Book Review: "Wokeistan" by Tony DiGerolamo and Christian Beranek

I’m not a political man. I’m certainly not “woke”, a word which bugs the fuck out of me first and foremost because it’s in the wrong tense but also because it’s a misleading and manipulative concept. For the record, Merriam-Webster defines it as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice (chiefly US slang)”

Taking a stand and being active is one thing, but for most the idea of being “woke” gets grossly carried away and misconstrued. I don’t feel the need to challenge injustice and racism or fight hatred and discrimination unless it’s in a situation I’m personally involved in. In that case, you’d better believe that I won’t stand for that shit. At the same time, I won’t fall for that shit, either. Are you picking up what I’m throwing down here? Living your life for a cause and not for yourself and those you love is the easiest way to become one of the sheep.

It appears that Tony DiGerolamo and Christian Beranek at least see what I’ve thrown down. A novelist, screenwriter, comic book writer, game guru, and general funny man, Tony sees the world in a way that’s more than just being “woke”. Christian Beranek is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and musician. Both are well-rounded individuals with brains capable of critical thinking. How refreshing. I’ll give you their synopsis of Wokeistan; their own words summarize better than I could:

President Trump has just been inaugurated for the second time. The students at Upstate College are not happy. Led by one charismatic person of color, of African, Indigenous, Pan Asian descent who is a differently-abled Muslim-Atheist, they obliterate the college experience forever.

Wokeistan is a satire: Politics, media, corporations, feminism and the relationships between men and women. In a world where anyone to the right of Fidel Castro is considered a fascist, one college professor will try to save his school.

Read this book before it’s banned, because nothing escapes Wokeistan.

As I stated previously, I’m not a political man. To be more blunt, I detest politics with a passion normally reserved for information thieves, car trouble, and the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t like to see people make fools of themselves, you see. I’m a hardcore empath. As such, I’ve always avoided political discussions because of the negative emotions surrounding them and the intellectual inflexibility people adopt as soon as the conversation goes there. Also, I was raised that you don’t discuss religion or politics in polite conversation…and I’m very fucking polite. Can’t you tell?

Still, I believe in staying informed and learning something new every day. When Tony asked me to review this, I fully expected to hate it simply because of the subject matter. Life is truly lived outside of the comfort zone, however, so I jumped on it like a live grenade. I’m glad I did, because what he has crafted with Wokeistan is a modern-day Animal Farm populated by the biggest sheep of all- the products of helicopter parenting, social justice crusades, and millennial whining.

There were so many times (mostly early on) that I actively hated what I was reading, but I had to remind myself that it’s because the characters of G, Penny, and the Collective were so over the top and slathered with such broad strokes. They’re the opposite of nuance by design. In true Centrist fashion, the protagonist character, Dr. Lawrence Mondel, is equally one-dimensional. You’ll feel more empathy for him, but it’s not because he’s necessarily in the right or even right at all.

The neatest trick of Wokeistan is how the underlying message waits patiently and doesn’t pounce on you until your senses are already numb from the growing insanity that you’ve been put through. In that respect, it perfectly mirrors the world we live in today where everyone is so self absorbed and “woke” (I simply have to put that word in quotation marks every time because I find it so personally abhorrent).

There’s a passage at the end of the book that spoke to me on a deeper level. It said, “An era of humanity and education had withered away under the relentless assault of the politics of eliminating risk”. If Wokeistan were written decades before our current time (example: 1984 by George Orwell) it would be considered prophetic. The fact that it’s more a novel of observational humor having a good old-fashioned gangbang with political satire should scare the living shit out of you, because that’s means we’ve already arrived at the end game.

It’s a cleverly written novel, too. There’s no major lean to either side of the aisle. Sure, the Antifa end of the far left is skewered for the disillusioned mental degenerates that they are, but the Trump-loving loonies worshiping at the altar of the Great God of Capitalism aren’t wearing perfectly pressed whites, either. Wokeistan is sublime in its approach and deft in its execution. It’s also goddamn funny. That isn’t overshadowed by the intelligence behind it but rather enhanced by it. Another neat trick.

As the action escalates and the events get more and more batshit crazy, you may find your head spinning a bit. Suspension of disbelief is absolutely required. At the same time, you know DiGerolamo and Beranek have hit on something that’s a little too close to home because you don’t have to suspend that disbelief anywhere near as much as you should (given the silliness of it all). There are truths buried in the humor of Wokeistan that illustrate where we actually are: no one questions anything anymore, research is dead, critical thought is on life support, it’s all about internet hits and popularity, and people don’t give a rat’s ass what they’re standing for so long as they’re standing (and offended).

Wokeistan hits the nail brutally on the head with acerbic wit, skewering the microcosm that is the college experience while exposing both the root of the problem and the long-term effects that experience is having on our society today. If you fancy yourself as “woke” you need to read this just to see how window-licking, crayon chewing, glue-eating stupid you are.

It’s ugly. It’s hilarious. It’s infuriating. It’s criminally ignorant. It’s Upstate College- the place where you go to get “woke”. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Grade:

4.5 out of 5.0 stars…A hell of a way to start 2020!!