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Former Anonymous Member Talks Prison, Politics, and Art.
Barrett Brown, a well-known activist and former member of the hacker group Anonymous, has unveiled his new book, My Glorious Defeats: Hacktivist, Narcissist, Anonymous. The work challenges traditional notions of the autobiography genre and offers readers a fresh, provocative look at modern reality.
While memoirists usually strive for the “truth,” embodied in the form of unshakable memories and perfectly reconstructed dialogues from childhood, Brown chooses a completely different path. He unashamedly portrays himself as a self-aware narcissist and drug addict, making no attempt to hide his shortcomings and contradictions.
The narrative is imbued with undisguised narcissism and the author’s sharp, satirical view of the surrounding reality. Already at the beginning of the book, Brown declares that he does not accept social norms. He allegedly came to the conclusion as a child: “The society I was born into is chaotic and insane, and we must wage constant war against it.”
The book covers the hacker’s turbulent life, including his involvement in high-profile Anonymous operations. Brown details the activities of the group, which he calls a “vehicle” for drawing attention to little-known social problems. “Anonymous attacked the Church of Scientology, Koch Industries, child pornography sites, and the Westboro Baptist Church.”
Brown pays special attention to his role as a liaison between hackers and journalists. He details complex digital attacks, including the hack of Stratfor, a corporation that spied on activists for the government.
The hacker also speaks candidly about his encounters with the FBI: the raids on his mother’s home, his attempts to overcome his drug addiction before a possible arrest, and the ill-considered decision to threaten an FBI agent on live television, which led to his arrest.
Much of the book is devoted to Brown’s experiences in prison. The book describes the charges brought by the Justice Department, which, in the author’s opinion, categorically failed to understand the essence of his online activities. Despite the difficulties, Brown continued to write. In prison, he created a column, “Barrett Brown’s Review of Arts, Literature, and Prison,” for which he later won a National Journalism Award.
Brown’s style has been compared to Thomas De Quincey. His florid, almost musical phrases balance on the edge between absurdity and profoundness. The author spares neither himself nor the state, which he considers “a collection of absurd horrors so absurd that they no longer cause fear, but only bewilderment.”
Brown also tackles difficult political topics in the book, such as the election of Donald Trump as president and his relationship with Julian Assange. He is disillusioned with some of his former allies and describes burning his National Journalism Award certificate in protest at the closure of the Snowden archive.
My Glorious Defeats is an unconventional look at the life of a modern activist. Brown refuses to turn a blind eye to the hidden workings of the world, even if it puts him in a precarious position from which there is no escape.
Despite its sometimes excessive narcissism, the book is recognized as a sincere and truthful work. It offers a unique perspective on the problems of the military-industrial complex in the post-9/11 era and raises questions about the role of activists like Brown in modern society.
__________________
Barrett Brown, a well-known activist and former member of the hacker group Anonymous, has unveiled his new book, My Glorious Defeats: Hacktivist, Narcissist, Anonymous. The work challenges traditional notions of the autobiography genre and offers readers a fresh, provocative look at modern reality.
While memoirists usually strive for the “truth,” embodied in the form of unshakable memories and perfectly reconstructed dialogues from childhood, Brown chooses a completely different path. He unashamedly portrays himself as a self-aware narcissist and drug addict, making no attempt to hide his shortcomings and contradictions.
The narrative is imbued with undisguised narcissism and the author’s sharp, satirical view of the surrounding reality. Already at the beginning of the book, Brown declares that he does not accept social norms. He allegedly came to the conclusion as a child: “The society I was born into is chaotic and insane, and we must wage constant war against it.”
The book covers the hacker’s turbulent life, including his involvement in high-profile Anonymous operations. Brown details the activities of the group, which he calls a “vehicle” for drawing attention to little-known social problems. “Anonymous attacked the Church of Scientology, Koch Industries, child pornography sites, and the Westboro Baptist Church.”
Brown pays special attention to his role as a liaison between hackers and journalists. He details complex digital attacks, including the hack of Stratfor, a corporation that spied on activists for the government.
The hacker also speaks candidly about his encounters with the FBI: the raids on his mother’s home, his attempts to overcome his drug addiction before a possible arrest, and the ill-considered decision to threaten an FBI agent on live television, which led to his arrest.
Much of the book is devoted to Brown’s experiences in prison. The book describes the charges brought by the Justice Department, which, in the author’s opinion, categorically failed to understand the essence of his online activities. Despite the difficulties, Brown continued to write. In prison, he created a column, “Barrett Brown’s Review of Arts, Literature, and Prison,” for which he later won a National Journalism Award.
Brown’s style has been compared to Thomas De Quincey. His florid, almost musical phrases balance on the edge between absurdity and profoundness. The author spares neither himself nor the state, which he considers “a collection of absurd horrors so absurd that they no longer cause fear, but only bewilderment.”
Brown also tackles difficult political topics in the book, such as the election of Donald Trump as president and his relationship with Julian Assange. He is disillusioned with some of his former allies and describes burning his National Journalism Award certificate in protest at the closure of the Snowden archive.
My Glorious Defeats is an unconventional look at the life of a modern activist. Brown refuses to turn a blind eye to the hidden workings of the world, even if it puts him in a precarious position from which there is no escape.
Despite its sometimes excessive narcissism, the book is recognized as a sincere and truthful work. It offers a unique perspective on the problems of the military-industrial complex in the post-9/11 era and raises questions about the role of activists like Brown in modern society.
__________________