I think the most important thing to know about this novel is that its author, Anders Behring Breivik, or Andrew Berwick, was a literal domestic terrorist. So, you already know this book is going to be crazy extremist. Breivik committed the 2011 Norway attacks and killed eight people by detonating a van bomb. Later, (yeah, it gets crazier), he killed 69 participants of a Workers’ Youth League (AUF) summer camp in a mass shootings- this set the gruesome record for the most fatalities by a single gunman. He did get convicted of mass murder, terrorism, and causing a fatal explosion in 2012, but surprisingly he was found sane. The simple fact that a “sane” person killed 77 people is both terrifying and perplexing. Although he was identified as “sane,” he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, narcissistic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. In my research project for Forbidden Texts, I focused on how antisocial personality disorder, sadism, and the Dark Triad Traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and machiavellianism) influence and cause violent, unprovoked aggressive behavior. Breivik is a perfect example of this as he committed terrorist acts with no guilt, hesitation, or specific motivation regarding the people he killed. Strangely enough, he was only sentenced to 21 years in prison, but this is because 21 years is the maximum sentence for Norway. Fortunately, his sentence can be extended for as long as he is deemed a danger to society, which he undoubtedly is. Focusing back on 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, Breivik emailed the text on the day of his terrorist attacks and claimed that his main motives for the attacks was to publicize his manifesto. It’s sickening, to me, how he sees the lives of others as dispensable and usable for his own personal gain. Another crazy thing about this is that the text itself is longer than War and Peace, yet he emailed it to multiple people. In his manifesto, he opposed Islam, called for the deportation of Muslims from Europe, and blamed feminism for a European “cultural suicide.” Since his imprisonment, Breivik has identified himself as both a fascist and a Nazi. Breivik’s hateful ideology and dangerous, fatal acts of violence that are both supported by 2083: A European Declaration of Independence should not be tolerated, and this book, in my opinion, is rightfully censored.