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Why Not Me? : The Making and the Unmaking of the Franken Presidency

Why Not Me? : The Making and the Unmaking of the Franken Presidency

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilarious. One of the funniest books ever written.
Review: If you liked "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot", then this book is even better. Featuring Franken's trademark humour, the author seeks to entertain (and it sure does) while railing at the general state of politics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the funniest books I've read!
Review: Al Franken is a humor god. This book is in different forms, but the funniest part takes the part of a diary in which he describes daily ocurrences while on the campaign trail for the New Hampshire primary. I could not put this book down and I finished it the day that I got it. I highly recommend it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: amusing, but not extraordinary
Review: I purchased this book on eager anticipation of hearty guffaws, and was rewarded only with chuckles. Perhaps it is the current political environment, but this portrayal of the absurd seems not so unlikely in this day and age. Perhaps the next logical step in the devolution of the American political landscape is a likeable, bipolar comedian as the next President. Most amusing in this future history was the sputtering Al Gore losing the nomination to Al Franken in a marvelously wicked debate/ smear campaign. Sadly, it is probably an all too accurate portrayal of the behind the scenes machinations of a presidential campaign. I also enjoyed the no holds barred manner in which Franken manages to poke fun at everything and everyone, himself included. The humour ranges from the slapstick and coarse manner in which his brother wages political warfare, to the sublime, smug epilogue at the Franken Presidential Library. Beautifully conceived; rather hasty and slapdash execution.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Franken is still funny, and Rush is still fat!
Review: If you're tired of the same rehashing of Conservative and Liberal humor that is so dominant in today's political satire, read Al Franken's new book, "Why Not Me." Only Franken could make up a presidency funnier than the Clinton Administration.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I used to think Al was funny...
Review: I've always found Al Frankin to be funny until he decided to make fun of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (now known as Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome). This disabling disease with the horribly inadequate name afflicted hundreds of thousands of people including myself. It disgusts me that he finds my physical (not mental!!) suffering to be comical material.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: uneducated
Review: Anyone who states (and jokes) that chronic fatigue syndrome is depression is uneducated. I guess he knows more than the CDC. Am telling everyone I know not to buy it. Am sure the author would not make the same uneducated comments about cancer, AIDS, etc. His appearances on T.V. stating the same thing are as uneducated as his book. An apology to cfs sufferers is in order.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not funny for those who know about CFS.
Review: He has chosen to ridicule those who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and for those who are afflicted with this disease it is NOT funny. Hey, I lost my job -- isn't that a scream? And I had to spend all my savings to survive -- I'm laughing so hard the tears are running down my face! And I had to apply for food stamps -- isn't that just the funniest thing you ever heard? This book is a disgusting abuse of real people who are suffering from a very real disease and who do not need to be ridiculed by this unfeeling moron.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Al Franken's "Why Not Me?" is a satiric account of politics documenting his fictional but successful run for the U.S. presidency in 2000. The story is presented through a pastiche of faux diary entries from the campaign trail, chapters of a Bob Woodward novel documenting the first 100 days of the Franken presidency, several magazine and newspaper stories, and transcripts, among other things. As such, the novel reads somewhat like a scrapbook--with similar ease and discordance.

There are certainly laugh-out-loud moments in the book, but it is in general flat and lacking the political insight that Franken's "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" had. The story is about Franken running for the Democratic nomination on a single issue, ATM fees charged by banks. When that platform does not seem to capture the nation's interest, he turns to insurance companies for funding and agrees in return to add deregulation of the banking industry (thus allowing insurers to enter the market) to his platform. Along the way, he and his staff lie, commit battery, manufacture and take drugs, and run a phone-sex line.

Ultimately, the novel portrays Franken as an oversexed moron, an image that does not work entirely well. Franken, as author, has difficulty presenting an insightful political satire about Franken, the bumbling candidate. The majority of the funniest jokes, therefore, are more often salacious than politically insightful. In the end, there is simply too little to justify the 289 pages, and the real laughs are therefore too few by comparison.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Al Franken writes another winner
Review: If you are a intense Al Franken fan back from the years of SNL, as I am, this "novel" will capture your interest moreso than any I have read so far. Laugh-out loud comedy in the form of bringing Al Gore down through subversive and humorous tactics show how American politics could let an ordinary man take the ropes at our nation's highest office. Although a good friend to President Clinton in real life, this pseudo-diary adds the perfect blends of speeches, entries of his hatred for his family, treating of campain chairs as children, and extra-marrital affairs which are never discovered. The attachment to a ATM issue which gives him a 38% dominance over Al Gore seems a bit upserd, but lends the reader some powerful commendary on the type of people running for office. Absolutely a winner that left my sides aking from laughter.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Franken has a hilarious go at the political process
Review: In this book, we see Franken not as his usual politically-outspoken self but rather as another persona - a ridiculous candidate running for president, and winning in what turns out to be one of the most disasterous 100 first (and only) days of any presidency. Those who disagree with Franken's politics will appreciate the book for making fun of all ends of the spectrum in a way that generally sends up the ridiculous nature of a presidential election. Those who agree with Franken may be disappointed that he mocked everyone. However, reading the book with an open mind will probably cause a great deal of mirth and enjoyment.

The book contains a bunch of sources of Franken's fictional presidency (including fictional press clippings and doctored photos). Even though the second half of the book is not nearly as funny as the first, overall, still a great read.


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