Rating: 
Summary: Straight Up O'Reilly
Review: I must confess, I like Bill O'Reilly's upfront, tell it like it is style. That's probably why I like this book. It is a collection of his thoughts and experiences. I found his musings about the broadcast news industry particularly amusing. The parasitic personalities he talks about made me realize they are everywhere -- not just where I use to work. His comments on relationships and friendships are extremely well thought out. His explanations of how America came so far wrong make me wonder why we didn't elect him President.If you enjoy watching O'Relly's show on a nightly basis, you'll likely enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A friend of Bill.
Review: O'Reilly, that is. That is the feeling I came away with after reading this book. Mr. O'Reilly opens his life to the reader, and espouses the sort of opinion that you would expect from a friend or close acquaintance. This book is a breezy read, and immediately offers a surprising amount of insight into the class distinctions that should be required reading in all of our schools. Mr. O'Reilly dissects American society in a manner that is honest and rare, and I do not believe that was his intention. His expose' of the media moguls and the hectic life of an American reporter and their hatchet management system should be of great interest to anyone aspiring to be a reporter. Mr. O'Reilly is a straight-shooter, and gives us a glimpse of the dawning collapse of political punditry by the old guard establishment reporters. It is difficult to overstate the way in which he comes across as a close friend and confidant who is interested in the welfare of his readers, and offers sage advice in many regards, while posting flame e-mails that he has received as counterpoising viewpoints. This is an interesting and timely book. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Witty,funny,concise
Review: I don't agree 100% with O'Reilly but his book is a good read and had some good laughs. But as with Bill, i too am very concerned with what our country has become.The rise of Unionism ushers in the contract worker who has fewer benefits and less stability than ever before. As i see more and more workers laid off not in droves but little by little, i have seen none retrained under the training provisions in NAFTA. More and more education is required for jobs where this was not such a decisive factor. Does it have anything to do with the fact that the academic sector has the largest private pension fund which invests in the Fortune 500? Many of these companies in turn have tuition programs which re-feed the academic institutions, so academia becomes investor and vendor. Private organizations like Microsoft form their own certification programs and approve study materials but each individual is given a separate test and many of the study guides are inferior but approved by Microsoft. Social Security is mandatorily paid but drained by other uses and so has become a big IOU fund with the labors of future generations used as surety. And as information becomes more abundant than ever, children are exposed to more information with more specialization yet are said to be 'dumbing down'. In the early 1990s, the Tufts' New England Journal of Medicine did a survey of medical school graduates and how much work was required of them and how much they got accomplished. For the most part, many of the medical students only got c. 25% of the work done, with the workload estimated to exceed the total number of hours per week at an average pace! Could our kids be learning more but proportionaly absorbing less than their parents? If one absorbs 20% of 50 topics versus 75% of 10 subjects, who has learned more?
Rating:
Summary: O'Reilly Tells It Like It Is!
Review: The O'Reilly Factor--The Good, the Bad, and The Simply Ridiculous in American Life is a fun, informative, and passionate book. Bill has common sense, real life experience, and good advice to give readers. Viewers of The O'Reilly Factor news analysis program on Fox will appreciate the humor and caring in this book. Bill O'Reilly knows what it means to struggle financially and he has never forgotten his roots. Highly Recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: bias and bombast masquerading as critical thinking
Review: O'Reilly does maybe two or three times as much thinking as most people in media, but that is nearly as much a testament to the sad state of our media as it is to the quality of O'Reilly's insights. He's not an egotist or arrogant as much as he is simply is unwilling to think outside of his own assumptions. He doesn't question his own reaction to what someone says or does. I get the sense that he tries to see things from the other point of view only to the extent that the other's opinion might be consistent with his already-formed opinion in a way he hasn't thought of. As in, 'okay, maybe you are saying something that would fit my own opinion', and not 'well, let me think about that, maybe you have something to add to this issue I haven't thought of'. His book and his show are a kind of low-grade critical thinking that is refreshing on the one hand because such a thing is a precious commodity in a media which does an absolute minimum of thinking, but on the other hand a little dangerous because it is so limited and so often presumptuous. A good debater could tear O'Reilly apart, because his opinions are often half-baked or ill-thought out. I give the book three stars only because it is kind of fun to read and I enjoy political discussion, not because it is all that good.
Rating:
Summary: Typical O'Reilly
Review: This book is anything but subtle which should be no suprise to fans of Bill O'Reilly. The book is essentially a 300 page, very enjoyable rant. Bill packs a punch like no one else and has no sacred cows. I found my self laughing out loud and wanting to give out "high fives." If I had to give only one citisism it would be that Bill has almost become a characature of himself and tries a little too hard. That hardly mars a very enjoyable book. I'll be buying a case of these for Christmas presents.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes the truth hurts. O'reilly hurts real good!
Review: If you like his TV show, you'll love this book. If you've never seen his TV show, you have to order this book to see what you're missing. An incredibly refreshing and logical contribution to all that is wrong with this country and this world. O'Reilly for president. He's fair, but he's also relentless.
Rating:
Summary: O'Reilly's Life Factor
Review: Oh, for Heaven's sake, folks, calm down. O'Reilly is neither the Messiah or Satan. I can't believe the fuss over this book! People seem to be reading into it things that simply aren't there. I am pretty new to O'Reilly, but he seems pretty level headed to me. He says what he believes to be the truth and lets the chips fall where they may. Fine with me. Sometimes our sacred cows deserved to be made into hamburger. Who, in his heart of hearts, doesn't see Jesse Jackson's self-aggrandizment, or Janet Reno's surrender of ethics? Or Bill and Hillary Clinton's crass, money-grubbing, debasement of the Presidency? One doesn't have to be Conservative to see these things, just conscious! That being said, the book seems less a political diatribe and more a blueprint for living a moral, ethical, and sucessful life. America needs more common sense voices like O'Reilly's. I will certainly continue to watch his show. While I won't always agree, I will always listen.
Rating:
Summary: Tastes good but not very filling...
Review: This book, if it were a dish, would go down well with no complaints from me but I would not return for second helpings. And I would be grateful that it didn't fill me up too much that I would not able to eat anything else. Bill O'Reilly uses a lot of spice to mask a generally simple and uncomplicated book. You might get a few laughs or nod your head in agreement or shake it with indignation but it won't turn you into a conservative. If this book was a dish, it would destroy the venerable notion of "You are what you eat." My advice is to watch the TV show or borrow this book from the library. It won't make you a better thinker for having read the book because it's just about as deep as his show. You'll probably be more entertained with the TV version anyhow. To those who commend Bill O'Reilly on his courage in writing his views, I say bleh. What does Bill O'Reilly risk in publishing this book? Nothing. He only has to gain from a possible ratings boost to his show. To sum it all up, this book has no new ideas, scant wit and less wisdom. It won't make any changes or contributions to our society, most likely just a lot of money for Bill O'Reilly. Don't read just for reading's sake. You'd feel a lot better donating the 15 bucks to a charity than purchasing this chunk of paper.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascism with a Grin
Review: Fox News was recently lost a lawsuit by two former news writers who were ordered to lie about the adverse effects of BGH on human health. Fox's defense in court was, "it's not illegal to lie." As a matter of fact, one expert witness - Ralph Nader - pointed out that there is an FCC injunction that prohibits betraying the public trust. It is rarely enforced. The defense fought like hell to keep Nader from taking the stand. (In Fox promos, Nader is now identified as "far left.") Now, Bill O' Reilly, who faults the media for not reporting significant stories, does not report that Fox lost a lawsuit for recklessly endangering the welfare of its viewers with disinformation - Fox's stock in trade - although he is in a position to report on the case from the inside. The public airwaves are routinely used to deceive the public, and the consequences are serious, if uncalculated. That's another story this hard-bitten reporter will not address, Too "liberal." He bashes liberals on a daily basis. In fact, O'Reilly uses the word as if there is something intrinsically repulsive about it. But liberals are repulsed by media corruption, and O'Reilly epitomizes the rot of an industry that needs a complete overhaul to make it responsive to anything resembling the values O' Reailly claims as his own. The "fair and balanced" mantra is thin corporate PR. Forget homosexuals and the Boy Scouts, Bill. You're IGNORING CIA-trained death squads in the Third World. Forget corruption in Mexico. The Bush family is very close to the Hinckleys, and little Johnny was a fascist who frequented a number of Nazi organizations - similar in some ways the one you work for, Bill. There are hundred eye-opening stories that you are IGNORING, Bill, because you are a propagandist - so stop oozing over your own book, which is opportunistic and shallow in the extreme, and pretending to be some kind of journalist. Propaganda is not news.
| 
