I read this book in order to try to figure out how some of my friends and neighbors — who are otherwise good, friendly, and sometimes even intelligent people — could have been bamboozled into supporting Trump. What I found was a fascinating look at a side of the Trump phenomenon that has been largely ignored, except perhaps by Scott Adams. But whereas Adams identifies some of Trump’s tricks while still apologizing for him, reflecting and fostering a bitter and unhappy nihilism, Morgan uses Trump as the mere occasion to illustrate the power of hypnosis. Her real passion is helping people who have been manipulated by these strategies become aware of them and then learn how to use the unconscious part of their minds to lead happier, more creative, and more productive lives. So the bonus of this book is that, in addition to analyzing aspects of a very depressing phase of American politics, it offers some therapeutic help dealing with it.

The paradox of the book is that while it delves into a realm of the unconscious that skeptical people will resist as being flaky and irrational, it ends up being one of the most practically rational books out there. And although it astutely predicted Trump’s seditious actions (“he will up the ante and take more outlandish steps to hold onto power,” it declared a year ago) — and although freedom’s role in happiness is an axiom of the book – it is not, in the end, a political book.

In the midst of a world spewing boastful certainties and mobilizing marauding mobs, Lisa Morgan’s book offers a simple gift: the ability to turn off all the noise out there for a few moments and to delight in and learn from what poets and mystics over the ages have long cherished — the mysterious space within.

I want some of that, and I wish it for my neighbors, too.

I found the insights into Trump’s technique of mind control to be spot on. His access to his cult’s subconscious (or unconscious as the Author prefers) explains pretty much everything you need to know regarding why someone so obviously flawed can be so admired to such a large swath of the country. She acknowledges, at least to my undersanding, that Trump isn’t the first to use such techniques, and that they are not entirely tools of the right and just charlatans. This may be what we call Charisma. But, any understanding of Trump, and whether his techniques are intentional or not, there can be no doubt of his hypnotic appeal to many. My only criticism of the book regards how it attempts to also be a sort of self-help guide to using hypnosis and keeps drifting away from, what to me is the central theme of the book. Self-Hypnosis may deserve it’s own book, but this shouldn’t be it. But, never the less, READ THIS BOOK!.

Wittily written by a very self aware author, this book analyses large chunks of faithfully transcribed ‘Trumpese’ and video evidence, explaining how Trump first de-stabilises and warms up his audience – or individual victim – then leads their thinking in a certain direction. The author puts forward a good argument for Trump having training in hypnosis or NLP (either that or he’s very talented at it) – not so far fetched for a salesman at various points in American history it seems. Its an easier and more relevant read if anything now Trump is OUT of office as it was a bit too painful at the time! it also helps one consider how long his effects over his base might linger. The general explanations of hypnosis, a stigmatised, sometimes over and sometimes under-estimated discipline, are fascinating. It’s well worth the time reading it – in fact, a pleasure. A perfect complement to Mary Trump’s book over Christmas.