Gaslighting: Chapter 12

Did the Covid era gaslight America? Or did America suffer a period of Covid-induced madness?

Andy Smarick

Jun 04, 2026

History is just a set of lies agreed upon.

I want to tell you about Chapter 12. It’s called “Gaslight.”

I didn’t steal the idea for the chapter from anyone.1

Let me explain.

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Am I Mad or Are You?

COMMUNITY DAY is about a mentally ill man trying to survive a period of national madness.

Though he is our main narrator, we have the benefit of an occasional second voice—an experienced doctor. Early in the novel, the doctor explains to the narrator’s lawyer:

His primary delusion since admission (and perhaps before) is that “the entire world has gone insane” and he is the only one able to understand that.

So is the narrator mad? Or is he the only one independent enough, and wry enough, to understand the madness surrounding us?2

Overall, a major theme of COMMUNITY DAY is the difficulty in distinguishing between actual, certified craziness and actual, true things that seem absolutely crazy. At the end of the novel, there’s a brief conversation that summarizes the challenge.

“When the truth is crazy, people don’t know what to make of the truly crazy around them,” he whispered, rationally explaining the irrational.
I didn’t have anything to say.
“Maybe the craziness is true. Or maybe it’s just crazy. How can you tell?”
“I know,” I think I said.

Who’s Gaslighting Whom?

In Chapter 12, the narrator seems to be telling his lawyer that the world is gaslighting us, so he’s going to gaslight it right back.

Remember, the chapter is titled “Gaslight,” so there is no doubt that truth, fiction, madness, and diabolical lying are in the air.

He tells his lawyer that he and Pith had an encounter with Blowtorch Len during the pandemic. Len was dressed up as Napoleon and playing a war-based board game in the middle of the street while eating French pastries. That seems unlikely.

But the narrator, toward the end of this story, claims that Len says, “History is just a set of lies agreed upon.” That’s a quote attributed to Napoleon.

But, in context, is that just a way of loony Blowtorch Len telling the narrator that nothing really matters? That everything is just made up?

Or is it the narrator telling his lawyer that gaslighting is constant?

Or is it the author telling the reader that fabricated stories become truth once they are believed?

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The Mad Narrator Isn’t So Mad

After leaving Blowtorch Len, the narrator and Pith go to a shoddy saloon in a swamp. The narrator signals to his lawyer that she better listen carefully: He claims that outside of the bar, the only light is gaslight.

Outdoor electricity was lost in a hailstorm ages ago, so gas-light lamps provide the only illumination.

The implication is clear: Beware of what’s inside the saloon’s doors.

Indeed, the stories he tells about this establishment are outlandish.

For instance, he claims that even though this story took place during the teeth of the pandemic, lots of people are congregating in a bar.
He claims that, because the bar got reclassified as a casino, it was allowed to stay open.
He claims that many of those inside are teachers or religious leaders since their institutions were singled out for lengthy closures.
He claims that the public officials who demanded strict pandemic restrictions were breaking those restrictions.
He says that people claiming public-health expertise didn’t know what they were talking about.
He claims that people were gambling away their government-support checks.

In short, the narrator is essentially saying, “You think my story about Len dressing up as Napoleon is insane? Well, take a look at what’s actually happening all around us. Which is crazier—my story or real life during the pandemic???”

Add COMMUNITY DAY to your summer reading list now! You can get it via Amazon (paperback or Kindle) or Barnes & Noble.

The Prequel

I have an idea for the prequel along these lines.

Almost all of the book would be about the two main characters’ trying to secretly solve a huge political/social problem in a state’s capital. But there will be occasional, very short chapters tracking the growing but entirely improbable political popularity of a detestable man. This storyline will be like the famous Mike Yanagita scene from Fargo.

It will seem unrelated to the action, maybe even like a detour. But the insanity of this man will reveal a great deal about what’s real and what’s fake.