The first book to explain why the world was primed for the Luigi Mangione moment, showing the history that led him to be embraced as an avenger with an affection not seen since Jesse James or Robin Hood. The explosion of glee and sympathy for Luigi surprised everyone, but it was everywhere. Hours after the shooting of the United Healthcare executive, his company put out a message out on Facebook saying their “hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him.” People replied with laughing emojis and comments like this one: “No one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That’s the job of the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximize profits on your health.” On TikTok, another commentator said, “Oh my god, y’all really raised the school shooter generation and now you’re asking us for sympathy?” she asks. “Welcome to a regular Tuesday at school in America.” When he was arrested, TikTok exploded with more love for Luigi: “They could’ve been more gentle with him, he has back problems,” said one commentator. Others attempted to come to his rescue. “He is innocent, he was with me the whole time.” eBay said that while it had a policy prohibiting items that glorify violence, they were allowing the sale of items with the words “deny defend depose.” In Seattle, someone reprogrammed a couple of electric highway signs so they flashed: “One CEO down…many more to go.” So where is all this coming from? Richardson has tracked the building blocks of this widespread alienation for three decades, finding it across not only the environmental movement but among those who reject capitalism itself, including the rules that govern everything from insurance to healthcare. He has followed the men and women who have gone to extremes to express that alienation, and studied the inspirations they found in other outlaws, most especially Ted Kaczynski (Luigi had posted a review of Kaczynski’s manifesto on Goodreads). The result is a book that will put Luigi in context and even illuminate how his appeal is likely to play out in the future. "Riveting and uncomfortable. . . . Richardson’s book may not resolve the ultimate question of whether its subject is hero, criminal or casualty. But it leaves us with a more pressing one: What does it say about America that we can no longer tell the difference?" -- Jonathan M. Metzl ― The New York Times "By Richardson’s account, if Mangione committed the crime of which he’s accused, then it might be the only murder in known history that can be ascribed to a book club—one that picked Theodore Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its Future . . . . Though Mangione didn’t accept every bit of Kaczynski’s analysis of the woes of the world, he took enough of it to heart to ask the inevitable question about what’s to be done—and to whom." ― Kirkus Reviews John H. Richardson was a writer-at-large for Esquire for eighteen years and was previously staff writer at New York magazine and Premiere . He is the author of My Father the Spy , In the Little World , and The Vipers’ Club. His work has appeared in The Atlantic , O. Henry Prize Stories , Best American Crime Writing , and Best American Magazine Writing. He lives in New York City. Chapter 1: Magic Island CHAPTER 1 MAGIC ISLAND Let’s start with Luigi Mangione on that beach near Waikiki in the fall of 2022. Staring at the waves he couldn’t surf, back in pain, big hungry brain swimming with ideas. He posted one online and pinned it to the top of his feed: 7 years ago, I gave my hs senior speech on this topic: “Today, I will be talking to you about the future, about topics ranging from conscious artificial intelligence to human immortality…” This was the speech he gave as his class’s valedictorian, literally speaking for his generation. Changes were coming like nothing the world had ever seen, he promised. “When we understand just how fast the rate of human progress is increasing, a revolutionary near future isn’t unbelievable, it’s actually the only logical conclusion.” His advice: “Be excited for what the future holds for us.” Seen from two and a half years later, this was a moment of touching optimism. He still believed in the power of knowledge to change things, still had a sense that history was moving forward in positive ways. He had a six-figure job too, working as a data engineer at an online car dealer called TrueCar.com. There, according to his LinkedIn page, he “spearheaded the transition and integration of lease / loan payments to a new API [a software interface], expanded pricing data sources, and improved call frequency and conditions, resulting in a 34% increase in new vehicle payments populated and more up-to-date payments.” He spent his first six months in Hawaii in a shared living space called Surfbreak, a high-rise right by the water, with surfboards on a rack and communal spaces filled with attractive young people, then rented an apartment in another high-rise along with a