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Summary: I Own Two Copies!
Review: Yes, after buying the Random House hardback, a year later I bought the "New Improved!" HarperCollins paperback edition--on purpose. Michael Moore is one of my heroes. He's biting, honest, clear-sighted, straight-shooting, and, as other reviewers note, he's funny as hell. Though this book now is almost four years old, its messages remain fresh (in at least two senses!). Buy the book; watch Moore's show on Bravo (THE AWFUL TRUTH); join Mike's Militia; and if you, like me, are a Little Guy, fight the Goliathans until they topple!
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Summary: Excellent book for liberals!
Review: If you're a liberal, this book is for you! It's topics cover everything from OJ, to his forbidden love of Hillary, OJ, Steve Forbes, his plans on changing the United States to THE BIG ONE and, oh yeah, OJ! If you are part of the right wing crowd, you will hate this book with a passion. Everyone else who knows the truth will enjoy it. The movie, The Big One makes a good companion piece with it.
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Summary: Sparks and Heat, but little Illumination
Review: I don't disagree with a lot of Moore's politics, but I find his smug and sometimes not entirely honest methods of satire to be a bit unpleasant. It's easy to preach to the choir, especially if your sermon is mostly hot air and cheap moralizing. You can read the bumper stickers at any expensive private college and skip reading this silly book. (A would-be parlor radical friend of mine gave me a copy, which I tossed into the trash after a quick reading.) My advice: Hie thee to the library and read C. Vann Woodward and learn some appreciation for the complexity of American society and politics.
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Summary: Good, but better stick to the man's celluoid
Review: After reading this book, I found that Moore's famous satrical practice of having his targets making fools out of themselves in front of his camera is actually a lot funnier and wittier than his personal rants.Similiar to his celebrated work on "TV Nation" and "Roger&Me," the book's strength comes from the chapters where he takes the actual words and histories of his targets and displays the contradictions that naturally scream out. Unfortuantely, much of Mr. Moore's rants sink the book under his own weight of cynicism and rather shallow rhetoric. There are also places where he tries too hard to appear edgy,(the "torch Beverly Hills" chapter and the "stick a gun at any German living or visting Florida" chapter-where the line between tongue-in-cheek satire and blunt opinion comes into question...hey don't those two violent statements violate the peacekeepers' truce of "Mike's Militia"?) On a more critical note, after reading this book, it's become more difficult for me to admire Moore for two reasons. One is that the book was written by Moore when he was no longer a rogue outsider of the "Roger&Me" days, but instead just another celebrity trumpeting radical chic political causes. The second reason is that Moore's doctrine of fight for the working man Old Left politics combined with New Leftist rhetoric just dosen't work right, since the New Left has pretty much abandoned blue-collar "White America" for more "exotic" issues like minority representation(through preferance and exclusion)and even regulating Appropriate Behavior in society via "political correctness." Overall, the book still does generate laughs but similiar to the carnival scene that was the anti-IMF/World Bank protests in D.C., can we really consider Moore and his fellow believers' politics as a credible alternative?
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Summary: Become a 'bad' liberal and buy this book
Review: No one else in the mass media today can make a good liberal become a "bad" liberal -- a non-complacent, "Dear Senator" letter-writing, editorial-staff joining -- liberal like Michael Moore, the former factory worker now ultimate freelance social journalist. In "Downsize This" he is at his best, sending outrageous political contribution checks to campaigns, just to see if they will be accepted or rejected; creating hilarious CEO sports cards; generally offending those who need to be offended every day. How unfortunate one man must face down Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura, etc etc etc. How fortunate he is able to keep laughing, and keep us laughing -- and caring.
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Summary: I'd give it 6 stars but I can't
Review: Rush Limbaugh should read this book, or have 1000 of them dropped on him
Rating: 
Summary: All depends on your political beliefs
Review: Like most political satires and/or commentaries, those who agree with the author's point of view will generally enjoy this funny little book. Moore exposes the corporate crimes and hypocrisy that take place in this country, but is by no means against Corporations in general or the virtues of making a profit. He just feels that corporations have gotten completely unreasonable by firing thousands of employees while profits are at a peak and leaving cities after receiving tax breaks as an incentive for staying. The picture of the Federal building bombed in Oklahoma City is placed next to the picture of a condemned factory in Flint, Michigan after GM pulled out. The pictures are nearly identical and the imagery is extremely powerful. What exactly is terrorism, Moore asks? Many will disagree with Moore's opinions and some will be offended by certain things in this book, especially the chapter dealing with the L.A. Riots and the O.J. Simpson case. However, I do think it's worth a read, even if you disagree, if only to reinforce your views.
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Summary: If you own a HMO or a Corporation read at your own risk.
Review: This everything NOT taught in US history or Economics. Shame on the Coporate Welfare individuals in this book!
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Summary: One of the greatest books of the year !
Review: Eye-opening. Clever. Thought-provoking. Truthful. These are all words the come to mind to describe Michael Moore's wonderful new book Downsize This. Like his television show and movies, it features Moore doing what he does best, exposing the truth that can't always be seen with the naked eye. Hey Corporate America -- DOWNSIZE THIS !!
Rating:
Summary: first rate satire
Review: This book is hilarious, but you should be forewarned that it is SATIRICAL, not literary slapstick. If your idea of great humor is The Simpsons you'll love the idea of a road map for urban LA residents, which directs them to Beverly Hills as a preferred sight for the next riot. If your idea of wit is Suddenly Susan, this might not be for you. I also want to add, as someone finishing up dual degrees in politics and economics, that Moore has a decent grasp on both. Conservative, business types like to pretend that only they understand the economy, but they often don't, or use their understanding to deceive. Moore is one of the only public figures I've seen who has pointed out that while "market forces" and all the rest exist, we don't have to bow down to them. As he says, the word "shareholders" does not appear in the constitution. There is no reason that we have to let corporations do anything but what is good for the general population. That is the important point which this book entertainingly conveys.
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