Hate Hunters

by Mari Georgeson

If we are always looking for hate, do we unintentionally create it? In a near future not so different from our own time, bands of citizen hate hunters roam the streets, capturing incidents of hate on their cell phones. As a tolerance counselor, Alma spends her days reforming the offenders, schooling them on the finer points of white privilege, cultural appropriation, and the lasting ravages of colonialism. But inside, she’s quietly buckling under the weight of centuries of collective guilt. When an ancestry report gives her hope that she might not be what she seems, she wants to shout it from the rooftops. She’s not the only one struggling in this increasingly self-rebuking society. George’s peace project may have accidentally caused an international incident. Marine, the leader of the hate hunters, may have inadvertently ushered in an era of unprecedented hate. And Mohammad, a Bangladeshi immigrant who loves to sing America’s praises, may have unknowingly radicalized his daughter. This hilariously thought-provoking literary satire leaves no stone unturned and no sacred cow untipped as it asks the important questions we all should be asking but are too afraid, What does it really mean to be part of a race, a religion, a gender, or any other so-called category of human being in America? Can hyper-focusing on these categories ever be based on anything other than hate? Does hate have a color? Is any race, religion, gender, or culture so precious as to be beyond reproach? And finally, can a nation completely consumed by its sins ever find salvation? “This is an exceptional book that enrages, enlightens, and above all, affirms the humanity of every individual regardless of their beliefs.” - Independent Review of Books “Readers, regardless of where they might be on the political spectrum, will likely laugh out loud.” -US Review of Books (Originally published as “I Hate Hate!”)

Genres: Fiction

364 pages, Paperback

Published June 28, 2023

Reviews

[Fallacious Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s The Future. North America’s split into the Patriot States and the United States of Virtue. In the US of V, Alma Willingsby visits Births, Deaths & Marriages to register herself, officially, as (23%) Black. She’s finally free of the burden of White Guilt! But things take a nasty turn when, prostrating herself in her new flowery sundress in front of a recently unearthed slave burial site, she’s filmed by the Hate Hunters crew. And so begins the Flower Butt incident…

Hate Hunters by Mari Georgeson is a gentle satyrical skit on the woke world view. I probably shouldn’t have read this book. I’m getting old and cranky enough as it is about the various assertions of the liberal left and really, it’s just playing into my prejudices (or opinions, as I like to call them). In short, Hate Hunters is the kind of book that will have certain people thumping the table and going ‘Yes!’, ‘Too right!’ and ‘About time!’ and other people slamming it shut with a snap after half a page. It’s a bit of a polemic. It’s witty, fun (though a little over-iced with sarcasm) and the writing is beautifully warm in its refusal, ultimately, to caricature people. I particularly love this amusing extended thought-gag from a stand-up comic who just happens to be sitting on the subway opposite a woman in a niqab…

“Man, their hair must be really fabulous….I’m telling you, that must be some really gorgeous hair they have under there. I mean, how gorgeous must it be that they have to keep it covered up to prevent men from going mad… Maybe those women are very wise to cover it up….maybe they’ve been saving civilisation itself! Maybe if they all uncovered their hair at the same moment mayhem would ensue, society as we know it would cease to exist, because all the men would be writhing around on the floor having fits!”

Despite perhaps going into a little too much detail at times (eg about the contents of the Koran), Hate Hunters is amusing, sympathetic, well written, and has a surprisingly sweet ending, which (without dropping any spoilers) will I think warm the cockles of curmudgeons and bleeding heart liberals alike.

[Christie Bane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this book was a struggle and a stressful reading experience. It was a dysoptian woke novel set in a world where Hate Hunting (finding people who had done something that indicated they were intolerant or racist in some way) that jacked up my anxiety and general irritation with society all throughout my reading experience. So, why three stars? Because the author is a talented writer. I hated the story and the idea behind it, but the writing itself was really good. I can't imagine who would actually enjoy this story -- if you're on the left side of the political spectrum, you will get the uncomfortable feeling that you're being mocked, and if you're on the right side, you'll be incensed at the lengths the liberals would go to if they had their way. (If you're in the middle, you will probably just want to stick your head in the sand and hope that this world goes away.)

[Maureen Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting concept