Dude, Where's My Country?
by Michael Moore
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (07 October, 2003)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $16.47
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

The people of the United States, according to author and filmmaker Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Stupid White Men), have been hoodwinked. Tricked, he says, by Republican lawmakers and their wealthy corporate pals who use a combination of concocted bogeymen and lies to stay rich and in control. But while plenty of liberal scholars, entertainers, and pundits have made similar arguments in book form, Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? stands out for its thoroughly positive perspective. Granted, Moore is angry and has harsh words for George W. Bush and his fellow conservatives concerning the reasoning behind going to war in Iraq, the collapse of Enron and other companies, and the relationship between the Bushes, the Saudi Arabian government, and Osama bin Laden. But his book is intended to serve as a handbook for how people with liberal opinions (which is most of America, Moore contends, whether they call themselves "liberals" or not) can take back their country from the conservative forces in power. Moore uses his trademark brand of confrontational, exasperated humor skillfully as he offers a primer on how to change the worldview of one's annoying conservative blowhard brother-in-law, and he crafts a surprisingly thorough "Draft Oprah for President" movement. Refreshingly, Dude, Where's My Country? avoids being completely one-sided, offering up areas where Moore believes Republicans get it right as well as some cutting criticisms of his fellow lefties. Such allowances, brief though they may be, make one long for a political climate where the shouting polemicists on both sides would see a few more shades of gray. Dude, Where's My Country? is a little bit scattered, as Moore tries to cram opinions on Iraq, tax cuts, corporate welfare, Wesley Clark, and the Patriot Act into one slim volume--and the penchant to go for a laugh sometimes gets in the way of clear arguments. But such variety also gives the reader more Moore, providing a broader range of his bewildered, enraged, yet stalwartly upbeat point of view. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (931)

Garbage in Garbage out
I checked this book out of the campus library because so many of my friends were talking about it.I have always had on open mind, but this book is full of inaccuracies and blatant lies.I outlined several of the lies in a word document and sent them, with sources, to my friends who were so excited about this book.Many of them had NO IDEA that Moore had such inaccuracies.Honestly, I can't believe his publisher allowed such lies to be printed.It seems that they would be open to lawsuits from some of the people involved. Isn't that the editor's job?

Dude,where's the Democrats?
I read this book for one reason.I wanted to see why the Democrats have this guy for a poster boy and why his movie was so popular and to see why he was supposed to be so great at taking on the Republicans.In the months leading up to the Election the liberal elitist media were falling all over themselves with a continual tearing down of everything the Republicans had done in the last 4 years that it never occurred to them that the people already knew what they had done.What they were looking for from the Democrats was what they would have done or would do differently.Look as they may,it never came,and they re-elected President Bush,and in no uncertain terms.
I was very disappointed in what Moore had to say.there is nothing new brought up or proposed ,just a continuing diatribeof hate and anger.This is the same old,tired,mouldy anti-everything that has been preached by the left-wing liberal socialists for years.This is not the hope and promise and positive message that came from the Democrat Party of John F Kennedy.The Democrat Party has moved so far left ,wrong is a more appropriate description of it these days.
The should have paid attention to President Reagan when asked why he left the Democratic Party.He replied;"I didn't leave the Democratic Party,it left me." Can you imagine JFK readng the hate and anger that prevails throughout this book and wanting any part of it?
Recently,a Democrat Senator stood before a group of students and called their President a loser.That displayed the lack of respect the Democrats have for the office of The President of the United States;and they wonder why with all the media support,campaign funds,Move On.org,etc;the voters said,No Thanks.
Listening to James Carville recently it seems even he feels the Democrats have got to change if they ever hope to climb out of the abyss they have fallen into.
There is an old saying,"Misery likes company." Well I don't know about that .In Canada we once had a proud Liberal Party that got along well with the US,Republican or Democrat governments,but it has been hyjacked by a bunch of left-Wing Socialists,just like the Democrats.Sean Hannity was right on the mark when Moore quoted him as saying,
"Canada is a left-wing socialist basket case.What kind of friends are they?"

What a moron.
Whoever wrote this book is a moron, how dumb do you have to be to not be able to find your country on a map? Did you not have basic geography classes in middle school?
I not only know where my country is (The USA, Above Mexico, Below Canada with the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on each side), but I can even name a few European countries! Yeah! I know where Spain and the UK are even. I can't find Iraq on a map though, they talk about that place a lot on the TV, especially 24 Hour Cable News channels. But, I just can't seem to find it on my globe. Maybe that should be this idiot's next book. "Dude, I found my country on the globe, and I can teach you to locate Iraq as well." That would be a better book than this. ... Read more

Isbn: 0446532231
Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. 2001-    3. American Satire And Humor    4. American wit and humor    5. General    6. Humor    7. Political Science    8. Politics and government    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Topic - Political    11. U.S. Practical Politics    12. United States    13. War on Terrorism, 2001-    14. Political Science / General   

Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!
by Michael Moore
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (19 February, 2002)
list price: $25.95 -- our price: $16.35
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Stupid White Men, Michael Moore's screed against "Thief-in-Chief" George Bush's power elite, hit No. 1 at Amazon.com within days of publication. Why? It's as fulminating and crammed with infuriating facts as any right-wing bestseller, as irreverent as The Onion, and as noisily entertaining as a wrestling smackdown. Moore offers a more interesting critique of the 2000 election than Ralph Nader's Crashing the Party (he argued with Nader, his old boss, who sacked him), and he's serious when he advocates ousting Bush. But Moore's rage is outrageous, couched in shameless gags and madcap comedy: "Old white men wielding martinis and wearing dickies have occupied our nation's capital.... Launch the SCUD missiles! Bring us the head of Antonin Scalia!... We are no longer [able] to hold free and fair elections. We need U.N. observers, U.N. troops." Moore's ideas range from on-the-money (Arafat should beat Sharon with Gandhi's nonviolent shame tactics) to over-the-top: blacks should put inflatable white dolls in their cars so racist cops will think they're chauffeurs; the ever-more-Republicanesque Democratic Party should be sued for fraud; "no contributions toward advancing our civilization ever came out of the South [except Faulkner, Hellman, and R.J. Reynolds]," because it's too hot to think straight there; Korean dictator Kim Jong-il "has got to broaden himself beyond porn and John Wayne" by watching better movies, like Dude, Where's My Car? (which contains "all you need to know about America"). Whatever your politics, Stupid White Men should make you blow your stack. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Reviews (1150)

9 in 10 SWM Agree: Moore Has Yet To Be Laid Once In Life!!!!
Boor imposes double-standards. He mocks males as "the weaker sex", yet after citing degrading statistics about more women being under the poverty rate, men are instantly backslid to positions of subjecting women. Boor prevaricates "women still earn less", despite Census Bureau statistics affirming women at record highs in earnings and bachelor-degree holdings, and comprising 45% of executive/managerial occupations in 2002. Women attempt suicide three times greater, and endure depressive, anxiety and eating disorders furiously more, while Boor conceals these to scorn males as "going extinct"!!!! This disparagingly illustrates Boor's nuisance-sickness of misallocating data bent to his agendas to allegedly "support" his one-sidedness.

Moore's comprehensive research uncovered things that are hard to find elsewhere in the media.What especially impressed me were all the connections between members of the Bush administration and large corporations, or the extended Bush family members in power around the nation.Moore is so determined to give non- "stupid white men" their power that he includes a cut out, wallet-sized excerpt from the Federal Voting Rights Act.
I was occasionally thrown off by certain things, like Moore's lengthy argument on why Bush's history with drinking makes him unfit for the white house, or how talk about a decline in the stock market is a diversion created by rich people to cover up the fact that their success is at the expense of lower-wage earners.However, I still consider Moore a credible, insightful writer who has enligthened me, at least.

He's zealous.. i'll give him that!
Ahh Michael Moore... the last angry man!
A man raging violently in his verbal abuse for the system and who in so doing raises many valid points and brings many disregarded facts to the spotlight.
But also a man who in so doing ignores many counter arguments. When you read anything of Moore's you must always remember that though 9 times out of 10 hes probably on to something.. the one time he does screw up.. he screws up. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060392452
Subjects:  1. 1993-2001    2. 2001-    3. American wit and humor    4. Government - U.S. Government    5. Humor    6. Political Process - General    7. Political Process - Political Parties    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Politics and government    10. Topic - Business and Professional    11. Topic - Political    12. United States    13. Political Science / General   

A Right to Be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury
by Aaron McGruder, Michael Moore
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (23 September, 2003)
list price: $16.95 -- our price: $11.53
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (72)

The Revolution Is On The Comics Page
After six years, the comic strip "The Boondocks," the brainchild of the young and talented, Aaron McGruder, is still surrounded by controversy.The satirical comic strip takes an in your face approach on such topics as Black culture, patriotism, racism and politics.Some papers have found the comic to be too much and have dropped it from their publication, while others have moved it to the editorial page.He shares his views through four main characters who represent different aspects of Black identity.First there's Huey, the young revolutionary, who watches the news, critiques the presidential debates and has an FBI surveillance file.His younger brother Riley, wants to grow up to be a kingpin,is a die hard of Hip-Hop culture and wants to be the first person to get away on COPS.Their grandfather is their primary caregiver and he represents the traditional views of Black culture.Jazmine, their neighbor is biracial and has identity issues that Huey has no qualms about setting straight

McGruder has strong views on the state of our nation and uses the characters of"The Boondocks" to speak for him.Some may not want to read this comic treasury because you may find someone you admire under McGruder's wrath.Everyone from the President of the United States on down to the Hip-Hop star of the moment is subject to be the topic under fire, he holds no punches.With this third collection, McGruder showcases some of his best work. The comic has an underlying message and it's delivery is hilarious.I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks and my sides hurt.I love Aaron McGruder's wit and his courage to continue to produce his work under the scrutiny of his many critics.If you really want to know what I am raving about I suggest you pick up a copy of A RIGHT TO BE HOSTILE.

Reviewed by Aiesha Flowers
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Refreshing "editorial" on the comics page
I am 16 years old and I thoroughly enjoyed "A Right To Be Hostile:The Boondocks Treasury."Aarom McGruder incorporates current affairs with comedy and satire to create a refreshing comic on the funny pages.This collection of The Boondocks comics is the usual combination of McGruder making strong, yet funny, political and cultural commentary from a young black male's perspective. The characters are well balanced between Huey Freeman's radical socialist views, Riley's struggling attempts to be America's stereotypical young black male, and their grandfather's general problems incorporating his experiences as a black male in America.
I personally think that Aaron McGruder is one of the best political commentators in todays society and has found an original way to convey his personal feelings about current-affairs.
Primarily, the most important aspect of the comic is that it's funny, and addresses the audiences on two different levels.I like to compare McGruder's comedic style to Gary Larson's Far Side comics, for McGruder can make the stip funny on two different levels, one to the younger and less-informed crowd, and another to which the strip primarily addresses, the well-informedon current affairs population which can get another meaning below the basic dialogue of the strip.
While some of the strong political opinions might not be as appealing to the right-wing crowd, this treasury is still worth a good read and is humorous in all it's references to politics and modern American culture.

It's just a comic !!!!!
I think this comic compilation was funny.At times it could be over the top, but it is just a comic people.It's not a novel.It's a comic strip with fictional characters.I really think people are reading too much into this comic strip.It's meant to entertain, nothing more.I just think people need to relax and take it for what it is.Funny! ... Read more

Isbn: 1400048575
Sales Rank: 13720
Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Humor    3. Humor / Comic Books, Strips, etc.   

Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American
by Michael Moore
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1997)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Who says the left wing doesn't have a sense of humor? Maybe it doesn't, but documentarian Michael Moore sure does--Exhibit A was Roger & Me; B was the ill-fated TV Nation; and C is 1997's print skirmish Downsize This! Moore's politics are rabidly liberal, populist, and anti-big business--about what you'd expect from the former editor of Mother Jones. While this restricts his audience to Americans on the left side of the aisle, for them Downsize This! will be a chance to point and laugh hysterically (if ruefully) at the clique of rich white guys who run everything.

Moore is at his best as a prankster, whether it's trying to see if Pat Buchanan will take a campaign donation from the John Wayne Gacy Fan Club (yes) or whether he can have Bob Dornan committed to an insane asylum based on his bizarre behavior (no, but it was close). Moore is one of our sharpest satirists, and Downsize This! makes one wish he would write a "Sorry State of the Union" every year. But only if it doesn't cut into his moviemaking--that's too big a price to pay. --Michael Gerber ... Read more

Reviews (135)

How we're living now......
The valuable work Michael Moore does forms the visuals that were once used by network news shows like 60 Minutes and Nightline to highlight the "consumer graft" that took place in our loose bureaucratic system, but applied to government. Government graft is much more fertile soil, however, and easier to report upon, and probably easier to locate - whether Republican or Democrat. The large media networks have given up on the stories, or could be considered part of it, now, so people like Moore are necessary to pick up the slack. It would be interesting to show how well government graft pays in relation to consumer graft, to see how former officials have catapulted themselves to the level of luxury to see how our tax dollars continue to work for them, long after they've left office. Those reality shows aren't typically run, however; it's much easier to appeal to the more important aspects of who needs what now, regardless of whether it is ever delivered through tax dollars. The field of dreams of broken promises to the public looks more like the yellow brick road to a deceptive OZ and the men or women behind the phantom mask that can't or won't deliver from behind the smoke screen that has become government today, well rooted in government yesterday. If government was voluntary self service, not a soul could be found to do it, very likely. So, we tolerate a system of people working for government, its perks and pensions, rather than government helping people survive and flourish. What is civil service about that? If corporate executives and authoritative organizations run the government show, we certainly don't need the "warm bodies" that fill the apparently plush official seats we have to announce their votes. That can be done from the hall of business rather than government.That elected officials, themselves, have become little more than rubber stamps in a rubber stamp world of fundraising for re-election to keep highly sought after golden pedestals is the permanent problem of American democracy (or any government) that no one challenges sufficiently to curb or contain it; yet all know it is the huge mushroom cloud it is that leaves nothing in its wake except cleanup and continuing cost cuts by consumers to keep up with the spread of its radioactive waste. First it was low taxes; now government wants social security cut to feed its exhorbitant appetite for luxury. Perhaps, more Michael Moore's need to be writing about the limits of government graft and how willing the U.S. is to indulge it - to its own demise, and certainly, to curb its own comfort in favor of the few who would convert the principles upon which it is founded to their own privatization campaign of "me first." Government pensions and lifetime salaries cannot help but bury America as government continues to burgeon. Why does no one look at those costs?

First Rate: Humour, Information, andPolemic Wisdom ...
Didactic/Polemic [?]...
Humour pervades this book. At the very least, it can be said to be a good read for those with a sense of humour. However, some do not take Moore's work as humour, mainly for partisanreasons.
A scarey point is , and Moore notes this in an additional section done after the Hard Back was out. His jokes about downsizing everyone and using prisonersas the labour force have been in fact put into action, in fact its a major trend in the penal system. As Moore also notes, the prison system itself may be taken offshore if the plans to build a prison or prisons in Mexico is actuallyallowed to happen; even Moore calls this craziness.
The factual sections of the book have been well researched, and I am sure Moore could substantiate all of the claims made, if you look into the credits for the book. More University researchassistants in this book ( seems to be a trend if you look into Franken's"Team Franken"researchers).
Moore gives plenty of guidelines to things such asthe "Etiquette" of downsizing. And even tests the ethical nature of some groups by forming some legitimate, but far-fetched named groups ( Satanworshippersfor Dole, as one example), making donations by legitimate cheques, and seeing who cashesthe cheques. Whatever can be said about Moore's ideas, he sure can come up with some unforgettable concepts for actions.
He touches on many , very many, ideas that have been held by many, including the destruction of the American Dream.
The Satiricalpoints he makes, such as pointing out that the Republicans and Democrats are not significantlydifferent( somuch so that he labels them the "Republicrats") all make some sort of perversesense.
The Chapter listing pretty muchcovers the areas he covers, except that is more fun to read the contents. New ways to pick a president provides for some chuckles, but seems a little too third worldly... even though he claims that parts of the UScould qualify forthird world status.

An amazing book. No doubt very villified by the conservatives, but if Ann Coulter can get away with her extreme articles, then Mike's extendedseries of "Op-Ed"Chapters can be accepted on that ground alone.

Vintage Moore
This is basically familiar Michael Moore fare.The chapter that stands out is "Why Doesn't GM Sell Crack?" Republicans have succeeded for far too long in convincing people that deregulation and tort reform are tantamount to personal freedom and liberty, and that laws that protect people from products and services that cause injury and suffering and even death are tyrannical and totalitarian.I can not believe the degree to which they get away with this, and I also can not believe the general lack of response from the political left.In this chapter, Moore takes on these distortions, with his typical gusto, in a way that is compelling and accessible, which I think is one of Moore's talents.Personally, I wish he had expanded "Why Doesn't GM Sell Crack?" to book length.Hopefully, that will be a project for another day. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060977337
Subjects:  1. 1993-2001    2. American wit and humor    3. General    4. Government - National    5. Humor    6. Politics and government    7. Social conditions    8. United States   

The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy
by Howard Zinn
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1997)
list price: $19.95 -- our price: $13.57
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (11)

Typical liberal rhetoric.
I first read passages from this book in college.I can now see how liberal professors very much enjoy using this book to influence young minds.Professor Zinn is a far left author.He uses the usual lines: America generally bad, communism generally good.Obviously Mr. Zinn has the right to write whatever he wants, and his writing style is very convincing.However, if the reader investigates the facts, many holes become visible in his theories.Those who agree and disagree with his writings should explore opposite viewpoints.A good example is "Intellectual Morons : How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas by Daniel J. Flynn" which gives the reader a good profile of Mr. Zinn.

A wonderful anthology of our greatest historian.
Howard Zinn is an eloquent but plain spoken writer.His essays are a joy to read, something that cannot be said of so many historians.This is in part because, Zinn is not afraid to admit that he is an interpreter of events, he colors his writings with his own ideals, interprets the past in light of what he has lived through, illuminating events and the lives of people who may have otherwise been forgotten, so that we can learn something of ourselves in their stories.Zinn's writings on events of the twentieth century are special in that he has participated in so many important historical movements, from being a WWII bombardier, to teaching in an all black girls' college during the civil rights movement, through protesting the Vietnam War and beyond.He is not afraid to state his beliefs, but is never condescending.He is a believer in the spirit of humanity, in spite of all the atrocities he has seen and studied.This massive collection spans many years and many topics.There is not an uninteresting essay in the nearly 700 pages, though, making this quite a bargain at that.Don't pass this book up.Even if you don't consider yourself of the "leftist" persuasion, I think you will find Zinn's writings very engaging and enjoyable.I hope you do.

Wake up and smell the truth.
"A People's History of the United States" forever changed the way I viewed the world and the system I grew up in. Continuing that tradition, "The Zinn Reader..", wakes up a desire in one's soul to rise up and do something about the injustices and hypocrisies that have dominated our past and continued to swallow our present. Professor Zinn write clearly, honestly, and furiously about topics ranging from the distribution of wealth to the ideal uses of scholarship and intellectualism. He lacks no emotion or fury, unlike many other historians. The main challenge Zinn makes it to exercise free thought, and "to be skeptical of someone else's reality." Very few historians, or writers for that matter, dare to look at the world from the perspective of the poor, the disenfranchised, the bombed, the murdered, the jailed, the conquered, the victim, but Zinn does exactly that, and in doing so puts out a masterful collection that not only instructs us in History, but also challenges our humanity and our place in the world. ... Read more

Isbn: 1888363541
Sales Rank: 38415
Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    2. History    3. History & Theory - General    4. History - General History    5. History: American    6. Political Process - Leadership    7. Political Science    8. Politics and government    9. Social conditions    10. United States    11. United States - General   

A People's History of the United States : 1492-Present (Perennial Classics)
by Howard Zinn
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 April, 2003)
list price: $18.95 -- our price: $12.89
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised andupdated edition of A People's History of the United States turnstraditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, andpoor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spansAmerican history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword onthe Clinton presidency.

Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian,and social activist for more than 20 years--explains, "My point is not that wemust, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It istoo late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But theeasy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay forprogress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadtand Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)--that isstill with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we havelearned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes areburied in containers in the earth."

If your last experience of American history was brought to you by juniorhigh school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the otherside of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions ofrarely noted events, A People's History of the United States isrequired reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rockyhistory of America. ... Read more

Reviews (446)

A turn for the losers and underdogs...
I think there gets to be a time in many hardcore history readers' lives when they realize that they know a heck of a lot about American history.We come to a moment at which we feel as if we know who all of the most important figures are by heart, along with the most significant events, the most relevant milestones and the most earth-shattering developments since 1492.

However, after reading a slew of more specific books on the topics that interest you most (be it the Revolutionary period, the Civil War, business history, or what have you), a day comes along when you feel like it is time to read another "overview" that will give a global vision of American history in its entirety.That is what happened to me a few weeks ago when I walked into my local bookstore and came across "A People's History of the United States," completely by chance, when I was overtaken by this need for generality.

It was the PERFECT choice.As I said before, I have always been the history buff, so reading the same once again would have been fun but somewhat pointless in the big picture.By reading THIS particular survey of American history, I was reminded of all the main eras and events, but this time I got to see the viewpoint of the major losers and underdogs, who probably wouldn't be waving the star-spangled banner if they had lived until today.

This is the history of the downtrodden, all those people who we intuitively know must have existed, but that nobody ever seems to mention at school or elsewhere.In the back of our minds, as intelligent human beings, we know that the American Revolution couldn't have been a boon to everyone.And same goes for the Civil War, the uprise of Big Business, the takeover of the whole North American continent, the building of the railroads, the winning of all our wars.

You can take the negative view that this book is left-wing Anti-American rhetoric, or you can look at it positively and just say, "hey, I guess it is only fair that someone took the time to tell the story from the other perspective."If you read this history book, you will then know who was left behind or stepped on in order for the rest of us to reach the wealth and power we are so fortunate to have today.

Brings needed balance.
This history book is an excellent primer for those who want to learn about the complete history of the United States. All of the atrocities that regular history books gloss over are brought to light and this shows how fragile a democracy can be when it falls into the wrong hands.

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of attacks from far right conservatives which have diluted the reviews section. Not one I will point out has been able to list a single instance where Zinn has been wrong or misleading about anything. Instead, the reviews are simply vicious personal attacks that, of all things, accuse the left of being vicious and personal in nature. But then, they tend to attack that which scares them, and if Zinn is scaring them it is because of the information that he brings attention to.

Covering more than 500 years of history means that the book can not go into as much detail as I would have liked concerning some subjects. At the same time, there are very few important historical events that are not presented. Having read this book, I was motivated to do more research and found that all of the information is corroborated elsewhere and even more interesting when coming from a dedicated source.

Well worth reading. It's a shame though that so many reviews that are simply ideological attacks are allowed taint what is otherwise a great system for reviewing books.

The Bible
Title says it all. This book has helped me in countless college courses. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060528370
Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History: American    4. Political Ideologies - Democracy    5. United States    6. United States - General    7. History / General   

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by AlFranken
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (29 August, 2003)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $9.98
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Having previously dissected the factual inaccuracies of a single bellicose talk show host inRush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Al Franken takes his fight to a larger foe: President George W. Bush, the Bush Administration, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, and scores of other conservatives whom, he says, are playing loose with the facts. It's a lot of ground to cover, as evidenced by the 43 chapters in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, but the results are often entertaining and insightful. Franken occupies a unique place in the modern political dialogue as perhaps the media's only comedy writer and performer who is also a Harvard fellow as well as a liberal political commentator. This unique and vaguely lonely position lends a charming quixotic quality to adventures such as a tense encounter with the Fox News staff at the National Press Club, a challenge to fisticuffs with National Review Editor Rich Lowry, and an oddly sweet admissions visit to ultra-conservative Bob Jones University (with a young research assistant posing as his son when Franken's real-life son refuses to participate in the charade). Less useful are comic book dramatizations of "Supply Side Jesus" and a fictitious Vietnam War story featuring the numerous righties who, Franken intimates, improperly avoided service. And Franken's criticisms of conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity, O’Reilly, and columnist Coulter, while admirable in their attention to detail, fail to shed much new light on people who have built careers on broad arguments and relentless self-aggrandizement. But Franken is at his best, and most compellingly readable, when he backs off the wackiness and the personal grudges and writes about more personal matters such as the political circus surrounding the memorial service of the late Senator Paul Wellstone. But even on these more serious topics, Franken's wit is still present and, in fact, grows sharper. In a time when much political discourse is composed of rage and shouting, it's refreshing that Al Franken is able to shout in a witty manner. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (2988)

Public Service to readers
May 22nd, 2005, ChronWatch.com reports interesting testimony in court proceedings against the author. To summarize the report, Franken is inundated with libel suits from this book. The path to safety is for the author to testify that this book is not meant to be truthful, it is a fictional joke book. Case dismissed. Isn't this IRONIC!! A book with this title is full of lies??!! The Michael Moore school of journalism welcomes another graduate!I can visualize Moore and Franken seated side by side with former President Carter at the 2008 Dem convention, watching Whoopi delight the crowd with her keen political insight as Kutcher applauds in the background. Laterwe see GOP raise Senate count from 55 to 80!

Everyone is a Liar, A Fair & Balanced Review
From the time you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar at age 3..."Honey, are you taking that cookie I told you not to take?"..."No, Mommy" (while your hand is still in the jar)...to my grandson, who after eating his half of the fries last week, informed me that his tardy brother "didn't like fries"...and during all of humanity, people have learned to lie.At a college party, researchers videoed the conversations, then isolated selected students and showed them the video.The students had to admit, just during meaningless conversation, they lied an average of 50% of the time they spoke.I forgot the real statistic, so I'm lying, but that's close.

In any event, lying is part of life, whether you're a death row felon or the Pope (sorry to break this to the Catholics).The idea is to be the most convincing liar, and that means a liar who is so good at it, he has even deluded himself (He believes his own...well, you know what I mean).

Anyway, since I expect politicians (or anybody else) to lie, I feel guilty that I am not current on the specific lying situation in the highest levels of government, as I certainly should be.I will say that whenever I do read or hear political statements on either side, I hear a lot more polemics than I think are represented in the general public.Academic political scientists assure us that the good old US is hopelessly reddish-blue and centrist, even on abortion, sexual orientation, and other supposedly devisive issues.

Now that I got that out of the way, may I compliment Al Franken on his audio presentation, which was not only extremely funny, but (if he's not lying) very well researched.I'll have to admit, even I realized after only seeing Hannity & Colmes once, that Colmes was pretty wimpy with his liberal rebuttals (not near as good a liar as Hannity).Extrapolating from that controlled study of 1, the rest of Franken's inspired work MUST be true.

A Lying Liar makes it big!Franken play fast and loose!

"Franken says that the Republican party as a whole, is a racist party and finds every excuse he can to justify that label. He scoffs at the party of Lincoln that freed the slaves and disregards the fact that more Republicans than Democrats voted for the civil rights bill.

Franken thinks the Trent Lott comment about Strom Thurmond (Lott said that things would have been better off had Thurmond ) was racist and see's it fit to indict the Republican party with racism. The issue wasn't as black and white (pardon the pun) as Franken dishonestly represents it however. He of course doesn't mention the liberal pundits that supported Lott in saying it was just a freaking offhanded comment at the mans birthday party for Christ sakes, nor does Franken mention the conservatives that hammered down on him over it. Rich Lowry elaborates on the latter point:

Franken deals with the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond controversy without noting that conservatives helped publicize Lott's comments and called for him to step aside, including National Review. If you are writing a book about conservatives, this would seem a pretty important datum to include. But Franken bulldozes on. He argues that Republicans are "racist," (p. 255) and only make gestures toward blacks to try - futilely - to avoid appearing too "overtly racist." (p. 256) (Later, he does say that not "all Republicans are racist," in what, in this book, qualifies as a generous concession.) (p. 259) He suggests -- sort of jokingly, but not really -- that the Bush tax cuts were motivated by racial bigotry. And he notes that black poverty declined under Clinton without mentioning the Republican-sponsored welfare reform of 1996 that had a big hand in this trend.

Lowry continues:

--Franken partly rests his case for the racism of the Republican party on the defeat of Sen. Max Cleland in Georgia in 2002. He quotes Cleland saying that his defeat was the result of a backlash against a change in the state flag in 2001 by then-Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, to de-emphasize the St. Andrew's Cross - a symbol of segregation - in the state flag. Franken says that Cleland was undone by a "racist avalanche." Cleland himself alleges in the book that the Republican party did push-polling on the issue of the flag, thus doing him in. Franken offers no evidence for Cleland's outrageous claim, I assume because there is none. (Franken didn't even bother to check with the Georgia GOP official mentioned by name as the mastermind of the push-polling - what were those research assistants doing?)

Sonny Perdue, who would defeat Barnes for governor, didn't oppose the change in the flag, but called for a referendum on it. It was on the ballot on March 2, and the Barnes flag won. (CORRECTION: I was wrong about the Barnes flag. It actually lost a couple of weeks ago to yet another version of the Georgia flag, which seems broadly acceptable to all sides. As the Palm Beach Post put it in this story, "Black and white voters across Georgia finally have a flag on which they can agree." I regret the error.)

The only candidate I am aware of who featured the old flag and his support for it on his campaign literature in 2002 was a Democrat, Mike Snow from Northwest Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in October 2002, "Nearly two years after the fact, a majority of Georgia voters either favor the change made in the state flag-or say they don't care." All of this hardly adds up to a "racist avalanche" burying Cleland.

Also, during this "racist avalanche," Georgia was re-electing a black attorney general and a black labor commissioner. When I tried to figure out why Franken would leave this fact out of his account of the 2002 election, I came up with a few possibilities: a) he didn't know; b) he worried it wouldn't fit his thesis; c) his editor demanded that he trim 28 words from his final manuscript and these just happened to be the ones; d) Franken figured the Georgia "racist avalanche" buried a white candidate, but spared black candidates -- you know, that happens in racist avalanches all the time.

What possibly, then, could have led to the defeat of Max Cleland if not racism? Franken and other liberals have complained bitterly about a tough ad against him which featured Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Cleland wasn't "pictured with" the two as Franken says. (p. 254) If we're being sticklers for accuracy, neither was Cleland wounded by a "VC grenade," as Franken maintains. (p.163) The ad didn't morph Cleland into either of these figures, or say that he supported them, or question his patriotism. Bin Laden and Hussein were used to illustrate the point that the U.S. was facing threats to its security. It then explained that Cleland had voted 11 times against a homeland security bill that would have given President Bush freedom from union strictures in creating and running the new department. Cleland was voting against a bill sponsored by his popular Senate colleague Zell Miller, a Democrat, setting himself up perfectly for the charge that he was voting with Daschle and the unions against Georgia common sense. If you can't criticize the Senate votes of a Senator in a Senate race, what can you criticize? Cleland had also made himself vulnerable on national security, taxes, and social issues.

Franken mentions none of this because he is so busy advancing his unsupportable racism allegation. In doing so, he relies on a stereotype of Southerners that should be fading into nonexistence. As Zell Miller notes in his book, in 1990 there were 565 African-American officeholders in the South. In 2000, there were 5,579. Georgia has elected seven African-American to statewide office, this in a state that is 70 percent white. There is no other word for Franken's stilted account of all this except dishonest."

http://www.lyingliar.com/lies/racism.htm ... Read more

Isbn: 0525947647
Subjects:  1. 2001-    2. Conservatism    3. General    4. Humor    5. Political Doctrines    6. Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism    7. Political aspects    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Politics and government    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Right and left (Political science)    12. Topic - Political    13. Truthfulness and falsehood    14. U.S. Practical Politics    15. United States   

Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot
by AL FRANKEN
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (12 January, 1999)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Rush Limbaugh claims his talent is on loan. With this book, Franken demonstrates that he owns. The frankly Democratic author's shtick reminds us how much of a free ride conservatives have gotten in the mainstream media.For instance, he really drives home the weirdness of the conservatives' preachiness about "family values" in light of Newt Gingrich's and Bob Dole's first marriages, and Rush Limbaugh's first, second and third marriages.And he has great fun with Rush's and Newt's miraculous draft deferments in a chapter where he imagines all of the great conservative "chicken-hawks" out on a Vietnam war patrol under the leadership of Ollie North. ... Read more

Reviews (373)

A Delightful Read
No one shows up the ugly rhetoric and lies of the right better than the adorable Al Franken!A true masterpiece, I'm happy to say.You will particularly enjoy "Operation Chicken Hawk" and Al's "interview" with Rush.He takes Rush's vicious hate filled lies and shows him up for the bully he is.Bravo, Al!We love you: I hear you're writing a new book and I can't wait.

A big fat hit
FRanken's book put the big noisemaker squarely in his sites and hits his target repeatedly. Taking Limbaugh's books and dismatling them almost quote by quote Franken never relents in his attacks against the dj turned political freak. Franken takes potshots, cheapshots, and honest-to-goodness kill-shots at Rush and basically turns Limbaugh's shoot-from-the-hip style against him. All this can basically be found at news and media watchdogs website like FAIR (who constantly uncovers Rush's lies and dis-information)but Franken delivers them with a wink and a punch. This book was really the first salvo against the mighty Limbaugh who enjoyed absolute AM radio dominence in the 1990s and actually brought about his slow steady decline (which only opened the door for other right-wing haters/nazis such as Michael Savage and Bill O'Reilly). As usual, Franken is meticulous in his research and everthing can be backed up by fact. That's why Franken is soooo good, his facts can be checked and proven.

Limbaugh
I've listened to Limbaugh's show a couple of times and have come to the conclusion that Limbaugh's show is not very thoughtful or compassionate. He attacks people all day on the radio and displays so little class. This book is also negative, but you get what you give, and it shows that Limbaugh is a human being with flaws, something Limbaugh seems to forget when passing judgement on everyone under the sun. Skim through it and see what a hypocrite Limbaugh is. It is just returning to Limbaugh what he has given to others. And for that, I applaud it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0440508649
Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. Humor    3. Topic - Political    4. Humor / Political   

Rebel Voices: An Iww Anthology
by Joyce L. Kornbluh
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (1998)
list price: $24.00 -- our price: $24.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (1)

They Had The Best Songs
"Rebel Voices" is a peerless collection of primary evidence on the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies.It preserves a most diverse array of material, including pamphlets, newspaper articles and court transcripts, but also less conventional sources such as flyers, broadsheets, cartoons, and labor ballads.Kornbluh portrays the IWW as a dynamic, vital force fighting for workplace democracy and civil rights from 1905 to 1917, an era of bleak prospects for labor.The IWW ultimately succumbed to concerted government repression: violence, propaganda, punitive trials, and deportations.Many of the Wobblies' goals were later achieved through reform during and after the New Deal, but they left an inspiring activist legacy.The pictorial matter and music are especially revealing, and help illustrate the old adage that the bosses may have the money, guns and victories, but the workers have the best songs.Cf. M. Dubofsky, "We Shall Be All," a thorough narrative and analysis.More recent studies include G. Hall, "Harvest Wobblies," N. Sellars, "Oil, Wheat & Wobblies" and J.A. Lukas, "Big Trouble." ... Read more

Isbn: 0882862375
Sales Rank: 833165
Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. History: American    3. United States - 20th Century   

Living My Life, Vol. 1
by Emma Goldman
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1930)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Forget all those New Left memoirs: for readers who want to know what it is to be a revolutionary in America, this is the book to read. At the turn of the 20th century, Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was probably the most hated woman in her adopted country. (She emigrated from Russia at age 17.) It was bad enough that she was an anarchist, accused of complicity in the 1901 assassination of President McKinley. But her vehement espousal of women's rights--including birth control--really enraged upright citizens. Goldman's marvelously militant autobiography gives ample evidence of her gift for bearing a grudge and inability to mince words--she decries fellow leftists at least as often as the bourgeoisie, especially after she is deported to the Soviet Union in 1919 and discovers that the Bolshevik Revolution is not what she hoped for. But Goldman's blazing honesty and unflinching commitment to unpopular causes make her a larger-than-life heroine. She does display the occasional human weakness, including a lengthy romance with a man whose infidelities torment this advocate of free love, but they're less interesting than her heroic challenge to America to live up to its ideals. Whether or not she was literally a bomb thrower remains a matter of debate. For posterity, her words are incendiary enough. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (7)

One of the most important books you'll ever read
This is the best autobiography I've ever read, because her life was lived with such commitment & independence. Certainly, she was hugely influential in her time, but her success was scratched out of nothing, with no support, and huge opposition. The difficulties and the times are conveyed amazingly well. The book will make you look carefully at your own life ... in ways that can only change it for the better.

bewat
NOTE:THIS IS VOLUME ONE ONLY!It's a great book but it is not labeled as just the first half of the memoir.

Enjoyable book, fun to read, informative
I could not disagree more with Goldman's ultimate philosophical conclusions, but I enjoyed this book, and volume II as well.Her essential humanity emerges, and it is a good case study and an interesting read, historically, philosophically and personally.She is no Mark Twain or Billy Faulkner, but her life was interesting and her prose adequately conveys the milieu she became enmeshed in.A fair degree of antecedent historical knowledge is necessary to fully enjoy this book, but you most likely have that or you wouldn't be reading about Emma to begin with.If you don't, or find that you are getting lost in the history and sequence, it would pay to do a little research to better understand what she lived through.It will also help you spot bias on Goldman's part.I heartily recommend this book.It is informative, enlightening and entertaining to boot. ... Read more

Isbn: 0486225437
Subjects:  1. 1869-1940    2. Anarchism and anarchists    3. Anarchists    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. General    8. Goldman, Emma,    9. History & Theory - Radical Thought    10. United States    11. Women's Studies - General    12. Goldman, Emma   

Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader
by Emma Goldman
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1996)
list price: $28.00 -- our price: $17.64
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (1)

Most Excellent
Emma Goldman was one of the most important anarchist writers. This collection presents a good selection of her work, ranging through her entire life and covering a wide range of topics. This collection contains alot of important material that is not present in other collections, such asthe Dover volume. This is essential reading for anyone interested inanarchism or feminism. ... Read more

Isbn: 1573924644
Sales Rank: 291194
Subjects:  1. Anarchism    2. Communism    3. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    4. Politics - Current Events    5. Reference    6. Revolutions    7. Women and socialism   

Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist (New York Review Books Classics)
by Alexander Berkman
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1999)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.47
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (6)

the best anachist memoir
This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Berkman, as you probably know, tried to kill Henry Frick in an ill fated (and stupid) solidarity action with a group of strikers. He went to jail for it, and his immature poltics underwent an amazing transistion.

But instead of coming out of jail reformed, he came out with a more complex sense of who he was and what he had to do and returned immediately to his poltical work. Berkman's writing style changes as he changes as a person, starting out ultra doctrinare and ending up a more well rounded and likeable human being. Highly recommened, even if you aren't interested in the politics.

"Inhumanity is the keynote of stupidity in power" (p. 299)
The book is the account of the anarchist Alexander's Berkman's experiences in prison after his botched attempt to assassinate the industrialist Henry Clay Frick, the monster who "legally" slaughtered workers during the Homestead strike of 1892.Although Berkman never abandons his anarchist principles, he does soften his moral repugnance for criminals whose crimes were not motivated by political or humanitarian aims.If anything his friendships with prisoners deepen his anarchist insights about how exploitation and poverty are the principal causes of criminal behavior.Like his lover Emma Goldman, he spends his prison years advocating for the needs of his fellow inmates, often being punished for his advocacy.Berkman details the brutality, graft and corruption of the prison establishment.

Anticipating Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Berkman shows that those who view their punishment as a part of a larger purpose are best equipped to survive the inhuman treatment and conditions of prison life.The book is not all seriousness, however.It often has lighter moments, as when Berkman describes the quixotic attempt by his friends to tunnel into the prison to free him.Berkman's sub rosa argument, made to Goldman, that Leon Czologosz's assassination of President McKinley lacked redeeming social value, unlike his (Berkman's) attempt to assassinate Frick, while though interesting fails to be convincing.Those interested in the relationship of these remarkable people (Goldman and Berkman) will especially want to read that section.

The book is worth reading not merely for its historical value but for its literary qualities as well.It is intelligently written and difficult to put down.Although it is 518 pages, I read it all in three days.It is just that riveting.

Beyond Terrorism
In 1892, Alexander Berkman burst into the office of Henry Frick, an overseer at Carnegie's steelworks, and attempted to gun him down to foment a revolutionary uprising. Frick survived. Berkman went to jail. Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist is Berkman's account, not only of the revolutionary ardor which drove him to assault Frick, but also of the horrors of incarceration and the transformation of his own thinking while behind bars.

We get plenty of revolutionary and anarchist theory from Berkman. He opens a door into the thoughts and feelings of people struggling for economic and social justice 100 years ago. More than that, he opens a door into the mindset of a fanatic, one which may help us understand the motivations of those who flew their planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11/2001:

"Could anything be nobler than to die for a grand, a sublime Cause? Why, the very life of a true revolutionist has no other purpose, no significance whatever, save to sacrifice it on the altar of the beloved People." (p. 12)

"My own individuality is entirely in the background; aye, I am not conscious of any personality in matters pertaining to the Cause. I am simply a revolutionist; a terrorist by conviction, an instrument for furthering the cause of humanity." (p. 13)

"True, the Cause often calls upon the revolutionist to commit an unpleasant act; but it is the test of a true revolutionist-nay, more, his pride-to sacrifice all merely human feeling at the call of the People's Cause." (p. 12)

Berkman, the purist, disdains his fellow prisoners. He sees himself as better than they are, a Servant of Humanity, not a petty criminal, a predator on the poor. But, life in prison, although it does not shake his revolutionary and anarchist convictions, does bring him down from his ivory tower. Berkman begins to see that:

"The individual, in certain cases, is of more direct and immediate consequence than humanity. What is the latter but the aggregate of individual existences-and shall these, the best of them, forever be sacrificed for the metaphysical collectivity?" (p. 403)

His revolutionary understanding also shifts. He begins to differentiate between the autocratic despotism of Europe and the despotism of republican institutions:

"The despotism of republican institutions is far deeper, more insidious, because it rests on the popular delusion of self-government and independence. That is the subtle source of democratic tyranny, and, as such, it cannot be reached with a bullet. In modern capitalism, exploitation rather than oppression is the real enemy of the people ... the battle is to be waged in the economic rather than the political field." (p. 424)

This is not, however, a political manifesto (for that, one can read Berkman's ABCs of Anarchism). Berkman reveals his inner processes during fourteen years of incarceration. We discover, not only the horrors and corruption of the prison system, but also wander intimately through Berkman's mind. We visit his childhood, soften at unexpected gentlenesses behind bars, and begin to appreciate something as simple as the sunrise.

Although Berkman did not write the memoir until after he left prison, it has a sense of surreal immediacy. He wrote in the present tense, but that alone does not account for the way his text grips, and drags the reader into the maelstrom of his experience. We run with him through childhood memories, daily brutality, fantasies of escape and suicide, and the ideals that keep him sane. His longing for Emma Goldman shines through the text. He enthrones her almost as the guardian of his sanity through the years. Little can compare with the poignancy of his fantasy of mailing himself to his beloved Emma, escaping prison and finding himself with her again. (p. 135-137)

Five stars. Absolutely brilliant work, as relevant today as it was nearly 100 years ago. In her autobiography, Living my Life, Emma Goldman recounted how Berkman saved his sanity and his life by writing this memoir. The deep introspection, the flights of fancy, the accounting of prison life-all deeply illumine the best and the worst of human nature. This book is required reading for anybody who wishes to understand the fanatical, terrorist mindset, for Berkman describes that aptly. Far more importantly, he shares the experience of survival and transformation. He, who entered prison a fanatic, left those iron gates more committed than ever to his cause, but no longer a fanatic. His story tells of graduating from terrorist to humanist, from monomaniacal fanatic to a deeply committed human being. If you read nothing else this year, read this book.

(If you'd like to dialogue with me about this book or review, please click the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!) ... Read more

Isbn: 094032234X
Sales Rank: 197229
Subjects:  1. 1870-1936    2. Anarchism    3. Anarchists    4. Berkman, Alexander,    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Criminals & Outlaws    8. Historical - General    9. History    10. History: American    11. Pennsylvania    12. Penology    13. Prison Life    14. Prisoners    15. United States    16. United States - 19th Century    17. Berkman, Alexander   

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
by Studs Terkel
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (28 February, 1997)
list price: $16.95 -- our price: $11.53
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (16)

interesante !
when i first picked this book up, just by looking at the pages i knew i wasn't going to like it. the thought of having to finish it by the end of the month was killing me . " people talking about what they do and how they feel about it ", sounded really boring to me. but as i started the book , it started to pull me in, and after all it did not seem that hard. for on thing , i realized there are so many jobs out there that i haven't even heard of them. also, this book made me take a closer look to every single person around me , Garbagemen and dentists, Hookers and farmers, and piano tuners and football coaches. i recomend all high school seniors and anyone older than that to take a peek at this book : you 'll be interested in what you learn !

Not just for writers--but it's a treasure trove for writers!
Studs Terkel took his tape recorder out on the road to capture the search for daily meaning in our working lives. He makes no distinction between the slovenly and the perfectionist; he's merely there to record what they say about their jobs.

"The real American experience. The poetry of real people." ~Chicago Daily News

You can read this book to hear the "poetry of real people," but - if you're a writer - you can also use it as a lively reference book when creating new characters for your stories and novels. Research anyone from a skycap to an industrial investigator to a baby nurse all in one handy paperback.

WORKING was published in the early 70's, so you're hearing voices from a different era. However, this book is not so much about the technical aspects of any career as it is about how people feel when they do the job. You may not be able to base the technical accuracy of your novel on this book, but you can certainly use it to spark your imagination. Writing about our characters from the gut is just as vital as accuracy. This book provides plenty of gut feelings - from all walks of life.

One of the best books I have ever read
This is a wonderful book, I am so glad I read it because it has helped me to look at the funny side of working and realize that everyone is dealing with the same set of basic issues at work.

One of the nice things about the book is that it is made up of short stories, so it can be picked up or put down at short notice and you don't lose anything.

If you have been in the work force I'm sure you will love this book. If not, read it anyway because it'll give you a glimpse of what's in store if/when you start working. ... Read more

Isbn: 1565843428
Sales Rank: 11156
Subjects:  1. Attitudes    2. General    3. History    4. History: World    5. Interviews    6. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    7. Oral History    8. Social Conditions Of Labor    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. United States    12. Work    13. Working class