No critic delves into the dark recesses of American consciousness quite like Dery. And perhaps at no time in recent history has national disillusionment been so primed for such critique.

Consider, as examples, the Wall Street crash of 2008 and the housing foreclosures that spread like rolling blackouts in the years that followed; the Occupy movement’s sick-of-it-all civil disobedience or the hacktivism of groups like Anonymous and LulzSec. In so many ways, the public’s once-idyllic vision of personal prosperity achieved through blood and sweat has eroded, leaving a hard truth in its wake: The American dream is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Read the full review.

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Read The Verge's review with Mark Dery.