baddest_b's review against another edition
3.5
Tracking the life of one of the leaders of the Hammerskim Nation, WAY illustrates the heartbreaking reality that hate groups prey on young men who are lonely - bringing them to a place where they feel like they belong. Violence is rampant, and they find joy in hatred. However, Picciolini shows that empathy can prevail. However, it only happens when you interact with those who are different from you. Thought provoking, though not particularly well written, WAY gives insight into the brains of the alt-right in a time whe their ideology is becoming terrifyingly more mainstream.
pmhandley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Honestly, a lot of my interest in this book grew after realizing Picciolini grew up not that far from where I grew up. I didn't realize that when I initially put it as a to-read. So a lot of my reading ended up being driven by a morbid curiosity about all the place names I recognized and the discomfort that came with realizing there was apparently the center of the Illinois skinhead scene going on nearby right before I was born, and probably continuing after Picciolini became disillusioned and left. When he talked about having to Even reading about when his first son was born (only a few months before I was) it occurred to me there was a good chance it was the same hospital I was born at. All of that aside, it's a quick read that's hard to put down. You definitely become invested in what happens next. Anytime I found myself thinking the author was a little naive and not good at grasping nuance, I had to remind myself he was a literal child for most of it, being influenced by people he saw as authority figures, and was barely into adulthood when he left the skinheads. I did feel like it was a little shallow though, and skims across his radicalization and then escape quickly, and there could have been more depth. I realize it's a difficult subject and the author rightfully may not want to share in exact detail all of his time in the white nationalist movement. I felt like the last few chapters where he discusses leaving the movement are very condensed and I wish there was more detail there, about him going back to school and building his own nonprofit as someone that helps youth escape extremist groups.
Spoiler
finish high school at community college after being expelled 5 times from high schools (that I all recognized the names of) I'm 90% sure I know which college he was at.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, Cursing, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
kristinasshelves's review
4.0
I loved Picciolini's newest book, Breaking Hate, so reading this was a no brainer. He tells his life story of getting introduced, and quickly immersed in, white supremacy. While at times I felt this would draw impressionable young people into this disgusting movement, this book was so raw and vulnerable. I think its important to realize that many of those involved in hate movements were essentially brainwashed into then as children and have never truly had their beliefs challenged. I wish more time was devoted to Picciolini's move away from white supremacy, as I feel that his time in that movement and his rise to leadership within it were the major focus, instead of his journey away from and ultimate denouncement of that time in his life.
whizalen's review against another edition
2.0
Read about 60% of this.... this isn't the first biography of this kind I've read, and the indoctrination stories are all fairly similar. I was put off by this book because the author still used racist descriptions when retelling past fights, etc that had me questioning his redemption story? Maybe he just didn't set up, 'this is how I was thinking at the time vs not how I think today' very well.
I also feel like a lot of his stories were bullshit. Basically the #2 for the most powerful ws in the chicagoland area when he's in like 7th grade?? The whole moving into the apartment and conflicts with his parents seemed....overblown from his perspective. The, "everyone in beverly knew my name" when he was like 16 just serves to inflate his ego. And combined with the story telling, bragging about his fights, etc...
I also feel like a lot of his stories were bullshit. Basically the #2 for the most powerful ws in the chicagoland area when he's in like 7th grade?? The whole moving into the apartment and conflicts with his parents seemed....overblown from his perspective. The, "everyone in beverly knew my name" when he was like 16 just serves to inflate his ego. And combined with the story telling, bragging about his fights, etc...
ourwingsareburning's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a great, page-turning read about a young Italian-American man's indoctrination into hateful white supremacy and how he eventually escaped it. While not shocking, it was enlightening to read how similar the hateful things he and his cohorts spouted were to the things preached by the modern-day "alt-right" (ironically, the hatred for Zionists and capitalists, mentioned sporadically, reminded me of the far left, though there's really no left-right parallel to be drawn here).
Spoiler-related themes follow:
I highly recommend this book as it serves as a look into the mind of someone who was vulnerable enough to be corrupted by hateful ideologies. It shows the strategies Neo-Nazis and white supremacists use to bring impressionable young people to their cause and may serve to help lessen its prevalence in the future if the book's warnings are heeded.
Spoiler-related themes follow:
Spoiler
What greatly facilitated his escape was being exposed to the kindness of people who were different from him. While the message of the book definitely isn't as simple as "be nice to Nazis and they'll change," compassion is a big theme when it comes to what allowed Christian's mind to change.I highly recommend this book as it serves as a look into the mind of someone who was vulnerable enough to be corrupted by hateful ideologies. It shows the strategies Neo-Nazis and white supremacists use to bring impressionable young people to their cause and may serve to help lessen its prevalence in the future if the book's warnings are heeded.
theportablemagicseeker's review against another edition
5.0
In June, the #armcherrybookclub read White American Youth by Christian Picciolini and thanks to the wonderful, @paperandcork The Armcherry Book Club will be hosting a Q&A with the author on July 8th.
White American Youth is a raw and utterly candid exploration of how wayward youth find themselves pulled into a culture that feeds on hatred and violence. Told from his own experience, Picciolini recounts how his stumbling for some sense of community with his fellow punk music fans led him to meeting a notorious skinhead leader and soon is recruited to fight with the movement “to protect the white race from extinction.”
His memoir doesn’t only tell the story of how Picciolini falls into such hateful rhetoric and his experience working to recruit and grow an army of extremists. His story includes a heartbreaking account of how he soon came to see the cracks in the ideology and how late he was to prevent the harm his choices caused.
This was a read that was incredibly powerful and eye-opening into a world that I don’t think I really considered before. I think it’s easy to get caught up with our own impressions about individuals especially when they’re someone involved with such a violent movement. Before this, I think I would immediately form my own opinions without really considering the journey and quite who that person is to get to that point. It was a stark shift in my perspective for sure to follow Christian’s poignant story that delivered a new level of understanding as well as reminding me that humans have so much capacity to change.
White American Youth is a raw and utterly candid exploration of how wayward youth find themselves pulled into a culture that feeds on hatred and violence. Told from his own experience, Picciolini recounts how his stumbling for some sense of community with his fellow punk music fans led him to meeting a notorious skinhead leader and soon is recruited to fight with the movement “to protect the white race from extinction.”
His memoir doesn’t only tell the story of how Picciolini falls into such hateful rhetoric and his experience working to recruit and grow an army of extremists. His story includes a heartbreaking account of how he soon came to see the cracks in the ideology and how late he was to prevent the harm his choices caused.
This was a read that was incredibly powerful and eye-opening into a world that I don’t think I really considered before. I think it’s easy to get caught up with our own impressions about individuals especially when they’re someone involved with such a violent movement. Before this, I think I would immediately form my own opinions without really considering the journey and quite who that person is to get to that point. It was a stark shift in my perspective for sure to follow Christian’s poignant story that delivered a new level of understanding as well as reminding me that humans have so much capacity to change.
gjniev's review against another edition
5.0
Everyone should read this account. Poignant, disturbing, but necessary.