Title: Winston Sapphire: The Truth and Propaganda
Author: Wilbur Shapiro
Publisher: Grovehouse Press
ISBN: 979-8985015621
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 123
Reviewed by: Arthur Thares
Hollywood Book Reviews
Politics is a touchy subject, but author Wilbur Shapiro tackles it head-on with this work of fiction, Winston Sapphire: The Truth and Propaganda. In it, he imagines a world that never happened but could have in an alternate universe. His imaginative take on world events may be compelling to some readers and give others food for thought.
Winston Sapphire wants to be a journalist, much to the chagrin of his father. After enrolling in school and realizing the power of political speech, he creates a right-wing alter ego dubbed Antiganda. Unfortunately, this alter ego rubs certain people the wrong way with his editorials, and Winston becomes a target for shadowy conspirators. While Winston heads into underground protection, the world is falling apart around him due to an unfolding terrifying left-wing agenda. While in witness protection Winston builds a life for himself in a rural community all while continuing to write under his pseudonym. He mistakenly lets his guard down leading to a harrowing third act that could spell the end for Antiganda.
The book is written in a unique format that you won’t find anywhere else. It hops between short chapters written from a third person view and newspaper editorials written through the eyes of Winston Sapphire. The editorials are filled with a mix of Winston’s opinions and some questionable data picked from real-life sources, though the data is not sourced in this book. In a way this book is very meta because it is using propaganda to warn of the dangers of propaganda.
Wilbur Shapiro uses fictional characters to say what he thinks for better or worse. His writing style is succinct and leaves nothing to the imagination. Chapters are short, as are paragraphs making this a quick read that is easy to digest for everyone. Although the bite-sized paragraphs make it easier to retain information, it would have been nicer to have more character building and description in this novella. When a book blurs the lines of fiction and reality, it is easy to get lost in the idea of alternate universes. Wilbur Shapiro has blurred those lines with a book that borders on satirical and uses real-world conspiracies to ask, “What if?” While this book may be controversial to some, it will likely find a home with others.
.