I have not read the book he read, but I did grow up in a similar environment (and lived in the same Meah Shaarim neighbourhood for a few years), I think part of

I have not read the book he read, but I did grow up in a similar environment (and lived in the same Meah Shaarim neighbourhood for a few years), I think part of the issue is semantics. He conflates modernity and progressiveness, while the book sees both progressives and reactionaries as modern. Hassidim are both modern and reactionary.