The Age of Grievance - by Frank Bruni (Paperback)

About the Book

"From bestselling author and longtime New York Times columnist Frank Bruni comes a lucid, powerful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our current culture and politics, on both the right and left"--

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Brilliant...Bruni writes with humor, insight, and precision." --Wall Street Journal - "The best prescription for our redemption." --The New York Times - "A wise and humane book for our foolish and cruel era." --Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation

From bestselling author and longtime New York Times columnist Frank Bruni comes a lucid, powerful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our current culture and politics, on both the right and left.

The twists and turns of American politics are unpredictable, but the tone is a troubling given. It's one of grievance. More and more Americans are convinced that they're losing because somebody else is winning. More and more tally their slights, measure their misfortune, and assign particular people responsibility for it. The blame game has become the country's most popular sport and victimhood its most fashionable garb.

Grievance needn't be bad. It has done enormous good. The United States is a nation born of grievance, and across the nearly two hundred and fifty years of our existence as a country, grievance has been the engine of morally urgent change. But what happens when all sorts of grievances--the greater ones, the lesser ones, the authentic, the invented--are jumbled together? When people take their grievances to lengths that they didn't before? A violent mob storms the US Capitol, rejecting the results of a presidential election. Conspiracy theories flourish. Fox News knowingly peddles lies in the service of profit. College students chase away speakers, and college administrators dismiss instructors for dissenting from progressive orthodoxy. Benign words are branded hurtful; benign gestures are deemed hostile. And there's a potentially devastating erosion of the civility, common ground, and compromise necessary for our democracy to survive.

How did we get here? What does it say about us, and where does it leave us? The Age of Grievance examines these critical questions and charts a path forward.

Review Quotes

"An astonishing, alarming catalogue of the grievances that we nurture. I kept wanting to skip to the section on solutions (which are smart and hopeful, don't worry) but I couldn't do it. The writing was so sharp and good that I didn't want to miss anything! Damn you, Bruni!" --Amanda Ripley, journalist and author of High Conflict

"Brilliant . . . Bruni writes with humor, insight, and precision. . . . Taken together, the instances of violence, hate, misinformation, and demagoguery he enumerates are staggering. . . . Bruni zooms in on grievance overload on both sides of the political aisle, in pop culture and on college campuses, in virtually every digital and physical space we occupy. He also zooms out, exploring the origins of this grievance sickness and prescribing potential antidotes." --Wall Street Journal

"Bruni deftly dissects how grievance came to pervade American life, with each political tribe attempting to out-victim the other in increasingly ostentatious ways, leaving us in a kind of hellscape. If you are tired of hearing from entitled blowhards who have achieved success far beyond their merit yet still believe they are oppressed and you hope instead for a society that values humility, this is the book for you. Alternately funny, depressing, and pointed, The Age of Grievance is much-needed reading for the self-righteous Ivy Leaguer and the red-hatted insurrectionist alike." --Tim Miller, author of Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell

"Don't miss Frank Bruni's study of grievance. . . . Thanks to Bruni's gifts as a storyteller and stylist, The Age of Grievance is a sharp and witty argument in favor of less righteousness and more uncertainty." --Air Mail, Editor's Picks

"He's one of the smartest people I know." --Gail Collins, The New York Times

"In this feverish era for America and the world, Frank Bruni is the doctor we need. His diagnoses of our fractured politics are clear and compelling. His prescriptions are designed to heal. And his bedside manner--the wise, charming voice that has made him one of America's most admired commentators--helps the medicine taste like sugar." --David Von Drehle, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Charlie

"It can be a pleasure to read about how terrible things are when the writer is Frank Bruni. He gives us a catalogue of absurdities, sparing neither left nor right, along with some explanations of why our current wave of grievance is more dangerous than earlier waves. He also gives us great ideas for making our country less absurd. This is a wise and humane book for our foolish and cruel era." --Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation and The Righteous Mind

"It's not just the most astute diagnosis of the rage, recrimination, and revenge culture that ails our country. It's also the best prescription for our redemption." --Bret Stephens, The New York Times

"Whether from left or right, Bruni calls for a dose of humility on the part of all: 'an amalgam of kindness, openness, and silliness might be an effective solvent for grievance.' A welcome call to grow up and cut out the whining." --Kirkus Reviews