Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Franken is George W. Bush's worst nightmare: a savvy liberal political satirist and Harvard fellow with a massive readership. Franken and his tireless team of fact-checkers are able to spread The Truth to people who might never pick up books by Eric Alterman (What Liberal Media?), David Brock (Blinded by the Right), Joe Conason (Big Lies), Ron Suskind (The Price of Loyalty) or Richard A. Clarke (Against All Enemies). Debunking the lies and allegations spread by "the right-wing blogosphere, radiosphere and asshole-on-TV-osphere," Franken details how the Bush team won the 2004 election through "smears, fears and queers." Believing that the Bush regime's plan was to "divide Americans to conquer them," Franken has created a reference manual that refutes propaganda issued by an administration he believes "shouldn't be running a small town hardware store much less the world's only remaining superpower." While Franken writes with a razor-sharp wit, his intention is deadly serious: to expose how hypocrisy, bigotry, ineptitude, unchecked corruption and partisan politics have resulted in war, debt and a divided nation. Franken considers the political motives behind the Terri Schiavo case and the distortions behind Bush's campaign to privatize Social Security. Along the way he takes on the Swiftboaters, Bush's fake "mandate," Tom DeLay, Iraq and Karl Rove. Like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, Franken has the ability to entertain, illuminate and motivate. (Oct. 25) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Is Franken getting more surreal, or is it our government? Building on his last book (Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), the author takes us on a comic tour of our nation's current political status, or it would be comic if so much of it wasn't showing up in the news. From the tactics used by the Republican Party to retain control of the government to the latest on Congressman Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Franken and his research team deliver a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of our current administration. A 2004 Grammy winner, Franken shows how our leaders have turned an $80 billion surplus on January 23, 2001, into a national deficit of more than $2 trillion, and how that $11 trillion shortfall the Social Security Trust Fund is teetering under won't occur until the year infinity. Franken's performance is stellar; he is certainly not afraid to point out that the emperor has no clothes. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.