I was excited about reading Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher because we’re crunchy and ideologically conservative, and the subtitle intrigued me. We got on the list at our local public library and waited it out. From the preface, the book caught and kept my attention. Dreher is a gifted and personal writer who is easy to read. Because crunchy cons are my kind of people, I often wanted to cheer as I read along.
Many of the ideological emphases of the book are ones we value in our family. We care about more than just the bottom line when we shop and are willing to pay more for products we “believe in” such as locally grown and organic foods, things that are well crafted, beauty and not just utilitarian function, etc. The process is important to us and not just the end result. I enjoyed reading the book because the many anecdotes reminded me that there are others out there who care about the things that we do, which can be hard to find the suburban South.
However, when I finished the book I was disappointed with it on several levels. First, it wasn’t very persuasive and it relied on ad hominem attacks and emotionalism to make points. If I didn’t already agree with Dreher, I probably would not have been swayed by him. Some of the chapters were weaker than others, for example, the chapter on home was mostly about buying a smaller, older house. Even though we are in the process of buying our first house and it is a small, 70 year old bungalow, it may not be the most crunchy thing to do for every family. Older homes aren’t as energy efficient, for example. Some aren’t laid out well for entertaining and building community with others. Also, the chapter on homeschooling wasn’t very grounded in reality and I think it might have been better tackled if he had emphasized that crunchy con families realize that education isn’t neutral and emphasized the many crunchy choices out there (alternative schools, coops, classical Christian schools, etc) along with homeschooling.
I think what disappointed me the most about the book is that Dreher didn’t fufill the subtitle which reads: “How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party.)” How are we saving America? I’d like to know that, myself. I’ve seen that the paperback version that will be released in the fall has a new subtitle, according to Amazon, and I’d suspect it’s for that reason. If you are looking for anecdotal, warm writing about those in the Republican Party who “act lefty,” Crunchy Cons delivers. But I think I was expecting just a little bit more. (6.5/10)