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blairconrad's review
5.0
I watch the Daily Show semi-regularly, so I thought I was used to hearing the Republicans being slammed, but whoa baby. I’ve come out of reading The Truth with a greater disdain for the current U.S. administration than before. I realize that Franken’s probably taking some liberties, but if even half of what he says is true (and it feels right), these are some nasty nasty people. In addition, even if the book were all lies, it’d be worth reading just for the funny. He really knows how to hit my buttons – I enjoyed the way the book was written even more than the content. A sample:
Self-reference and a warning against attempting to prove things via anecdote. That either does it for you, or it doesn’t. It does it for me.
In books like this one, too often cases are made on the basis of anecdotes and generalities. For example, in Bernard Goldberg’s biased Bias, the author relies on a story about a colleague calling Gary Baure “a little nut from the Christian group” as proof of a media-wide anti-Christian, anti-short people, anti-nut conspiracy. See? I started this paragraph with a generality and tried to prove it with an anecdote. That kind of sloppiness doesn’t cut it here.
Self-reference and a warning against attempting to prove things via anecdote. That either does it for you, or it doesn’t. It does it for me.
emiliefox's review against another edition
3.0
Part watching paint dry ~ I had to skip through most of the 911 stuff, it is very detailed and I appreciate that he went throught the official reports, but I'll just skip to being angry all over again, without the excruciating details; part fascinting - the Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay stuff about the Indian gaming & Saipan factories was disgusting and outrageous, I cannot believe that every American does not know about and care deeply about the events and the hypocricy surrounding them, enough to demand REAL change in the way our country is run. A good companion to Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country, read just prior, and Al Gore's Assault on Reason, just started, in this triumvirate of outrage about the hijacking of our country by idealogues and hypocrites. Enjoyed Al's personal touches & family stories, in fact I want to e-mail him now that he's in the Senate and ask him if he is able to effect any changes in the structures he describes in the book. I hope he is remembering and practicing the philosophy, Be just and Do Good.
argorden's review
3.0
Just got this back from a friend I'd lent it to after reading it when it came out, and re-read it over the weekend. Franken's writing style makes it easy to blow through a book over a few days. Like Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, which was heavier on the funny and lighter on the serious stuff, The Truth is an entertaining book, but not a great one. If you agree with Franken (which I do), you're going to laugh at the jokes he sprinkles into his presentation of facts with which you're probably already mostly familiar. If you don't agree with him (and I'm glaring at you right now, whoever you are!), you're probably going to be put off by his mockery of everything Republican and pay less attention to the facts. Don't get me wrong, I dig Al Franken's political comedy to a degree surpassed only by how much I dig Jon Stewart's, but if you're not already in his camp, you're probably not going to be converted by his jokes, and there are better places to get a history of the GOP corruption he outlines.
asteroidbuckle's review against another edition
3.0
Another gem by Al Franken. The difference, to me, between how Al Franken writes and how, say, Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly write (or Rush Limbaugh, for that matter), is this: He researches. He goes to the source of information for clarification. He backs up what he's saying with other sources instead of spewing his opinion and calling it fact. He doesn't say, "I have said it, so it must be true."
And? He's funny and clever as all hell.
The Truth, of course is his follow-up to Lies and focuses more on how GWB got us involved in the Iraq war and some of the more infamous shenanigans of his inner circle. It begins with the heartbreaking (to him) defeat of John Kerry in 2004 and then goes on to talk about how Bush and his cronies have used terror and intimidation to get the American people to kowtow to his administration.
Another eye-opening book, to say the least, in terms of the filth-infested wool we, as Americans, have allowed our president to pull over our eyes. And of course, I read this while GWB was still president, so I was even more irritated and outraged and ready for that bastard's term to be finished.
Franken also touches on the Terry Schiavo case and how Bush and his crew disgustingly used that woman's plight (with the permission of her parents and siblings) to try to further insinuate themselves into the lives (and deaths) of Americans. Luckily for us, it backfired on them. Of course, Terry Schiavo's situation should never have been in the national spotlight to begin with, if you ask me.
Obviously, Franken writes with a liberal slant. That's no secret and he doesn't try to keep it as such. He's proud to be a Democrat, proud to be a liberal, and so if some of his barbs at conservative Republicans seem a little harsh, they are also ultimately, sadly apt in the harsh light of day.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And his writing style is so easy and flows so smoothly, I nearly got through it in one sitting.
By the way, Franken is a comic genuis, in case you didn't know.
And? He's funny and clever as all hell.
The Truth, of course is his follow-up to Lies and focuses more on how GWB got us involved in the Iraq war and some of the more infamous shenanigans of his inner circle. It begins with the heartbreaking (to him) defeat of John Kerry in 2004 and then goes on to talk about how Bush and his cronies have used terror and intimidation to get the American people to kowtow to his administration.
Another eye-opening book, to say the least, in terms of the filth-infested wool we, as Americans, have allowed our president to pull over our eyes. And of course, I read this while GWB was still president, so I was even more irritated and outraged and ready for that bastard's term to be finished.
Franken also touches on the Terry Schiavo case and how Bush and his crew disgustingly used that woman's plight (with the permission of her parents and siblings) to try to further insinuate themselves into the lives (and deaths) of Americans. Luckily for us, it backfired on them. Of course, Terry Schiavo's situation should never have been in the national spotlight to begin with, if you ask me.
Obviously, Franken writes with a liberal slant. That's no secret and he doesn't try to keep it as such. He's proud to be a Democrat, proud to be a liberal, and so if some of his barbs at conservative Republicans seem a little harsh, they are also ultimately, sadly apt in the harsh light of day.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And his writing style is so easy and flows so smoothly, I nearly got through it in one sitting.
By the way, Franken is a comic genuis, in case you didn't know.
bloodravenlib's review
3.0
See my blog post on it:
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/booknote-truth-with-jokes.html
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/booknote-truth-with-jokes.html
staceydz's review against another edition
2.0
For democratic satire, Michael Moore is much better. This is coming from a New York Republican.
everydayreading's review against another edition
4.0
This book made me laugh but it also made me think - he raises some good points that helped me seriously consider the state of our country and what I can do to fix it.
debshelf's review
3.0
Funny, and I’m sure I don’t remember half of it.
The one part of this book that really stuck with me is the comparison one of the white house aids made between Clinton & Bush. Apparently Clinton read everything; he would stay up until the wee hours of the morning learning everything he could about the world around him and what he needed to do his job adequately. He was a veritable font of knowledge whereas one of the first things George W did once elected was tell everyone that no memo to his office would be longer than a page. He read nothing, and it showed. It really, really showed.
The one part of this book that really stuck with me is the comparison one of the white house aids made between Clinton & Bush. Apparently Clinton read everything; he would stay up until the wee hours of the morning learning everything he could about the world around him and what he needed to do his job adequately. He was a veritable font of knowledge whereas one of the first things George W did once elected was tell everyone that no memo to his office would be longer than a page. He read nothing, and it showed. It really, really showed.
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