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The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing
An explosive, first-person account of the alt-right from acclaimed political journalist Tina Nguyen who got her start in conservative media and is now using that access to blow the top off the fringe right’s recruiting machine.
Between 2008 and 2012, Tina Nguyen was a politics-obsessed college student and right-wing activist at Claremont McKenna College. Swept up by conservative rhetoric and promises of paid internships and scholarships, Nguyen was privy to the early days of the movement now known as MAGA.
Now, Nguyen is pulling back the curtain not just on her own story within the alt-right but the full history of the movement, exposing how the right recruits, trains, indoctrinates, and builds entire networks of power to bend America to its nativist will. Based on years of dogged reporting and interviews with countless people—from downing margaritas with the first Breitbart writers to pouring over conspiracy theories sent by COVID-19 deniers and even working for Tucker Carlson in the early days of The Daily Caller — The MAGA Diaries paints a shocking picture of a shameless movement that will do anything to triumph over the left, even if it means destroying every mechanism of government this country holds dear.
In The MAGA Diaries , Nguyen blows the whistle on these dangerous extremists for the first time, shining a light on the systematized on-ramp for young Republicans. These are the new leaders of the right, and it’s urgent we start paying attention.
Between 2008 and 2012, Tina Nguyen was a politics-obsessed college student and right-wing activist at Claremont McKenna College. Swept up by conservative rhetoric and promises of paid internships and scholarships, Nguyen was privy to the early days of the movement now known as MAGA.
Now, Nguyen is pulling back the curtain not just on her own story within the alt-right but the full history of the movement, exposing how the right recruits, trains, indoctrinates, and builds entire networks of power to bend America to its nativist will. Based on years of dogged reporting and interviews with countless people—from downing margaritas with the first Breitbart writers to pouring over conspiracy theories sent by COVID-19 deniers and even working for Tucker Carlson in the early days of The Daily Caller — The MAGA Diaries paints a shocking picture of a shameless movement that will do anything to triumph over the left, even if it means destroying every mechanism of government this country holds dear.
In The MAGA Diaries , Nguyen blows the whistle on these dangerous extremists for the first time, shining a light on the systematized on-ramp for young Republicans. These are the new leaders of the right, and it’s urgent we start paying attention.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published January 16, 2024
121 people are currently reading
960 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
March 11, 2025
The book is framed as an exposé of the MAGA movement and related media coming from an insider followed by an exit to the mainstream media. This framing is almost entirely misleading. Tina Nguyen came up in a pre-MAGA milieu. In fact, she had little connection to the elite circles of conservatives. Her environment was mostly Libertarian/Paleo-con with a mixture of West Coast Straussianism - and we're talking about mostly a peripheral fringe at that (Claremonsters only became a thing post-2016). Her highest level connections were Tucker Carlson and David Frum - neither one is particularly representative of mainstream right-wing ideas nor the Donald Trump phenomenon (Carlson's turn also came after Trump's election). Plus, Nguyen appears to have never actually been a dyed-in-the-wool right-winger nor have any real facility with right-wing political philosophy. The explainers feel cribbed and the name-checking we get is quite muddled. If my memory serves, perhaps only one of the founders of National Review are even referenced.
The memoir presents Nguyen as part-striver, part-profligate who fell into the "right-wing (media) ghetto" because of a high school boyfriend. Possessed by ressentiment and insecurity-cum-tiger-mom/deadbeat dad, Nguyen and her boyfriend pursued their misguided vision of media glory to dead-end right-wing clickbait outfits. She portrays herself as naive, but if she was actually wired into this scene, she would be aware that there are many high-minded routes when one is on the Right. Instead Nguyen claims some sort of genuine interest in being a journalist. It is difficult to take such naivety as genuine in the mid-2020s.
Nguyen's eagerness to maintain journalist bonafides, by which I mostly mean a belief in a package of left-wing pieties and an instinct for shanking anyone to the right of Barack Obama, she spends most of her time trying to deliver backhanded insults to her former right-wing colleagues. This is bad form regardless of how deranged and weird these former colleagues were.
All of my gripes notwithstanding, this book doesn't have enough actual material - hardly even enough for a long-form piece. There is no reason to be particularly interested in the life of a middling internet journalist or whatever scraps of gossip can be proffered about right-wing figures. The latter is usually just of interest to left-wing media members who like to follow strange right-wingers in transfixed horror. At least, they pay much closer attention to these figures than the typical right-of-center normie. The other hilariously bad aspect of this is that a real portion of the book is just whining about the low pay and unhealthy work environment of this media space. Apparently, Nguyen can't seem to put her purported knowledge of market economics to work here.
I cannot recommend this one. There is perhaps a version of this type of memoir that would be interesting, but this space is flooded. There are even sub-genres of Trump defection/anti-Trump books. These efforts are playing in the same ecosystem with Trump and are functioning synergistically. The failure of elite media figures to understand their role, perhaps their more critical role than anyone on the right-wing, in birthing the Trump phenomenon is frustrating but predictable.
The memoir presents Nguyen as part-striver, part-profligate who fell into the "right-wing (media) ghetto" because of a high school boyfriend. Possessed by ressentiment and insecurity-cum-tiger-mom/deadbeat dad, Nguyen and her boyfriend pursued their misguided vision of media glory to dead-end right-wing clickbait outfits. She portrays herself as naive, but if she was actually wired into this scene, she would be aware that there are many high-minded routes when one is on the Right. Instead Nguyen claims some sort of genuine interest in being a journalist. It is difficult to take such naivety as genuine in the mid-2020s.
Nguyen's eagerness to maintain journalist bonafides, by which I mostly mean a belief in a package of left-wing pieties and an instinct for shanking anyone to the right of Barack Obama, she spends most of her time trying to deliver backhanded insults to her former right-wing colleagues. This is bad form regardless of how deranged and weird these former colleagues were.
All of my gripes notwithstanding, this book doesn't have enough actual material - hardly even enough for a long-form piece. There is no reason to be particularly interested in the life of a middling internet journalist or whatever scraps of gossip can be proffered about right-wing figures. The latter is usually just of interest to left-wing media members who like to follow strange right-wingers in transfixed horror. At least, they pay much closer attention to these figures than the typical right-of-center normie. The other hilariously bad aspect of this is that a real portion of the book is just whining about the low pay and unhealthy work environment of this media space. Apparently, Nguyen can't seem to put her purported knowledge of market economics to work here.
I cannot recommend this one. There is perhaps a version of this type of memoir that would be interesting, but this space is flooded. There are even sub-genres of Trump defection/anti-Trump books. These efforts are playing in the same ecosystem with Trump and are functioning synergistically. The failure of elite media figures to understand their role, perhaps their more critical role than anyone on the right-wing, in birthing the Trump phenomenon is frustrating but predictable.
December 23, 2024
In what may be the ultimate “I shouldn’t have dated that guy” book, Tina Nguyen gives a coming of age story about career hustling, building a life, and contending with the depravity of the MAGA movement…part of which was sparked by the hyper political passion of a high school boyfriend.
Seeing Nguyen on Morning Joe interviewed for this book, I was really interested and sympathetic to her story. A young person, second generation Vietnamese American, Bostonian, intelligent, urbane, and somehow caught up in the interminable goo of right-wing nonsense.
My sympathies remain with Nguyen, mostly because the book hype does not match with the slated reality. This is a story about an outsider, with ambition and curiosity, who is around right-wing academics, employers, boyfriends and media hosts, but never really a part of the inside track. Sure she worked for Tucker Carlson, attended rallies at Turning Point USA, attended dinner parties at the Claremont Institute. Her early journalism is under the banner of right-leaning websites like the Daily Caller, and she can say she sat next to David Frum’s wife. Most of the writing is about her adjacent space to the policy leaders, grassroot networks, and cultural events. It mays for a heady and unfulfilling sense of “i was kinda there”. Also, it just has to be said, she certainly finds some freaky corners of the fringe conservative moments, but there is surprisingly little Trump in this book. Sort of strange since MAGA is his frankenstein movement.
The one exception is her writing on January 6th violence at the Capital. After an experience with a psycho boss, she thankfully had crossed over to politically writing for Vulture. Having become, she writes “technically a member of the White House correspondents association (p.166), she was able to explore the grassroots network of leftist/progressive thinkers. Her writing on January 6th, about the crowds, the unease of impending violence, the clarion call to whack jobs to D.C., is the most riveting in the book. The sense of her cloaked identity in these tribal settings makes for some interesting conversations, and some brutal humor. Her story of being called “snake media” by some nutty termagant is the high water mark of this tension.
So yeah. Nguyen has a lot of personality, and her writing can be enticing, witting, reflective, empathetic. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this book because there is too much fluff and non-central pieces here. A coming of age book that centered her story, and de-emphasized the fringeness would be more compelling. I was riveted by the details of her trying to make it as a young person and struggle with financial security. The reverse holds. If she brought more of her writing into the story and followed the trail of its consequences, I would be more swayed that the MAGA movement really impacted her.
Nevertheless, there could be a young man or woman who comes across this book, and does evaluate their road to ruin. A toxic culture, an internalized nastiness, an undeserving boyfriend. Nguyen proves, it’s never too late to find the life you really want.
Seeing Nguyen on Morning Joe interviewed for this book, I was really interested and sympathetic to her story. A young person, second generation Vietnamese American, Bostonian, intelligent, urbane, and somehow caught up in the interminable goo of right-wing nonsense.
My sympathies remain with Nguyen, mostly because the book hype does not match with the slated reality. This is a story about an outsider, with ambition and curiosity, who is around right-wing academics, employers, boyfriends and media hosts, but never really a part of the inside track. Sure she worked for Tucker Carlson, attended rallies at Turning Point USA, attended dinner parties at the Claremont Institute. Her early journalism is under the banner of right-leaning websites like the Daily Caller, and she can say she sat next to David Frum’s wife. Most of the writing is about her adjacent space to the policy leaders, grassroot networks, and cultural events. It mays for a heady and unfulfilling sense of “i was kinda there”. Also, it just has to be said, she certainly finds some freaky corners of the fringe conservative moments, but there is surprisingly little Trump in this book. Sort of strange since MAGA is his frankenstein movement.
The one exception is her writing on January 6th violence at the Capital. After an experience with a psycho boss, she thankfully had crossed over to politically writing for Vulture. Having become, she writes “technically a member of the White House correspondents association (p.166), she was able to explore the grassroots network of leftist/progressive thinkers. Her writing on January 6th, about the crowds, the unease of impending violence, the clarion call to whack jobs to D.C., is the most riveting in the book. The sense of her cloaked identity in these tribal settings makes for some interesting conversations, and some brutal humor. Her story of being called “snake media” by some nutty termagant is the high water mark of this tension.
So yeah. Nguyen has a lot of personality, and her writing can be enticing, witting, reflective, empathetic. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this book because there is too much fluff and non-central pieces here. A coming of age book that centered her story, and de-emphasized the fringeness would be more compelling. I was riveted by the details of her trying to make it as a young person and struggle with financial security. The reverse holds. If she brought more of her writing into the story and followed the trail of its consequences, I would be more swayed that the MAGA movement really impacted her.
Nevertheless, there could be a young man or woman who comes across this book, and does evaluate their road to ruin. A toxic culture, an internalized nastiness, an undeserving boyfriend. Nguyen proves, it’s never too late to find the life you really want.
January 25, 2024
Appropriately, I started this audiobook on the day of the 2024 New Hampshire presidential primary. The MAGA Diaries is a memoir about a Millennial journalist with a front row seat of the present-day US Republican party and conservative news outlets. It's a tell all of sorts and gives so much color to the well-oiled and well funded machine of conservative politics.
I found some things pretty eye-opening, but it makes so much sense. Republicans are playing the long game and investing in young people and providing opportunities, while Democrats generally seem much more disorganized and young leftists so impatient.
I am solidly on the left, but somehow, I didn't find the memoir enraging like watching the news now is. Nguyen has such a fresh and unique perspective. She seems to see beyond both major political parties and the facade of both. The tone is funny and lighthearted while imparting some hard-hitting truths about the Republican party and news media.
I listened to the audiobook, which is wonderfully narrated by the author. She has such a fun, pitch-perfect Millennial delivery.
I found some things pretty eye-opening, but it makes so much sense. Republicans are playing the long game and investing in young people and providing opportunities, while Democrats generally seem much more disorganized and young leftists so impatient.
I am solidly on the left, but somehow, I didn't find the memoir enraging like watching the news now is. Nguyen has such a fresh and unique perspective. She seems to see beyond both major political parties and the facade of both. The tone is funny and lighthearted while imparting some hard-hitting truths about the Republican party and news media.
I listened to the audiobook, which is wonderfully narrated by the author. She has such a fun, pitch-perfect Millennial delivery.
December 27, 2023
I was excited when I read the blurb for this. I was curious to read insight from someone who saw the rise of the far right from the inside. Unfortunately I found this memoir too wordy for my liking. The author spends pages talking about superfluous information when we want to get to the good stuff.
Read
February 14, 2024DNF. I was hoping to better understand the attraction to the MAGA movement. Instead it was more of a tell-all. Which is fine. But it's not like we don't all know the organization is sleazy. Why do they follow a man who mocks the disabled? Who talks about gold star families and POW's the way he does? Who treats his wives the way he has? The list goes on and on. Just don't get it.
April 19, 2024
This book was...weird.
It was kinda interesting to read about Nguyen's experiences working for various media outlets covering politics (everything from Tucker Carlson to Vanity Fair). She constantly says how "shunned" she felt as a hardcore, lifelong conservative working at "mainstream" places like Vanity Fair, Politico, etc., BUT she never examines WHY that might be. Why is it that a lot of "mainstream" people find those views repugnant? Maybe there's something there you should look deeper at, and question why you chose to believe those things? Nope, no introspection there, just a "feel sorry for me as the outcast" surface-level look.
She also never really explains much about what drew her to the conservative movement as a very young person, aside from "people I know liked it" and that she followed her boyfriend to some right-wing "college." Great reasoning there.
But the real clincher here (and, honestly, in most books by Never Trump Republicans) is that she keeps saying how surprised and stunned she is when these people she's grown up idolizing and surrounding herself with turn out to be horrible, racist, MAGA trash. This makes me want to scream. Why did so many of us see it coming from miles away, years ago, but the people right in the thick of it are now acting so "shocked"? Selective ignorance or guilty covering-of-the-tracks behavior is my guess.
This book is readable in a "rubbernecking at an accident" sort of way, but if you're expecting deep-thinking answers or a real, honest look at someone's life path through this cesspool, you won't find it here.
It was kinda interesting to read about Nguyen's experiences working for various media outlets covering politics (everything from Tucker Carlson to Vanity Fair). She constantly says how "shunned" she felt as a hardcore, lifelong conservative working at "mainstream" places like Vanity Fair, Politico, etc., BUT she never examines WHY that might be. Why is it that a lot of "mainstream" people find those views repugnant? Maybe there's something there you should look deeper at, and question why you chose to believe those things? Nope, no introspection there, just a "feel sorry for me as the outcast" surface-level look.
She also never really explains much about what drew her to the conservative movement as a very young person, aside from "people I know liked it" and that she followed her boyfriend to some right-wing "college." Great reasoning there.
But the real clincher here (and, honestly, in most books by Never Trump Republicans) is that she keeps saying how surprised and stunned she is when these people she's grown up idolizing and surrounding herself with turn out to be horrible, racist, MAGA trash. This makes me want to scream. Why did so many of us see it coming from miles away, years ago, but the people right in the thick of it are now acting so "shocked"? Selective ignorance or guilty covering-of-the-tracks behavior is my guess.
This book is readable in a "rubbernecking at an accident" sort of way, but if you're expecting deep-thinking answers or a real, honest look at someone's life path through this cesspool, you won't find it here.
October 23, 2023
This was interesting! I did not know this author, but found an advanced copy on Netgalley. It was a pretty quick read about Nguyen’s journalistic career, starting out at conservative outlets and eventually ending up writing about the very people she used to work with and for.
She keeps things professional (I felt like there’s probably some juicier stuff she could write about Tucker Carlson) yet gives enough insider info to keep you interested.
3.5 stars.
She keeps things professional (I felt like there’s probably some juicier stuff she could write about Tucker Carlson) yet gives enough insider info to keep you interested.
3.5 stars.
January 1, 2024
The Maga Diaries by Tina Nguyen. Thanks to @atriabooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An examination of the American conservative machine from a journalist in the inside.
This was an interesting memoir that taught me a lot about the inner workings of the conservative recruitment processes and methods of action. I found it extremely interesting how it discussed conservatives being in for the long haul; planning for decades to make change, whereas liberals want action immediately, often to their own detriment. I would have loved a lot more tea spillage in this memoir, but as the author is a journalist, I appreciated the book for what it was as well- very matter of fact and without drama. I found for a political memoir, it read very smoothly and easily.
“Conservative activists in America, as I know them, wouldn’t have seized their power through a violent coup - they were going to do it gradually and slowly, using the constitution a clever road map.”
The Maga Diaries comes out 1/16.
An examination of the American conservative machine from a journalist in the inside.
This was an interesting memoir that taught me a lot about the inner workings of the conservative recruitment processes and methods of action. I found it extremely interesting how it discussed conservatives being in for the long haul; planning for decades to make change, whereas liberals want action immediately, often to their own detriment. I would have loved a lot more tea spillage in this memoir, but as the author is a journalist, I appreciated the book for what it was as well- very matter of fact and without drama. I found for a political memoir, it read very smoothly and easily.
“Conservative activists in America, as I know them, wouldn’t have seized their power through a violent coup - they were going to do it gradually and slowly, using the constitution a clever road map.”
The Maga Diaries comes out 1/16.
July 22, 2025
When your “citations” and just your own narrative explaining things I have a hard time believing anything written in the book. This was a very misleading book. The author had some questionable mentors and was a bad journalist but she was never really “inside” of MAGA. She just went to CPAC a few times and somehow found enough for a “memoir.”
August 13, 2024
Nguyen was on one of my favorite podcasts recently, and I thought this might be a good read regardless of where you land on the political spectrum. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t interesting, and the author came across as very annoying. The title / subtitle are basically click bait. Well done, marketers, I guess.
September 10, 2025
Audio is great.
Edited to add: since he is no longer with us, it's worth mentioning this book is about Charlie Kirk in a way. IIRC, the author dated him.
Edited to add: since he is no longer with us, it's worth mentioning this book is about Charlie Kirk in a way. IIRC, the author dated him.
December 8, 2024
I have to say, this book at some points was difficult to get through, and I can’t tell if I took an issue with Tina’s writing, or in this case, recording. However, I don’t know if I followed this as “Surreal Adventures”. While mentored by Tucker Carlson before his exit from FOX News and David Frum – neither one is easily representative of mainstream right-wing ideology or the phenomenon of Donald Trump. Parts of her ideology lies in Libertarianism, and not in the Right-Wing political philosophy dominating headlines. Had there been some parameters for what Nguyen was going to reference as right wing; I feel like I would have followed her throughout the narrative. If I’m going off of recollection, I have difficulty remembering who and what publications she referenced outside of her time at POLITICO.
To portray herself as naïve, Nguyen pointed out how her journalistic endeavors were first pursued by following a high school boyfriend. However, if she were really committed to it, I think there would’ve been other ways to have been introduced to conservative journalists. What also stuck out to me was that low pay and unhealthy work environments were such a shock. I know my professors and peers in Washington, DC were very upfront about knowing what was an unpaid versus paid opportunity and unfortunately, a significant number of newsrooms/political internships must not have had the financial space to provide paid opportunities. I guess market economics didn’t apply here.
Something that did land positively with me throughout the book was the grief that Tina had to work through after her mother’s diagnosis and then her death. Grief is not easy by any means, and it must have been really difficult to pick herself up after her mother, though abrasive in her words, pulled her through several periods of adjustment.
If the narrative were altered a little to focus on Nguyen’s background impacting her attempts to gain traction versus playing the “Trump-ism defection” narrative, I feel this memoir may have had more success. Elite media figures had a responsibility to Americans in informing the public, perhaps in a more critical role than anyone conservative, in generating the airtime and attention that Trump received. Instead of critiquing his policy, it became nightly entertainment to see what he did next. This was a very predictable route to take, and the book was overflowing with this.
To portray herself as naïve, Nguyen pointed out how her journalistic endeavors were first pursued by following a high school boyfriend. However, if she were really committed to it, I think there would’ve been other ways to have been introduced to conservative journalists. What also stuck out to me was that low pay and unhealthy work environments were such a shock. I know my professors and peers in Washington, DC were very upfront about knowing what was an unpaid versus paid opportunity and unfortunately, a significant number of newsrooms/political internships must not have had the financial space to provide paid opportunities. I guess market economics didn’t apply here.
Something that did land positively with me throughout the book was the grief that Tina had to work through after her mother’s diagnosis and then her death. Grief is not easy by any means, and it must have been really difficult to pick herself up after her mother, though abrasive in her words, pulled her through several periods of adjustment.
If the narrative were altered a little to focus on Nguyen’s background impacting her attempts to gain traction versus playing the “Trump-ism defection” narrative, I feel this memoir may have had more success. Elite media figures had a responsibility to Americans in informing the public, perhaps in a more critical role than anyone conservative, in generating the airtime and attention that Trump received. Instead of critiquing his policy, it became nightly entertainment to see what he did next. This was a very predictable route to take, and the book was overflowing with this.
November 20, 2024
Painful start to finish.
Is this for real? Nguyen presents herself as a MAGA insider and yet was pushed out of entry-level right-wing jobs several years prior to MAGA taking hold. For those outside of DC, I cannot stress this enough: Attending CPAC and the Wednesday meeting does not a Washington insider make. She was an intern and far from any bellies of any beasts.
Learning her history of dating a white-supremacist, working for The Daily Caller, and praising the mentorship of Tucker Carlson, I was so curious as to what broke the camel’s back. It was not right-wing ideology (which she never renounces in 13 chapters). It was, she claims, because the movement is funded by the Bradleys and DonorsTrust. For a person who incessantly inserts her pursuit of knowledge as a journalist into her memoir, I can’t believe it took her 25 years to learn that billionaires fund things. Now it’s all making sense.
In what is likely an attempt to preserve relationships with the people who view her as a token, she never actually leaves the right-wing movement. The entire epilogue is an exchange with her “bro” Tucker. Imagine writing a book about being an insider who left when you were never an insider to begin with and never even left.
This is embarrassing. You were not “a naive libertarian,” you were fresh out of college and thought you were special and smarter than everyone else by being a contrarian.
Is this for real? Nguyen presents herself as a MAGA insider and yet was pushed out of entry-level right-wing jobs several years prior to MAGA taking hold. For those outside of DC, I cannot stress this enough: Attending CPAC and the Wednesday meeting does not a Washington insider make. She was an intern and far from any bellies of any beasts.
Learning her history of dating a white-supremacist, working for The Daily Caller, and praising the mentorship of Tucker Carlson, I was so curious as to what broke the camel’s back. It was not right-wing ideology (which she never renounces in 13 chapters). It was, she claims, because the movement is funded by the Bradleys and DonorsTrust. For a person who incessantly inserts her pursuit of knowledge as a journalist into her memoir, I can’t believe it took her 25 years to learn that billionaires fund things. Now it’s all making sense.
In what is likely an attempt to preserve relationships with the people who view her as a token, she never actually leaves the right-wing movement. The entire epilogue is an exchange with her “bro” Tucker. Imagine writing a book about being an insider who left when you were never an insider to begin with and never even left.
This is embarrassing. You were not “a naive libertarian,” you were fresh out of college and thought you were special and smarter than everyone else by being a contrarian.
April 8, 2024
2.5 stars, rounded down. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like 3 stars to me.
I liked the idea behind the book, but the actual content was lacking. I didn’t really learn anything new, despite Nguyen’s personal accounts of various events that happened. I had hoped to gain more insight from reading her personal stories, but unfortunately didn’t really get any of that. If she had expounded on some of the relationships and interactions she had over the course of her career, I think it would have read more like an introspective memoir.
What you do get is a well-rounded read that summarizes how we got to our current political climate, but with some boring bits that read like a history textbook.
While this particular book was a bit shallow, I wouldn’t be opposed to reading another by Nguyen in hopes that she digs deeper.
I liked the idea behind the book, but the actual content was lacking. I didn’t really learn anything new, despite Nguyen’s personal accounts of various events that happened. I had hoped to gain more insight from reading her personal stories, but unfortunately didn’t really get any of that. If she had expounded on some of the relationships and interactions she had over the course of her career, I think it would have read more like an introspective memoir.
What you do get is a well-rounded read that summarizes how we got to our current political climate, but with some boring bits that read like a history textbook.
While this particular book was a bit shallow, I wouldn’t be opposed to reading another by Nguyen in hopes that she digs deeper.
May 2, 2024
I don't understand what the purpose of this book is. Nguyen describes it as a "coming of age memoir," but it feels like a memoir in name only. Nguyen honestly doesn't talk much about herself in this book; almost restricting herself to the background of what is ostensibly a story of her own life. I never really got a sense of how Nguyen's political education/thinking evolved over time. It felt more like she moved away from right-wing politics simply because it made for a better career move.
I might classify this as a kind of political book...Nguyen goes to great pains to name drop as many conservative politicians she can think of. But aside from that, there's not much analysis or insight being offered.
Honestly would not have finished this book if it wasn't so short, and even then it was a slog to get through. Would not recommend.
I might classify this as a kind of political book...Nguyen goes to great pains to name drop as many conservative politicians she can think of. But aside from that, there's not much analysis or insight being offered.
Honestly would not have finished this book if it wasn't so short, and even then it was a slog to get through. Would not recommend.
July 5, 2024
She says it from almost the beginning and says it throughout -democrats are looking for a way to stop the right, that's not what this book is, it does tell you very much how the machine works. Republicans start young and keep their subjects in line with referrals, fellowships, think tanks, and scholarships. She says she often didn't ask where her paycheck or funding was coming from, and heavily relied on a short stint with Tucker Carlson and others whose names she could drop, years later. She was a "former" monster.
Expose it's not. Weirdly braggadocios for a nonpoliticized writer, yes, yes it is.
Expose it's not. Weirdly braggadocios for a nonpoliticized writer, yes, yes it is.
October 28, 2024
There was some humor and the author I would like if I met in person. Yet, it has been a long time since I have read a book this poorly written. It was very hard to finish because it was one long poorly connected flight of ideas. The flight of ideas was poorly explained if at all. Paragraphs and sentences served little purpose.
November 5, 2024
girl fuck you. a lot of us make questionable choices as teenagers but most of us don’t end up ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNING for the far right you FLOP. I didn’t see any accountability taken for her actions during that time anywhere in this painfully long and under-edited book. FLOP
December 23, 2024
I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but when I initially pulled this book off of the library bookshelf, I had expected much more. After all, when you see “The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventure Inside The Right Wing (and how I got out)” I had expected the writer to provide more insight into her own personal belief systems when engaging in right wing politics.
The title of the book sells itself as a gripping tale of how the author escaped the right, but it’s must less interesting than that. The story goes that she worked for Tucker Carlson for less than a year before getting fired - so she doesn’t leave of her own accord, she leaves because she has to. She ends up turning down another job in Wisconsin I believe because she didn’t agree with the kind of muckraking and journalism they were engaging in. While the decision to turn down that job in a time of economic need takes an incredible amount of courage, that’s about where the story ends.
She goes to Claremont at the suggestion of her ex-boyfriend (who is a horrible person, by the way, and she did not deserve the kind of stuff he put her through), is essentially groomed by a right-wing fanatic who works diligently to get her as many opportunities as possible (something that Tina correctly says the right is exceptional at), started working for Tucker Carlson, got fired after a few months, turned down a job because she disagreed with how it was run, and then worked several odd jobs before finding her way into more left wing media like Vanity Fair and Politico. This is what I understood to be the extent of her actual career in right wing media.
I found myself very interested in learning about Tina Ngyuen as a person. I appreciated hearing her experiences with classism and elitism in left wing media, it was very insightful and illuminating, but her recount feels lukewarm at best.
There was a point in the book where she recounts having a breakdown, wondering if she was a bigot or had bigoted ideas. And while it was an emotionally impactful part of the book, it made me realize that up until that point she had never identified any bigoted ideas she actually needed to overcome in order to be the person she is today. After finishing the book, I didn’t feel like I really understood her own political beliefs as a person and still felt like she didn’t do any real self reflection. While that’s a great skill to have as a reporter, it doesn’t translate well to memoirs and I left with the impression that she left right wing media because she hit a glass ceiling she couldn’t really break, not because she had to do any insightful review into how her belief system impacted other groups of people around her. It’s probably not the case, but the serious lack of open and honest introspection expressed in the book left me profoundly disappointed and wanting more.
To work for someone like Tucker Carlson, to have idealized him and wanted to be like him (as she stages she wanted towards the end of the book), you must have identified with him to some extent and requires that you hold some sort of bigoted beliefs. I say this as someone who, as a teen, regretfully looked up to Ben Shapiro and as someone who grew up both racist and around racism.
Deconstructing bigoted beliefs is a difficult and painful thing to do because you must tear yourself apart limb by limb and admit to yourself and the world around you that the things you said and did were bad and wrong. You must take true accountability. I didn’t feel like the author expressed any personal accountability. Yes, the right grooms people to push their agenda by rewarding their bad behavior - but you as a person also have to make the conscious decision to willingly engage in that kind of behavior.
When I opened this book, I had hoped to maybe identify with the author. I hoped to read an account of how she unraveled and overcame biases and bigotries within herself. I hoped maybe she could have shed some new light or information about ways in which we can encourage ourselves and others to self-reflect. I found myself profoundly disappointed.
I gave this book two stars because the author does provide good insight into her experiences and that takes some kind of courage. However, this book felt less like a memoir and more like an extended expose. If she were to release another memoir down the line, one in which she actually talks about herself and her inner belief systems, I’d be open to reading it.
The title of the book sells itself as a gripping tale of how the author escaped the right, but it’s must less interesting than that. The story goes that she worked for Tucker Carlson for less than a year before getting fired - so she doesn’t leave of her own accord, she leaves because she has to. She ends up turning down another job in Wisconsin I believe because she didn’t agree with the kind of muckraking and journalism they were engaging in. While the decision to turn down that job in a time of economic need takes an incredible amount of courage, that’s about where the story ends.
She goes to Claremont at the suggestion of her ex-boyfriend (who is a horrible person, by the way, and she did not deserve the kind of stuff he put her through), is essentially groomed by a right-wing fanatic who works diligently to get her as many opportunities as possible (something that Tina correctly says the right is exceptional at), started working for Tucker Carlson, got fired after a few months, turned down a job because she disagreed with how it was run, and then worked several odd jobs before finding her way into more left wing media like Vanity Fair and Politico. This is what I understood to be the extent of her actual career in right wing media.
I found myself very interested in learning about Tina Ngyuen as a person. I appreciated hearing her experiences with classism and elitism in left wing media, it was very insightful and illuminating, but her recount feels lukewarm at best.
There was a point in the book where she recounts having a breakdown, wondering if she was a bigot or had bigoted ideas. And while it was an emotionally impactful part of the book, it made me realize that up until that point she had never identified any bigoted ideas she actually needed to overcome in order to be the person she is today. After finishing the book, I didn’t feel like I really understood her own political beliefs as a person and still felt like she didn’t do any real self reflection. While that’s a great skill to have as a reporter, it doesn’t translate well to memoirs and I left with the impression that she left right wing media because she hit a glass ceiling she couldn’t really break, not because she had to do any insightful review into how her belief system impacted other groups of people around her. It’s probably not the case, but the serious lack of open and honest introspection expressed in the book left me profoundly disappointed and wanting more.
To work for someone like Tucker Carlson, to have idealized him and wanted to be like him (as she stages she wanted towards the end of the book), you must have identified with him to some extent and requires that you hold some sort of bigoted beliefs. I say this as someone who, as a teen, regretfully looked up to Ben Shapiro and as someone who grew up both racist and around racism.
Deconstructing bigoted beliefs is a difficult and painful thing to do because you must tear yourself apart limb by limb and admit to yourself and the world around you that the things you said and did were bad and wrong. You must take true accountability. I didn’t feel like the author expressed any personal accountability. Yes, the right grooms people to push their agenda by rewarding their bad behavior - but you as a person also have to make the conscious decision to willingly engage in that kind of behavior.
When I opened this book, I had hoped to maybe identify with the author. I hoped to read an account of how she unraveled and overcame biases and bigotries within herself. I hoped maybe she could have shed some new light or information about ways in which we can encourage ourselves and others to self-reflect. I found myself profoundly disappointed.
I gave this book two stars because the author does provide good insight into her experiences and that takes some kind of courage. However, this book felt less like a memoir and more like an extended expose. If she were to release another memoir down the line, one in which she actually talks about herself and her inner belief systems, I’d be open to reading it.
August 19, 2024
This title is a little misleading. The author was never a maga conspiracy believer. She had abandoned conservative activism long before Donald Trump’s unlikely rise. But she is insightful and clearly super smart. I enjoyed listening to this read by the author. She’s got a somewhat Sarah vowel-esque quality to her voice and tone. Dry and self deprecating, nasal, sarcastic. I could see her voice driving other people crazy. I’m also a self deprecating super nerd, so it made me want to be friends with her. There are some scary nuggets in here. I’ve said for years that the republicans are so much more organized than dems, but I didn’t realize quite how far it went until Tina told me about her conservative summer camp and grooming experiences. The book didn’t really end, just fizzled out as the narrative rejoined the present. Not really feeling super great about where we are now, but at least I’m more informed?!
August 8, 2024
the author has a really interesting perspective (as a cool young personTM) having reported on the MAGA movement in its infancy, being a White House correspondent during the crazy years etc etc.
I don’t read a lot of political memoirs because I find the authors often insufferable, but this one is far from it. There are moments of vulnerability and you can just feel the dizzying moments of being lost in the political shitstorm moments at the same time the author experiences them. Fun, informative, (occasionally doom-inducing) but overall refreshing book!
I don’t read a lot of political memoirs because I find the authors often insufferable, but this one is far from it. There are moments of vulnerability and you can just feel the dizzying moments of being lost in the political shitstorm moments at the same time the author experiences them. Fun, informative, (occasionally doom-inducing) but overall refreshing book!
Read
August 28, 2024DNF at 66% of the audiobook.
I wanted some real insider understanding of the rise of the maga cult from an interesting perspective, but Nguyen's recapping was just too literal for me. I felt like I was just listening to her reading off a list of things that happened. Maybe because she's been a journalist for so long, I never actually knew how she felt about anything.
I wanted some real insider understanding of the rise of the maga cult from an interesting perspective, but Nguyen's recapping was just too literal for me. I felt like I was just listening to her reading off a list of things that happened. Maybe because she's been a journalist for so long, I never actually knew how she felt about anything.
March 15, 2024
Fascinating memoir with insider knowledge of conservative politics & MAGA movement. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Nguyen herself) and she kept me engaged.
April 20, 2024
really quick interesting read on conservative journalism
July 8, 2024
Such a wealth of knowledge here and a lot to explore regarding the alt right and how they came to power.
Read
March 27, 2024Notables 2024 #25
Read
February 10, 2025Not at all what I was expecting, I found this book so compelling. I read it because I was curious what Nguyen would say about her alma mater, Claremont McKenna College, where I work. I thought it was going to be one of those "My Life in a Cult" memoirs. What I found instead was a seemingly fair, honest, and incredibly insightful analysis of the conservative movement of the past couple of decades. I feel like I have a bit more understanding of how we ended up where we are in 2025.
March 4, 2024
It’s rare to see someone from the grifter media space layout detailed critiques of all sides that are somewhat accurate. The downfall comes where the hard right coloured glasses lead to rosier retellings of anecdotes and historical context. It’s still worth a read and whilst I nearly rated it higher, this book could’ve been a series of blog posts instead and had the same impact.
December 29, 2023
'The MAGA Diaries' by Tina Nguyen offered me insight into the U.S. political landscape, a subject I've been eager to understand better.
Nguyen's narrative, reflecting a perspective from my generation, dives into the rise and intricate dynamics of the MAGA movement.
Her transformation from a politics-obsessed student into a critical observer of right-wing activism is both enlightening and sobering.
The book details her experiences with key conservative figures and her exploration of extreme facets of right-wing ideology.
Though some parts were slightly dry for me, as I'm not fully familiar with all the U.S. political players, the personal anecdotes and in-depth analysis kept me engaged.
Nguyen's account of how young Republicans are recruited and molded into influential figures is a crucial narrative for anyone trying to grasp the currents of American politics.
I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader copy of this thought-provoking book, which will be released on January 16, 2024.
Nguyen's narrative, reflecting a perspective from my generation, dives into the rise and intricate dynamics of the MAGA movement.
Her transformation from a politics-obsessed student into a critical observer of right-wing activism is both enlightening and sobering.
The book details her experiences with key conservative figures and her exploration of extreme facets of right-wing ideology.
Though some parts were slightly dry for me, as I'm not fully familiar with all the U.S. political players, the personal anecdotes and in-depth analysis kept me engaged.
Nguyen's account of how young Republicans are recruited and molded into influential figures is a crucial narrative for anyone trying to grasp the currents of American politics.
I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader copy of this thought-provoking book, which will be released on January 16, 2024.
April 21, 2025
Thanks to the publisher for this copy!
I stand by my usual stance that people in their thirties don’t need to release memoirs.
I think the title was meant to be an attention grab, but it leads the reader to thinking this would be about someone’s deep dive into MAGA in some way. However this is really a memoir of a woman who is a libertarian (if you forget she’ll probably tell you in the next few paragraphs) as she goes through right wing college, internships, mentorships, and her job following the the first Trump office.
There was a lot of name dropping in here and overall I was underwhelmed.
Obviously she has respect for Tucker Carlson (one of her mentors) because she couldn’t even call him out on the sexist things he has said.
Overall I thought I was getting someone’s deep dive into MAGA and them coming out on the other side realizing how far right the republicans have gone, but that isn’t this.
I stand by my usual stance that people in their thirties don’t need to release memoirs.
I think the title was meant to be an attention grab, but it leads the reader to thinking this would be about someone’s deep dive into MAGA in some way. However this is really a memoir of a woman who is a libertarian (if you forget she’ll probably tell you in the next few paragraphs) as she goes through right wing college, internships, mentorships, and her job following the the first Trump office.
There was a lot of name dropping in here and overall I was underwhelmed.
Obviously she has respect for Tucker Carlson (one of her mentors) because she couldn’t even call him out on the sexist things he has said.
Overall I thought I was getting someone’s deep dive into MAGA and them coming out on the other side realizing how far right the republicans have gone, but that isn’t this.
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