--- description: Find out why "Doppelganger" by Naomi Klein is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Doppelganger' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta644c4554d535d40/698a4204b21a9ce6b4507c34/Doppelganger.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Doppelganger by Naomi Klein by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In _Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World_, noted leftist and activist [Naomi Klein](https://time.com/4057301/naomi-kleins-chilling-view-of-warming/ "undefined") introduces readers to “Other Naomi,” which is how she has come to think of Naomi Wolf, her right-wing, fun-house-mirror double who she can’t seem to escape. After experiencing one too many in-person and online mixups between herself and Wolf, Klein wonders how Other Naomi, once a Rhodes Scholar and feminist media darling, transformed into a prominent voice in the alt-right, anti-vax landscape, becoming a fixture on [Steve Bannon’s](https://time.com/5882072/rise-and-fall-of-steve-bannon/ "undefined") podcast and a proud member of the so-called _War Room_ posse. She tumbles down the rabbit hole of “disaster doppelgangers” and “digital doubles,” turning to Hitchock and bell hooks and Freud, among others, in order to make sense of her situation. Klein’s writing is urgent as she dissects conspiracy theories hawked by wellness influencers, unpacks the influence of Nazis on autism research, and more—all while acknowledging the absurdity of her situation. She weaves cultural criticism with personal anecdotes and self-examination into a book that’s bold enough to propose that we will all someday emerge from the rubble of the crumbling world—it will just take reimagining, collective organizing, and ego annihilating. —_Meg Zukin_ **Buy Now**: _Doppelganger_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374610326 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3QPiDYj "undefined") --- **Looking for more book recommendations? Sign up for** [**_Worth Your Time_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=worth-your-time "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/"},"headline":"Doppelganger","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:52.897Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta644c4554d535d40/698a4204b21a9ce6b4507c34/Doppelganger.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta644c4554d535d40/698a4204b21a9ce6b4507c34/Doppelganger.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/","name":"Doppelganger"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332681/doppelganger/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```