Reviews for Myths of Our Humanity:
Every culture has myths, stories passed down throughout history to make sense of the world. For the author, a Venezuelan businessman, writer, and political analyst, myths are also crucial to how a population conceives and protects democracy…
…Rangel eagerly plays with form: A Zeus vignette takes the form of a news article; another reads as a scene in a screenplay with Sandro Botticelli; a third uses an internal memo within a conservative political party... One of the most arresting sections is a gruesome comic, with anepigraph by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, that uses azombie apocalypse as metaphor for how citizens pay the price for political apathy and extremism…
The ease with which Rangel weaves ideas and struggles from centuries and millennia past into the present political landscape, both in the United States and the world beyond, has a chilling effect. But like hope, left at the bottom of Pandora’s box, there is still the feeling that we can move forward, if only we heed our past.
[This book is] A vibrant play of visual art and the written word that attacks apathy and implores us to act.
The book was selected by Kirkus as one of the 100 best independent titles of 2024.
Kirkus Reviews
“Myths Of Our Humanity” is a wildly original literary novel that is not only exciting and fun to read but has something important to say on a crucial topic - mankind’s search for freedom. Rangel has masterfully woven beautiful illustrations with myths of our shared past, from the ancient Greek Gods to the modern-day myth of Dracula, all in order to create an insightful and thought-provoking novel. No one can read this book without admiring the extraordinary talent of this author. “Myths Of Our Humanity” is a literary treasure.
Anne Jordan
President, Northern California Writers
“Each myth [in the book] has its own weight, but it can be woven together with the others, and each reader can weave it in their own way—ignoring their dreamlike aspect, which isn't easy either—until they create their own narrative, and the reader hits on universal concepts opening the door to the experience of liberal democracy. This is [Rangel’s] purpose.
Dr. Asdrúbal Aguiar, Secretary General of the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA).
“By linking myths to the development of liberal democracy, Carlos J. Rangel shows us the shortcomings [of societies] lacking myths which allow them to successfully conquer the transition from barbarian to civilized, a fundamental condition for building such a liberal democracy.”
Beatrice Rangel, member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations,