I’ll have to try out a few of his other books, I’d be curious to learn whether this one is a one-off in terms of style and plot (or lack thereof)

Dear lord, what an unhealthy relationship is at the center of this story, which is filled with broken — at least temporarily — people. It certainly isn’t a love story, at least in any positive sense, a take which I missed completely when it first came out.

I think it’s simply because it makes us feel connected. No matter how singular or isolated our experiences seem, there’s comfort in knowing that enough others have gone through the same thing already to bother coining a word for it.

Still, it got me thinking about why we love discovering that there’s a specific word for a very particular emotion or experience.

Well there's a verb tense that got my attention

So I am committing to calling all of my representatives that I can find a phone number for, in the hope that it will make some difference.

whoaremyrepresentatives.org

These representatives are there to speak for me, but how can I expect that to happen unless I speak to them first about what I believe will lead to a better America, one rid of the corrosive influence of Donald Trump and whatever system is enabling him?

Because this is what I am expecting them to do as well: to use the voice that our system of government (for the moment) gives us, not just cede that power and responsibility because it is strategically convenient or too scary to speak up.

And just because you either agree with what is happening or have just not yet been affected, do not be fooled into thinking the same casual and ignorant cruelty won’t be applied to you at some point.

What will you do then?

But there has been none of that, only a brazen attempt at smash-and-grab, a reckless dismantling without understanding

This is not Democracy.

Democracy is primarily about enacting the will of the governed yet providing a non-violent recourse when citizens disagree with one another or with their officials' decisions.