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'Essentially, it comes down to the fact that a very large portion of Americans are crazier than shithouse rats and are being led by a gang of pathological misfits, most of whom are preachers and politicians.'

In 2004, at the age of 58, writer Joe Bageant sensed that the internet could give him editorial freedom. Without having to deal with gatekeepers, he began writing about what he was really thinking, and started submitting his essays to left-of-centre websites.

Joe's essays soon gained a wide following for his forceful style, his sense of humour, and his willingness to discuss the American white underclass -- a taboo topic for the mainstream media. Joe called himself a 'redneck socialist', and he initially thought most of his readers would be very much like himself. So he was pleasantly surprised when the emails started filling his inbox. There were indeed many letters from men about Joe's age who had escaped rural poverty. But there were also emails from younger men and women readers, from affluent people who agreed that the political and economic system needed an overhaul, from readers in dozens of countries expressing thanks for an alternative view of American life, and from working-class Americans in all parts of the country.

Joe Bageant died in March 2011, having published 89 essays online. The 25 essays presented in Waltzing at the Doomsday Ball have been selected by Ken Smith, who managed Joe's website and disseminated his work to the wider media and to Joe's dedicated fans and followers.

Joe Bageant frequently appeared on US National Public Radio and the BBC, and wrote for newspapers and magazines internationally. He was a commentator on the politics of class in America, and his book Deer Hunting with Jesus: dispatches from America's class war has been adapted for the theatre. He also wrote an online column (www.joebageant.com) that has made him a cult hero among gonzo-journalism junkies and progressives. Joe's second book, Rainbow Pie: a redneck memoir, was published in the United States four days after he died in March 2011.

Ken Smith managed Joe Bageant's website from the time it was launched in 2004, and has promoted Joe's work widely to his dedicated fans and the wider media ever since.