“One of the most brilliant cultural critics and graceful writers I know.”

“To make his case, Masciotra draws on his personal knowledge of communities on the far edges of Chicago in Illinois and northwest Indiana, along with reporting and sociological studies—including one showing that the most common factor among January 6 insurrectionists was that they lived in counties where the non-white population was growing. Most rewardingly, he delves deep into suburban political history, incorporating a wide array of narrative threads; these range from an interview with a former leader of America’s first neo-Nazi skinhead gang—which in the 1970s and ’80s roamed Chicago’s south suburbs, attacking Black and Latino people on the street—to an inquest into the thinly veiled political agenda behind suburbs’ usual absence of sidewalks. (As one urban planner explains, the idea is that “if we have sidewalks, we’re going to bring people who do not belong.”) It’s both a darkly limned history of Chicagoland and a convincing portrait of a new era of white flight.”

“Having been born and raised in exurbia, Masciorta brings his personal experience to his cogent and frightening analysis of the mindset that has taken hold in so many American small towns and rural communities, offering insight and a fresh perspective on the culture wars dividing the country. Highly recommended.”

“Jesse Jackson is one of the most influential American leaders of the last half century, and historically one of the giants of the African American freedom struggle. In his paean to Jackson, I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters, David Masciotra, based on research, and extensive first-hand observations and multiple interviews with Jackson, presents a sprightly analysis of why Jackson matters in the African American freedom movement, human rights and the quest for a more just, equalitarian and inclusive American democracy. Although a sympathetic portrayal, Masciotra carefully balances admiration and detachment in his assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the man and his work. The book is an important addition to the literature on Post-Civil Era American politics.””

“The cultural critic David Masciotra’s new book Barack Obama: Invisible Man is, in a broader sense, about how America banged its collective head against Trump Tower after last year’s election, no longer able to believe in the kind of change Obama had brought to the Oval Office. He touches on issues not often raised, such as race, privilege, and Obama’s demeanor. Masciotra has previously written about John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen, but needless to say this is his most controversial topic.”

“David Masciotra writes with the precision and integrity and humanity of a great journalist, one whose word you can trust. He knows his subject, and his prose and reporting are always informed by the lights of compassion and decency.”

“Did Metallica really abandon their thrash roots or were these rock intentions in them all along? The latest entry of the 33 1/3 series written by David Masciotra answers these questions with finesse, thoughtfulness, and hard facts taken straight from the band’s mouth. With new interviews, revelations, and a look at the LP’s importance to the band and music in general, the book is tailored made for those who thought they knew everything about the metal giants.”

“Masciotra’s readings are insightful, even brilliant at times. ...Masciotra argues in Working on a Dream, by way of painstaking dissections of Springsteen’s lyrics, his stories are in the deepest sense about a nation that systematically subverts itself: undermines its communities, isolates citizens from one another, exercises its power recklessly, and destroys the sense of solidarity that is so crucial to a healthy society.”