Whoah! Radical literature! I love it!

I was a little reluctant to read this book. Who cares about y2k now? It's over and done with. But I was really impressed by this author’s collection of movie reviews and the content on his website, so I took the plunge and I’m glad I did.

The description is accurate. This book is less concerned with y2k than with "them." Who is "them"? "Them" is the government and corporate America, of course, but the author's targets also the UN, the IMF, survivalists, religious fanatics, you name it.

This book is basically an anti-capitalist screed, and borders on political propaganda, but it wisely straddles the fence between left and right to appeal to moderates on both sides. But it also works on a purely narrative level. It’s generally engrossing and exceptionally well written.

The author lays out the possible effects of the y2k computer bug on the world, then examines how people reacted to the threat. Some ran for the hills and stockpiled guns in the fear that social unrest would lead to martial law and a complete usurping of civil liberties. Some other people thought the end of the world was at hand, and that Jesus Christ would return. Fairbanks looks at all of these factions from a perspective that’s well-balanced, sometimes sympathetic and sometimes critical, but always witty and perceptive. The chapter on psychics and their predictions of doom is especially amusing.

What makes the book worth reading even now after the threat of y2k is over is that it can easily be applied to present times. The threat of terrorism (and now such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina) has created a similar environment in the United States today, and the lessons of this book still apply.

This is a small gem. Highly recommended.