‘A Warning’ by Anonymous: Book Review

A senior Trump administration official penned A Warning. The book analyzes and puts forward in simple language the USA’s current President and what is at stake in the coming Election whose D-Day is on the 3rd of November 2020. The 2020 USA Elections may be one of the most crucial elections ever to occur in the 21st century. When the author published his book through Little Brown, an imprint of Hachette, COVID-19 had not happened. Also, the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet taken its course. However, back in 2019, when A Warning was published, the idea behind the book was not to polarize anyone but to state the truth about an individual who, according to the author, was not a very pleasant person to work with. The anonymous author wanted the American people to know that the incumbent is not precisely the kind of leader America needs to help it grow.
The author has been very fair to President Trump in this book. He has played the devil’s advocate and highlighted the policies and other positive outcomes regarding President Trump’s working. However, he feels that is not why we should allow the President’s negative and frightening factors to be overlooked. The book convincingly states the character, weaknesses, and ineptitude of the current President who, as almost everyone says, is treating the USA’s governing like a reality TV show. But as Barack Obama said in a recent speech to the people, America is a ‘reality’ and not a ‘reality show’. A country as important, powerful, and wealthy as the USA needs a person at the helm worthy of being a governing leader. The latest news states the person we know as ‘Anonymous’ has been revealed to be Miles Taylor, the ex-chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security. You can check out that information here. His message to the people of America is vital as history often tends to repeat itself. We know about the rise of so many dictators at the beginning of the twentieth century who took advantage of their age’s cynicism and rose to power. America and the entire world are reeling under a devastating pandemic COVID-19, increasing environmental hazards, wildfires, tsunamis, dust storms, poverty, unemployment, etc. We cannot afford to be separated from each other. We need to join forces, especially with genuine strong allies, who have been there for us since time immemorial. We need to unite people so that we can carry on with our lives. Getting embroiled in useless wars, civil wars, riots, etc. will not solve any problem but will ruin the USA. There is a big difference in the way the earlier presidents of the USA behaved. Anonymous wants to bring out the real character of this very controversial President to the readers.
I’ve noticed that people keep reviewing the book with 1 or 2 stars saying that they already knew everything written in the book and did not deserve five stars. Don’t be fooled by these reviewers because the fact is that Anonymous has mentioned plenty of new material which we have not heard of before, and it’s scary to see this side of someone as the President of the USA. Anonymous also mentions stuff that we have already read or seen on the news. This is to reinforce the truth behind what we have seen. It’s not news that where ‘fake news’ is concerned, the current President knocks that chart off the nail in the wall. America is living in an ecosystem of lies thanks to the very questionable work and words of the current President. We need people like Anonymous to remind us that character is equally important where elections are concerned. According to Anonymous, the President has not been the best person to work with or live with.
A Warning was one of the last books I bought at a bookstore in February 2020. I bought the book at my usual haunt, the Granth Bookstore in Juhu, and several other books. That was the last time I visited Granth this year and browsed books in a bookstore like everything was normal. I even had a cup of strong Cappuccino coffee while sitting in my usual nook reading over my purchases. Then COVID-19 came and changed all our lives permanently. We are now living the ‘new normal’ that everyone is talking about. Under the current leadership, America has not tackled the COVID-19 pandemic with seriousness, and sadly more environmental disasters await us.
A Warning is something that all Americans should read before voting. Anonymous doesn’t mince words when he talks about the President’s behavior, his puerile language, his juvenile behavior, his incompetence, his IQ, and so much else. But more than anything else, he stresses that the President doesn’t care about the people of America. When his administration asked him about the mounting debt he has gotten the US into, President Trump very coolly stated that that wouldn’t be his problem because he would not be in office. Anonymous says that the President has ruined the USA’s relationship with its allies. He has abused them to their faces, and there is a chance that the US will be left on its own in rough times to come. Instead, President Trump is shown to be fond of dictators and their brutal way of handling their population. This disturbs Anonymous. This bothers me, and I cannot for the life of me understand why it should not concern an American! The USA will be losing friends and gaining dangerous enemies if President Donald Trump comes to power again, at a time when we need our allies beside us the most.
Anonymous shows the inept way the President handles everything that is spoken or brought to his notice. He has only lied to the American people right from the time of his campaigning in 2016. Anonymous has likened him to a Greek character Cleon in the story of Athens’s rise and fall. He is a braggart who likes to use the mob-mentality instinct in Americans to his advantage. He is not civil. He undermines everyone’s perceptions of the truth, making it difficult to find common ground on any issue. And worst of all, he is fanning the mob mentality flames saying that democracy is a weakness. I think on the 3rd of November, something historic will happen after the people of America have voted:
- Either democracy will win, and thereby the whole of America will win.
- Democracy will lose, and thereby everything freedom celebrated by the American people comes to an end. America will become a pawn in the hands of a businessman who is only out to project himself as a winner.
When Americans go to vote on the 3rd of November, they must remember A Warning by Anonymous. They must remember Cleon’s story and how democracy won in Greece by a hair’s breadth, all because of Cleon’s vile tongue. History is repeating itself, and it is shocking when you read this book to see how similar the American situation is to Athens three decades before Socrates was put to death. The similarities will shock you. Hopefully, it will encourage you to vote wisely in the present elections.
Anonymous has begged the US citizens to vote, thinking about their future and the future of their America. America is a symbol of freedom for many, even a reclusive, introverted bookish Indian like me. America deserves better. Get out there and vote for the truth. A Warning is genuinely a deadly warning that Americans should take seriously and stop from happening. It gets five stars from me on Goodreads.
I will be reading and reviewing more American books in the coming days during the on-going elections and vote counting in America. Keep watching this site for more information. I have recently reviewed a book written on America’s past President, To Obama: With Love, Joy, Hate and Despair by Jeanne Marie Laskas. Do check the review.
If you are interested in book reviews, book analysis, short story analysis, poems, essays, essay analysis, and other bookish content, you can check out my blog insaneowl.com. If you are interested in purchasing my books, you can check out the products page on my blog or my author page on Amazon. There is a lot of good stuff to buy! Happy reading to you always!
Copyright © 2020 Fiza Pathan
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