick rundown of not only how awful Trump is, but also how we - as citizens - were failed at every level to keep what's happening now from happening. And still, nothing is being done today to reduce its impact/reach.