The Reactionary Mind: Why Conservative Isn't Enough

by Michael Warren Davis

"Michael Warren Davis is the only man who inspires me to smash my iPhone. Beware this beautiful book." —Austin Ruse , American conservative political activist, journalist, and author.

America Needs Reactionaries!

Never have the American people been lonelier, unhappier, or more in need of a swift reactionary kick in the pants.

There is a better way to live—a way tested by history, a way that fulfills the deepest needs of the human spirit, and a way that promotes the pursuit of true happiness.

That way is the reactionary way. In this irrepressibly provocative book, Michael Warren Davis shows you how to unleash your inner reactionary and enjoy life as God intended it.

In The Reactionary Mind , you’ll

You also get bonus lists of Reactionary Drinks, Reactionary Books—even Reactionary Dogs.

If you want to be happy, you need to be a reactionary, and this book is your guide. It belongs on the bookshelf of everyone in America. (And, incidentally, a reactionary would build his own darn bookshelf, not buy one from IKEA!

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Christianity

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[O · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book on a camping trip after a few sessions. It starts off extremely strong, but the ending is so bizarre and stupid that I was forced to give it 3 stars. I debated giving it 2.

The first few chapters (more like mini essays) are enrapturing and were clearly where the author spends most of his intellectual stamina. You can tell Davis is swinging for the fences on these. The first 5 or so (of, like, 17) are the meat and potatoes of reactionary thought. He defends organized Christianity, the institution of Chivalry (perhaps the greatest in human history), and explains the reactionary rejection of both the left and the right today. He also takes aim at capital P progressivism, including attacks on the Enlightenment and Reformation. He explains why people were content to be serfs, and attacks the concept of every person on the planet being some Sage scholar like the Enlightenment wanted. He scores easy points dunking on today’s Science and Reason cult. As someone who is probably close to a reactionary, this is all well and good. 5 star review incoming, and I recommended the book to several others for this chunk alone.

After this, Davis treads into murkier waters. He flounders attempting to defend moments like the Inquisition, trying and failing to explain it away with Sir Thomas More’s romanticizing burning Heretics. He tells these weird half truths about the story of Galileo (that people “weren’t ready” for heliocentrism, and that the church had to be “really sure” he was correct) instead of relying on the scholarly work of people like Dr. Rodney Stark who have already done all the heavy lifting for him.

He also poorly articulates why free markets are bad before lamely trotting out something to the effect of “what if we had guilds again LMFAO”.

The last few bits are a speed run into what he thinks a reactionary should do. For example, pipes are awesome and based, but cigars suck and are the playthings of the middle class playing Cuban gangsters or Winston Churchill. Okay dude. As someone holding a pipe in my hand right now, I think he’s just doing too much.

What infuriated me came at the very, very end of the book. The author is fat, quite fat. He has the audacity to harangue anyone who lifts weights (who he calls “gymnasts”) for their “toy muscles” and vanity. He calls the *idea* of going to the gym evil. This killed the book for me. The rest of the chapter was this bizarre defense of the “country swole” serf that did activities like baling hay and chopping wood. Okay dude.

The gym thing sealed it for me. Davis is too busy telling us that “the true reactionary wears ties at home” (real quote) to go to the gym. He’s a caricature of a Victorian fat piggy banker deriding the one place in today’s culture where self improvement is celebrated and encouraged.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely read, but expect a confident awkwardness

Half the arguments ate sound, the other half are just sounding off. The author, though, is friendly, bookish without being (too) naive, and less grumpy thsn he will be in 25 mire years. It us a quick and pleasant read, mainly because the tone is rare and the sentiments even rarer.
I recommend what he does except for half. Ger the dog and goat and garden. Wear that tie, chausseurs sensibles. Chuck the digital? Ha! And again I say HA! without this access to all books, papers, films, music, lectures, monstrous speculations, filth, lies, distortions, childish... Well, you know. I rather like rummaging thrive this world because it could well fit in somehow to that idyllic countrified life of nearly anyone. But, unlike him, my reactionary tendencies are a fault, not cultuvated, a result of some imperceptible consequence of original sin which has defined me my entire life.
Get this book and read it in one sitting on a kindle as I have. Sorry, but..

[Nik Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking, as well as inspiring. Plenty to chew on and even to disagree with. Worth your time.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throw away your smart phone, television, and computer. Start wearing dresses and a suit and tie. Work from home or close to it. Get married young and have lots of kids. Plant a garden.

This is a real conservative, not a neo-con. He quotes Andrew Zang, Susan Sontag, Elizabeth Warren and John Maynard Keynes approvingly on economics. What he proposes is too hard for me, but I wonder if I might a better man if I had done it at a younger age.

[Terry Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highlighting is superfluous.

I highlighted so much of the text,there's not much left. Clever writing, clever quotes, and a lot of down-to-earth wisdom...though he was wrong on one count: he assumed men would be the reading audience. Women will love it too.

[Mr. Ironside · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book indeed has solid ideas and a good primer for the layman who wants to learn about reactionary thought. But the way I see it, the book towards its end. somewhat preaches being a reactionary for sake of being a reactionary, turning into “a guide on how to act like its not 21th century in the middle of 21th century”. A good read, especially as an alternative look into history, but take it with a grain of salt.

[Noah Mickel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life. I have deleted every subscription service and social media network I have.

[John Dickhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this 4 stars so bad, but the last 1/3 of the book strays too far out of the intellectual underpinnings of the first 2/3 in favor of glorified larping. The hook of this book to me was Davis rightfully recognizing that the current left/right paradigm modern politics operates under is framed completely wrong and that the real discussion should be rooted in the transcendental versus modernity. Davis covers all of this in his discussions of serfdom, chivalry, the discussion of medieval society, and Galileo's trial (just to name several).

Unfortunately so much of this was undone when the last act of the book started delving into aesthetics. I'm sorry, but lifting weights is not an exercise in vanity (the author doesn't help his case with this being overweight), and suggestions that wearing a tie indoors makes yourself a true reactionary. The nail in the coffin for this was the author converting to the orthodoxy from Catholisicim not too long after releasing this book.

[Maximilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I immensely enjoyed reading this book. While many secular or non-Catholic readers may dislike the taste of this author's pen, I have to say that I learned a lot from it.
If you are a (young) man searching for true happiness, manliness and stability in your life - get this book.
Absolute recommendation.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on good living