Let the Game Do Its Work

This blog has been quiet for a while, as I've been working on several ambitious projects related to its subject matter. The first fruits of this labor are rolling out today. The announcement:

From Rollerball to Battle Royale to The Hunger Games, readers and moviegoers have flocked to spectacle dystopias -- a genre of fiction in which a dysfunctional society is centered around a terrible, violent form of entertainment. J.M. Berger, author of Extremism and The Turner Legacy, provides a history of the spectacle dystopia from its almost-forgotten origins in 1878 through modern incarnations such as The Running Man and The Purge franchise, looking at how these works came to be and how they have spilled over into the real world in unexpected and sometimes dangerous ways.  

Let the Game Do Its Work is a short history of this popular genre, and also a guide to help readers discover obscure works that they may have missed. The monograph is being offered free for a limited time on Amazon Kindle and for $1.99 thereafter. It will also be free to users of Kindle Unlimited for the indefinite future.  

Let the Game Do Its Work is an 11,000 word monograph, excerpted from a longer book-length project I've been working on for some years, a comprehensive history of the dystopian genre and its effect on real-world politics. I've written a substantial amount of the book, but there's still more to go. I decided to publish this now, in part to coincide with a discussion of this topic on The Loopcast this week. Depending on feedback and sales for this short piece, I may pursue a Kickstarter, Patreon or other crowd-funded approach to help me complete the longer book.

So if you're interested in seeing more writing from me on this subject, please do read, borrow, buy and share Let the Game Do Its Work. I hope you enjoy it.