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A review by tim_ohearn
Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday
5.0
Conspiracy is a not particularly concise showcase of Ryan Holiday's maturation as a writer. His writing style here is eerily similar to Antonio Garcia Martinez in Chaos Monkeys, or, generally speaking, my own, whenever I want to flaunt that I am well-read.
It also tells one of the most compelling and mind-boggling stories of the decade. Yes, Holiday managed to get exclusive, intimate, access to Nick Denton (the CEO of Gawker), Peter Thiel (the billionaire that everyone hates now), and Hulk Hogan (Hulk Hogan). The story has this type of complex awesomeness that is beyond descriptives; difficult to sell to an outsider. I like leaving the storytelling to storytellers, because who the hell am I really, but trust me when I say it's good.
Gawker Media was an enterprise that published gossip and speculatory articles and media. Real bottom of the barrel stuff that violated a lot of unspoken rules that generated a lot of clicks at the expense of making people feel bad about themselves. The premise behind the operation was that they were protected by the First Amendment and that the site helped hold prominent people accountable... or something. How pathetic were the articles? Well, a few years ago, I discovered that one of my coworkers at the time, who had been a college athlete, had been written about in Deadspin (formerly a Gawker company). The Deadspin writer made fun of the guy's name and the fact that he was, at the time, studying to get a Ph.d. The article's existence made me angry, and the 50+ comments under it, to this day, continue to piss me off.
If we're going to talk about "the media" in a book published in February 2018, you know there's no getting away from Donald Trump. Thankfully, the election is relegated to the tail end of the book. In those pages, what is expected to be an epic triumph is actually a party that ends at 9 PM for our conspiracists, Trump's perceived failure kind of being a bookend to the final act that is not nearly as glamorous as once imagined.
By the time you read this book, there's a pretty good chance that you know who won the lawsuit. There's a pretty good chance the media has conditioned you to hate Peter Thiel. It's a given that you spend more time thinking about Donald Trump each day than you do your loved ones. At any rate, Ryan has put together a story that leaves you basking in that post-movie glow. Coming soon to a theatre near you.
It also tells one of the most compelling and mind-boggling stories of the decade. Yes, Holiday managed to get exclusive, intimate, access to Nick Denton (the CEO of Gawker), Peter Thiel (the billionaire that everyone hates now), and Hulk Hogan (Hulk Hogan). The story has this type of complex awesomeness that is beyond descriptives; difficult to sell to an outsider. I like leaving the storytelling to storytellers, because who the hell am I really, but trust me when I say it's good.
Gawker Media was an enterprise that published gossip and speculatory articles and media. Real bottom of the barrel stuff that violated a lot of unspoken rules that generated a lot of clicks at the expense of making people feel bad about themselves. The premise behind the operation was that they were protected by the First Amendment and that the site helped hold prominent people accountable... or something. How pathetic were the articles? Well, a few years ago, I discovered that one of my coworkers at the time, who had been a college athlete, had been written about in Deadspin (formerly a Gawker company). The Deadspin writer made fun of the guy's name and the fact that he was, at the time, studying to get a Ph.d. The article's existence made me angry, and the 50+ comments under it, to this day, continue to piss me off.
If we're going to talk about "the media" in a book published in February 2018, you know there's no getting away from Donald Trump. Thankfully, the election is relegated to the tail end of the book. In those pages, what is expected to be an epic triumph is actually a party that ends at 9 PM for our conspiracists, Trump's perceived failure kind of being a bookend to the final act that is not nearly as glamorous as once imagined.
By the time you read this book, there's a pretty good chance that you know who won the lawsuit. There's a pretty good chance the media has conditioned you to hate Peter Thiel. It's a given that you spend more time thinking about Donald Trump each day than you do your loved ones. At any rate, Ryan has put together a story that leaves you basking in that post-movie glow. Coming soon to a theatre near you.