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  • Doppelganger

  • A Trip into the Mirror World
  • By: Naomi Klein
  • Narrated by: Naomi Klein
  • Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

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Doppelganger

By: Naomi Klein
Narrated by: Naomi Klein
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Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

What if you woke up one morning and found you'd acquired a double? Someone almost like you, and yet not you at all?

When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who shared her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously. Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? Why was identity - all we have to meet the world - so unstable?

To find out, Klein decided to follow her double into a bizarre, uncanny mirror world: one of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and demagogue hucksters, where soft-focus wellness influencers make common cause with fire-breathing far right propagandists (all in the name of protecting 'the children'). In doing so, she lifts the lid on our own culture during this surreal moment in history, as we turn ourselves into polished virtual brands, publicly shame our enemies, watch as deep fakes proliferate and whole nations flip from democracy to something far more sinister.

This is a book for our age and for all of us; a deadly serious dark comedy which invites us to view our reflections in the looking glass. It's for anyone who has lost hours down an internet rabbit hole, who wonders why our politics has become so fatally warped, and who wants a way out of our collective vertigo and back to fighting for what really matters.

©2023 Naomi Klein (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

This book is as foreboding as a guide through the maze of mirrors of the modern right should be. But it's not only that: Naomi Klein has made Doppelganger gripping and scintillating, too. The result is a reckoning with the present moment that's as insightful as all Klein's indispensable work, and as suspenseful as a novel. (China Mieville)

Naomi Klein never disappoints. Doppelganger swirls through the bewildering ideas of the ultra-right that often appear as a distorted mirror of left struggle and strategy. With her always incisive analysis of the systems and structures linked to global capitalism, Klein now fiercely and brilliantly urges that our justice movements be prepared to follow the quest for new meaning into dimensions where we might least expect to find it: in injury and vulnerability. (Angela Y. Davis)

I finished this book and nearly cried with relief, Klein gave me the gift of being calm. She explores and diagnoses with empathy, warmth and searing precision the confusion and utter madness of what it is to be alive right now. This is a big book with big ideas which poses the most direct questions for our times. Everyone needs to read it as a matter of urgency. (Sheena Patel)

What listeners say about Doppelganger

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    4 out of 5 stars

Both brilliant and infuriating

There’s so much to love about this book: it’s often thrillingly incisive, and always entertaining and engaging. I was obsessed with it while listening, and there are sections of the book that take your breath away with the suppleness of Klein’s language and the illumination of her insights.

But her blind spots are infuriating. She makes a broad plea for compassion and empathy, while not extending that to her doppelgänger or people in ‘the mirror world’. (A low point was her one-sided account of the Canadian trucker strike, akin to the laziest mainstream media coverage that painted the truckers as selfish Nazis, without any real appreciation of the community and solidarity they found in the protest, Indigenous Canadians who were a part of it, or interrogation of the truly authoritarian response of the Canadian Govt in freezing their bank accounts.)

She makes a beautiful case to love every child on earth however they present in the world, but follows it with scathing contempt for other parents of autistic children who harbour questions about what caused autism.

She critiques our cultural tendency to split the world into binaries, but her own worldview is a rigid binary (left wing = kind goodies, right wing = selfish baddies: full disclosure, I’m very left wing).

She’s appalled by ‘the mirror world’s’ falsehoods and fantasies, but repeats falsehoods and fantasies of her own (“Russian bots” threatening our world has as much basis in reality as “vaccine shedding.”)

She refreshingly critiques the smugness and superiority of liberals, but her own smugness and superiority persist throughout - particularly obvious with her tone while narrating the audiobook.

She tells us stories where doppelgänger tales are ultimately about integrating one’s shadow self, but does not face her own shadow (except in the most superficial way).

For all her pleas for humanity, she ultimately defines people by their ideology, not their human-ness.

This book had the potential to be a timeless masterpiece, but is held back by Klein’s blindness to her own shadow.

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Really very good

Only critique is that it could have done with a good edit in places. That said, totally worth it.

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Good start, disappointing ending

Started out strong and compelling. The middle was rather long and meandering and I probably should have skipped some chapters but found enough to want to keep going. Part four ruined it. Was rushed and nebulous and just left me frustrated. Bit of a waste of time ultimately.

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Incredible analysis of where we are now

Klein's latest book blends memoir, politics, history, and literature into a startlingly clever and poignant analysis of our current climate. I was at times challenged, comforted, angered and at one point almost in tears. A must read.

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Astonishingly broad and accurate

I found the book answered so many difficult and troubling questions I’ve had. A logical and rational solid thread runs through this telling of a huge story. Seeing the structures as the problem we really have and encouraging a softness and kindness to the ‘others’ and ourselves for the trauma we’ve all had. I’m now encouraged and inspired to care and do more rather than continue to feel demoralised, thank you Naomi, the words are really important! I’m now going to read it again…

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Just incredible

I just finished. It was so deeply beautiful and intelligent, It is especially rewarding if you know of Naomi Klein’s earlier work. It’s a reflection on that. It’s weaved in so incredibly.

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Thought provoking and affirming

Arguably Klein’s best book to date (and there is still competition), so good I bought the hard copy too

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Great listen!

Wonderfully tangential in the themes explored, and skilfully crafted to create a compelling narrative. A really great listen!

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Deliriously exciting book

Klein has ventured deep into herself and our contemporary political/cultural malaise in way way that offers hope and solutions without artifice or saccharine platitude. READ IT NOW!

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  • Kit Mclean
  • 29-10-2023

Genuinely brilliant book

An engaging story of the authors self exploration of concepts aligning “the others” and “us”. Frightening in parts as it’s clear that collectively we, the western world at least, is playing into the hands of those who have already secured wealth and power and seek to solidify it further by putting people against people, and not ideas.

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  • Tony R.
  • 16-09-2023

Brilliant

As someone who inadvertently dipped into this strange new world of listening to many voice’s through podcasts over the past 10 years, through the isolation of living in a foreign country and working from home I gave too many voices on various platforms (perhaps because or boredom or just the need for longer conversations) to enter my brain. I too was ultimately changed forever when my brother died from Covid in the early months of the pandemic and so many these voices (some strangers but others friends) jumped ship into the rabbit hole, I felt in a crisis, I’d valued their opinions, even quoted them at times. I was left feeling embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of myself and subject matter. Listening to this book has been a decluttering & cleansing experience. Thank you Naomi Klein.

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  • Benedict Cohen
  • 27-11-2023

Thin premise, laboriously executed

This is not, as the subtitle claims, a trip into the mirror world. It is a peak across from a safe distance followed by an unoriginal take down of capitalism, Zionism and imperialism. Klein’s trip consists of a few passing encounters, listening to lots of podcasts and joining Facebook groups. This is not a deep dive into the mindset of those that appear to have departed our shared reality. The premise runs out of steam half through the book and the attempts to make it work become so contorted that they are a distraction. I largely agree with Klein’s views on capitalism but it was trivial for me to come up with counter arguments to her points. Her discussion on Zionism was when I realised I’d lost trust in her. Zionism is a subject that requires nuance which i found little of here. By the time I got to the final section I was listening at x2 just to get it over with.

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  • Sarah Gosney-Davies
  • 24-11-2023

I've been recommending this to everyone

It's impossible to describe how apt this book is. It's themes are simply too important for today's chaotic word, it should be mandatory reading.

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  • Noga Glucksam
  • 22-11-2023

Mesmerising, shocking and deeply insightful

Klein’s sharp analysis is only seconded by her compassion and empathy to the targets of her sharp criticism. Her ability to deconstruct our world of mirrors, doubles and shadowland will leave you thoughtful and heartbroken, but also empowered and hopeful.
Highly recommended to anyone curious.

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  • Arrived on time. Great condition
  • 01-11-2023

loved every chapter

a thoughtful, honest yet compassionate look at our world today. recommend that everyone should listen to this. 😀

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  • horseshoenail
  • 31-10-2023

Truth, sense & a balm

Naomi Klein’s book is completely immersive in our current world. It is both an analysis & story. I am so glad she read this book herself as it is immensely personal both for her and for us.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 29-10-2023

Totally engaging…

…am so glad I got this book and incredibly grateful for her beautifully expressed ideas.

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  • L
  • 29-10-2023

Engrossing

A must read/listen: deep, thought-provoking, and confirmation of conclusions I myself have come to. And much more. Perfect for trying to make sense of the craziness that has always been, but thanks to the internet, coupled with the pandemic, is now more crazy than ever. I really enjoyed her ideas about the mirror world, doppelgangers and shadowlands,(which all play into each other), and the quotations from other writers to back up and emphasize her points.
She definitely does point out the flaws of the left leaning base, which is very needed and important, but maybe there should have been a little more of a critique of the covid measures, since these issues are such a part of the other Naomi's rhetoric, and because Klein's words are such a powerful part of learning from all this. We will likely be facing more pandemics due to the hell of animal agriculture, climate breakdown etc. (which feed into each other). so humanity needs to get on one page as much as possible. And this takes honesty, integrity and compassion, and serious self-reflection.
Her words about Israel and Palestine are powerful and true and I thank her for her integrity, compassion and self-reflection on this matter which is not an isolated case, but yet another horrific example of the misery we inflict on one another.

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  • CC
  • 26-10-2023

life-changing

insightful, prophetic and somehow hopeful - some achievement given the backdrop of current world events (autumn 2023). A very important work

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  • Anna K
  • 23-10-2023

Inspiring

This book is utterly brilliant and one of the best and most ambitious things I have read for so long. I loved how it ties together so much that is urgent and important in culture and politics today and explores it all from such a deep, rich, psychological and literary perspective. I learned such a lot from it and I have recommended it to lots of people.

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