Genre: Satirical novel | Pages: 334
Star rating:
Intro of the book by SGM Ashcroft:
It’s the scoop of a lifetime – if he can write it before they kill him. Meet Llew Sabler, an outrageous newspaper reporter who makes more news than he writes.
When he’s arrested for a disgraceful fake-news stunt, a repentant Llew becomes a public hate figure and is left facing prison.
Then his heart is shattered when his best friend steals the girl he loves.
With his life in ruins, Llew unearths a shocking and dangerous story.
But he knows it’s more than just a story. It’s a death or glory shot at redemption.
Buy now for a white-knuckle ride into the dark underbelly of local papers in 1990s England.
My Review:
Top of mind, I'd like to say that Hack was often-humorous and was poking fun at the journalists trying to drive TRP with controversy theories and just click-bait content as opposed to real news. This book was truly a punch up towards people who have the responsibility and power to influence people with their voice who end up using it for insignificant paparazzi news which is very much relevant even to this day.
The underlying theme of the book, I believe, is “Why can’t we talk about real issues?” And the answer is that is another question which is " who wants to listen to it?" There are many, many of those still out there who trying to understand and tackle the real issues between all this noise. But while we think about the community of people chasing these fake news and wondering why anyone would care about Kim Kardashian or if the Twin Tower attack was an insiders job, you'll realize that for them it is very personal indeed.
But the reason such journalists still exist and the reason they adopt that worldview is structural and institutional. Fake news and drama exists and is sustained by deep-seated structural flaws in our culture and our institutions that we often don’t even see, unless, of course, we are the victims which is really rare unless you're a celebrity. There are millions of us who sincerely do not believe that articles about celebrities doing pot and drugs is news, and at one level many many not care. We nonetheless tolerate, if not sustain and promote, the social, economic, and educational power structure that enables these kinds of news to flourish among the real information at a defining volume and drain out the real matter. It may not be you or your worldview, but are you may be turning a blind eye to the structural foundation which you help to enable for the simple reason that you are not actively tearing it down.
This book made me laugh until I cried. SGM Ashcroft is witty and just plain funny. I love the way the story is developed, the tone of the book and overall structure. Even if it was a long read, I enjoyed every moment of it. He's as painfully honest as he is outrageously humorous and I find it to be refreshing and satisfying. In this satirical novel Hack Ashcroft forces you to look at the filth and dirt covering the information world, especially while we live in the information era.
After several fits of laughter that bought me to tears after I dried my eyes I could see the issues with more clarity than I ever have. It’s about bringing about structural change that renders such information powerless to poison our minds and our attitudes.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to everyone.
About the author and the book:
SGM Ashcroft was born in 1963 in High Wycombe. He has been a journalist since 1987, working on local and national newspapers, before an 18-month stint in Beijing in the early 90s as a copy editor on the China Daily. After a spell in corp comms, he moved into computer magazines, and then on to the BBC. He has been freelance since 2005. Hack is his debut novel, with a second in the series due out in mid-2021. He lives with his family in West London.
The book is available in all online stores.
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