Dangerous Fictions: The Fear of Fantasy and the Invention of Reality by Lyta Gold is a bold and insightful exploration of the ways in which society’s fear of fantasy has influenced cultural, political, and social constructs. Gold argues that fantasy—whether through literature, art, or personal imagination—has long been regarded with suspicion, often seen as a destabilizing force that threatens the established order. The book offers a deep dive into the intersection of imagination and reality, examining how our collective fear of the fantastical has led to the invention and reinforcement of particular “realities” designed to suppress alternative viewpoints and possibilities.

Drawing from historical examples, cultural analysis, and a mix of philosophical and psychological insights, Gold demonstrates how society has used fantasy as a scapegoat for everything from moral panic to political control. The book examines how marginalized communities, in particular, have used fantasy as a tool for resistance, often facing punishment or ostracization for their imaginations that challenge dominant narratives.

Gold’s writing is provocative and thought-provoking, encouraging readers to reconsider their assumptions about fantasy and its potential to create alternative ways of thinking and being. The book also touches on the role of fantasy in shaping identities, social movements, and personal liberation, highlighting its importance as a vehicle for progress and change.

Dangerous Fictions is a powerful and intellectually enriching read for those interested in the cultural power of imagination and the ways in which it has been both feared and suppressed throughout history. It is a compelling exploration of how our fears surrounding fantasy shape the “real” world, and how embracing fantasy could allow for new, liberatory possibilities.

Yeah… no. While I want to support an essay collection analyzing reasons and examples of the ubiquitous desire to censor and ban fiction, DANGEROUS FICTIONS was pretty incohesive and superficially argued.

It started off promising, with Gold explaining in clear language that fear of fiction (moreso than of nonfiction) remains a mainstay of a society that is ruled by fear of the Other. I even found myself laughing in agreement at some of her snarky turns of phrase, such as calling the comings and goings of book bans “some kind of hysterical cicada,” or Greek philosophers criticizing writers of epics “for portraying the gods as murderous, adulterous assholes”.

But beyond that, the essays don’t go much deeper. This reads like the sort of argument you’d find on a Twitter thread: passages sound nice in isolation, but when zoomed out, lack sufficient research and evidence to back them up. Gold makes liberal use of the, well, common liberal thought-terminating cliches about conservative book banners (e.g. “The left-wing book cancelers are trying to address real and complicated concerns; the right-wing book banners simply love power and hate time”). On social media, these are the kind of statements that would get shared thousands of times; in a book, it acts like an excuse for Gold to not back up her theses with clear evidence. Gold often uses a sample size of one to support her arguments, which makes it very easy to poke holes through her declarations.

The Tweet-like nature of her writing also leads to essays of limited cohesiveness. In just Chapter One, titled “Get a Load of These Crazy Broads” (whatever that’s supposed to mean), Gold covers, in no particular order: conservative book bans on the “woke” agenda, conservative white parents’ inability to let their children feel even one moment of racial discomfort or guilt, book “cancel culture” by liberal readers, authors of color trying to police and cancel other authors of color, historical calls to ban plays that depicted woman in a too “revolutionary” manner, morality tales, representation, transphobia, the whiteness of the publishing industry, the fairly muted attempts to canonical white male authors, and more. If you’re confused about what point she is trying to make by attempting (and failing) to tie all of these examples together… you’re not alone. After a point it felt like Gold was introducing a completely new topic with every paragraph, and only occasionally circling back to points and examples she’d made earlier.

There are some good points scattered throughout–I especially appreciated a point Gold made about how books weren’t depicting reality so much as they were depicting prescriptive norms, i.e. how people should think, feel, and act–but the way the book is organized doesn’t support these nuggets of good insight, but rather buries them under an avalanche of disjointed Twitter-level analyses and sound bites.

What a spectacular book. Dangerous Fictions combines great, deep ideas with fantastic writing. Gold explores what fiction means in our modern society, how it affects us, and more importantly, how we affect fiction. I think it's an important read in this era of book banning and using fiction to attempt to do politics. I need a copy so I can read it again, and try to ingrain the ideas more deeply. Man this was a good book. Also, Gold's writing was so fun to read.

I've always found the study of art reflecting reality and it's political ties to be fascinating and this book was a great summary of how art, literary, and other forms of media all collide with politics. The book's focus on his literature and politics combine was a big selling point for me and I think this book does a great job at presenting multiple stories, events, figures, and historical events in a way that people can learn a lot from while also being approachable and easily digested so that readers can learn and not feel like they are being lectured down too. The pacing was good because many times I find that nonfiction books can be very slow to read and get into but this one was not. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I am happy that I was approved on NetGalley for it because once I started reading it, I really couldn't put it down, I wanted to keep reading about Gold's studies, opinions, and facts/events they chose to include in the book. I highly recommend especially if you are looking for some literary history.