The Infiltrator: My Undercover Exploits in Right-Wing America
by Harmon Leon
Prometheus, 263 pp., $17 (paper)
San Francisco-based journo Harmon Leon makes it his business to go where others only dream, or fear, to tread; that is, to the (in)famous XXX Church’s “Porn Sunday,” for example, or to a hot and dusty corner of the Arizona desert to spend some time trolling for illegals with the Minutemen. Leon has cataloged these journeys in his third book, The Infiltrator: My Undercover Exploits in Right-Wing America, a fast-paced read where gonzo journalism meets Onion-esque satire – not unlike David Foster Wallace, but, thankfully, far less dense and chewy. The beautiful thing about Leon’s brand of infiltration journalism is its accessibility – man-on-the-street prose, but pregnant with quick wit – that allows the reader to actually imagine being there, doing that. On the set of the “cool Christian” public access TV talk show, Miracles Happen, riffing about your (totally made up, but convincingly described) Christian speed-metal band, Pray-er; hanging around a North Hollywood porn movie set, eating greasy-ass fried chicken and watching sweaty men direct the action while waiting for your walk-on; or attending an abstinence conference to learn how to be a “teen abstinence educator.” In short, The Infiltrator offers a taste of what life is like when you have the balls to act like you belong wherever, or to whatever, you choose.This article appears in December 29 • 2006.