Book Reviews

past, Americans always harboured a tendency towards ultra-individualism. The American Revolution and Constitution coincided with the Age of Enlightenment, igniting a national movement that “guaranteed personal liberty above all, where citizens were officially freer than ever before to invent and promote and believe anything”. Americans’ right to bear arms gave rise to a deeply engrained gun culture and religious freedoms evolved into an exceptionally literal and fantastical religiosity. But the nation’s unraveling didn’t just happen overnight. Rather, the route Andersen takes us on traces the common threads of religious zeal, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories, from the Salem witch trials and occult Freemasonry of the Enlightenment to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, New Age theology and apocalyptic paranoia.

While Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election shocked America, –Andersen suggests it even took Trump by surprise – his rise in politics is proof of America’s ultimate embrace of Fantasyland. Trump’s triumph hinged on his ability to play an impresario who leveraged the fantasy-industrial complex to his advantage like no one had ever done before. He played to conspiracy theories, exploited myths of white racial victimhood, and rode a far-right extremist counterculture that had taken over the American right before his rise to power.

Founded on an excitable thirst for independence from their European

As Andersen maps the journey through fantasyland, religion –particularly Christianity – plays a pivotal role in feeding the frenzy. The as ever, to unravel in the Fantasyland fashion”. His final call to action for Americans is to fight for facts and objective truth, find new protocols for information media hygiene, and regain national balance and composure. America’s ability to accomplish this is yet to be seen.

Oprah Winfrey brought magical thinking to twelve or thirteen million viewers every day, promoting New Age beliefs, alternative medicine (famously, Dr. Oz), anti-vaccine conspiracies, and imaginary energies. Andersen points to the 1980s as a tipping point for the convergence of entertainment and politics. Ronald Reagan's rise from Hollywood actor to President of the United States seemed like a perfectly natural progression. Talk radio and TV news shows morphed into “politicized show business”.

The digital era that began in the 1990s arrived just in time to amplify what Andersen calls the Kids 'R' Us Syndrome, where American adults began “playing videogames and fantasy sports, dressing like kids … and even getting surgery to look more like kids”.

Puritanical ideology of discipline, austerity and hyperliteracy morphed into The Great Awakening of the 18th century, the formation of Scientology and the Mormon Church, and eventually the contemporary evangelical movement. Charismatic religious leaders like Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and Jerry Falwell became charismatic entertainers made famous through the entertainment industry.

The freedom to reinvent oneself within an anything-goes personal belief system gave rise to a collection of “fantasists, some religious and some out to get rich quick, all with a freakish appetite for the amazing," Andersen writes. Impresarios and hucksters such as P.T. Barnum and Buffalo Bill preceded Walt Disney, Hollywood and an industrial entertainment industry that blurred the lines between reality and fantasy.

Melanie Trudeau is an English major turned digital strategist, who splits her time between rural Vermont and Toronto.

The Good Parent Educator by Lee Elliot Major

JOHN CATT EDUCATIONAL, £12

Gaming boomed into a multibilliondollar industry creating imaginary worlds that felt realistic and offered an immersive experience for adults who wanted to play like children. Andersen points to Trump as having the ultimate case of Kids 'R' Us Syndrome: “spoiled, impulsive, moody, a seventy-year-old brat”.

Digital platforms allowed for “even greater immersion in the unreal”. Conspiracy theories and rampant falsehoods that were once on the fringe become mainstream. The mostly unregulated internet and social media platforms became vehicles for spreading fake news and fantastical stories to an audience that had little ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

While Andersen admits that “flecks of fantasy are charming condiments in everyday existence,” he wonders if “it’s only America’s destiny, exceptional

Ihave been following Lee Elliot Major’s inspiring work for some time now. A global leader in his field, he advocates for social mobility and empowering parents. The captivating title perfectly defines a new era of parents post pandemic, which we all became involuntarily. Raising a young child in London immense and constant pressure to get it right education-wise, despite me working in the industry, so as soon as I saw the book, I clicked order.

It was just what I needed. A step by step comprehensive guide, an insightful education roadmap- from birth to workplace. Backed up by solid and thorough research, yet so easy to read, it is cleverly structured, with fascinating facts, key takeaways, and useful bits of advice. You can independently explore each area and dig deeper thanks to helpful additional reading and references provided at the end of every chapter. The author speaks as a parent and educator, thus making it very relatable. afraid to become your child’s advocates. and making countless broadcasts and recordings.

It also could not have come at a better time- emerging from lockdowns, still slightly traumatised by home schooling, rethinking education entirely. As parents, we desperately try to get our children ahead in this turbulent reality. We are also exhausted, confused, and sometimes even considering relocating to the sunnier climates and leaving this “educational arms race” behind (I know I am). Wherever you end up, the information that Elliot Major presents in this book is applicable to any family. It compels the reader to “reflect on what you think education is for”. It is not “just grades”, but the fact remains that certain university degrees result in much higher earnings. Do you then aim for Oxbridge, or look at the bigger picture? “Parents are the single biggest predictor of children’s life outcomes”, says Elliot Major. No pressure then. It is about balance, finding out what matters most to your child and using available resources and information. Good news“most things turn out to be ok in the end”.

So how do you become a good parent educator? If you do only one thing, “instil a love of reading” in your child. Ok, I think I have nailed that one. If you are struggling, Elliot Major offers practical and realistic tips to succeed. The section on choosing schools struck a (painful) chord. It completely consumes parents and often is a significant expenditure. Read that chapter very carefully before going to any school visits, and you will be well equipped.

Elliot Major further explores tutoring, digital exposure, learning styles, assessments, and a few other significant areas that parents must be aware of. The book culminates at life after schoolapprenticeships, universities, Oxbridge, and venturing into the job market.

Once again, Elliot Major stresses that no matter which path you choose- and there is a case to be made for each of them, “nurturing essential life skills’ is crucial when stepping into the real world of work (and avoiding your adult children living with you).

Now in his ninth decade, he is a renowned pedagogue based in London, and regarded as the foremost living ‘torch-bearer’ of the Hungarian Violin School, which traces its origins to the 19th century violinist, Josef Joachim, a close friend and collaborator of Mendelssohn, the Schumanns and Brahms.