Chris Faraone, the Gazette’s political columnist, has authored an ebook about America’s culture wars called “I Killed Breitbart…And Countless Other Causes of Conservative Consternation.”
Written with provocative punches, the book mixes updated reprints of Faraone’s Boston Phoenix reporting on everything from Tea Party rallies to the Democratic National Convention with new material about America’s right wing.
The anchor of the book, and the source of its tongue-in-cheek title, is Faraone’s heated talk-radio debate last year with conservative icon Andrew Breitbart—who dropped dead of a heart attack the next day at age 43.
They had debated the Occupy Wall Street movement, which Faraone supported in his acclaimed book “99 Nights with the 99 Percent.” Breitbart, founder of the popular conservative news site Breitbart.com and a vehement critic of the Occupy movement, infamously screamed at Occupy protesters in Washington, D.C., that they were “filthy, raping, murdering freaks.”
The book describes Faraone’s experience in the culture-war crucible, with Breitbart supporters subjecting him to responses ranging from name-calling to death threats. While he does not really believe their argument killed Breitbart, Faraone writes, he also does not miss the conservative pundit.
“Breitbart questioned global warming, maligned women, and told the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence to ‘Bring it on!’ He attacked trade unions, hobnobbed with vulture capitalists, and claimed to do it all in the name of truth-telling,” Faraone writes. “I might not have murdered him, but knowing what I know now, I’m quite content with his lifelessness.”
Other sections of the book cover such topics as conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s 2010 “Restoring Honor” rally in D.C. and updates on the Occupy movement, including Faraone’s own injury at the hands of New York police officers while covering it.
An introduction for the book was penned by Vermin Supreme, an activist known for his satirical presidential campaigns.
Faraone followed the Boston mayoral race in the Gazette’s “Politics as Unusual” column. He also is news editor at DigBoston and contributes to such publications as American Prospect and Esquire.com. Earlier this year, he released an ebook about the Boston Marathon bombings titled “Heartbreak Hell: Searching for Sanity in Boston through a Week of Tragedy & Terror.”
“I Killed Breitbart” will be released on Nov. 12 and can be purchased via Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble Nook. For more information, see wtpbooks.net.
The cover of “I Killed Breitbart.” (Courtesy Image)
“I Killed Breitbart” author Chris Faraone. (Photo by Aaron Spagnola)