The reason I began defacing the book—with underlines and asterisks and exclamation marks—the moment it arrived is that Operation Shylock explores, with frankly uncanny precision, many of the bizarre mental and political traps I had been experiencing ever since my own doppelganger problems escalated. The cringe of confronting a parody-worthy version of one’s self. The catch-22 of defending one’s personal brand. The fascistic shadow selves doppelgangers can reveal inside ourselves. The way whole societies can have sinister doppelgangers. The novel contained all of that, and more.

SEED: The doppelganger as social and psychological diagnostic device could anchor an essay on identity, impostor syndrome, and brand management in public life. XREF: Connects to Philip Roth's Operation Shylock and broader doppelganger literature, plus the author's own personal double problems.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, loc. 459