Rating: 
Summary: well written!
Review: A very well written, thought provoking and insightful book... highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Reviewers bitter, beyond my grandest notions.
Review: Apparently, All of the reviewers bashing this book and Chris Matthews in general are just bitter because he talks fast, or is more intelligent than they are. The fact is, if you watch him interview other people, or being interviewed himself, his knowledge of history is such that he put the toughest of guests on the spot, and frankly is one of the more intelligent guys on TV. I find him, and his book interesting for that very reason. Like few others I have ever watched, or read, he has endless anecdotal historical tidbits that are absolutely relevent to the discussion at hand, and lead to some thought provoking summations. So, with that said, I'd recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: An empty and absurd treatise
Review: As everyone reading this probably knows, Chris Matthews is the host of MSNBC's prime time political talk show Hardball. Matthews represents the moderate left within the spectrum of the corporate media's permissible opinion, and is known by Beltway buffs to be a tough yet fair interviewer. Recently, Matthews has been among the most vocal skeptics within the cable news universe of the impending war on Iraq. I was therefore disappointed by Matthews new book, "American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions" as it is filled with the type of sub-intellectual flag waiving one would expect from Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh. Take for example his chapter on "the reluctant warrior." Matthews argues, "If you're an American, your favorite movie is probably Casablanca" which somehow demonstrates that "Americans" identify with Rick, the "slow to anger" hero of the classic 1940's film. Like Rick, "Americans" are isolationists - unless our "ideals. . .love. . .and country are on the line." As evidence Matthews cites a couple of lines from our Founding Fathers and quickly turns to the question of war today, about which he worries, "Will America still be guided by its role as a reluctant warrior in this century? Or will the reality of America's colossal military power overwhelm the fine instincts of our history?" There are several problems with all of this once we get past the initial absurdity of the argument. Of course, it does not follow that because "Americans" love a certain movie it therefore reflects our collective self image or illustrates our role in history. Let us pretend that such an argument is valid, however , and see where it leads. The first and fatal problem, as I see it, is that Casablanca may not be our favorite movie. According to Forbes.com , Casablanca has earned an inflation-adjusted box office gross of 172.8 million in 2001 dollars. This would place it on the all-time box office hit list at around number 60, in with such company as Crocodile Dundee and There's Something About Mary. I wouldn't care to guess what either of those films might reveal about our self image or history. One may cry foul at my use of box office data to determine the popularity of Casablanca, but Matthews offers no source to support his claim other than "the best surveys" which may include non-representative samples of the general population. More crucial is the premise that our history has shown us to be the "reluctant warrior." Looking at history since Rick and Ilsa parted ways in 1942, this premise is just as preposterous as the last. To take the most obvious case, this past October marked the 40th anniversary of a report in the New York Times detailing President Kennedy's escalation of aggression against South Vietnam, sending attack helicopters on strafing , defoliation, and crop destruction missions directed mostly against the peasant countryside. The next decade plus of bloodshed left millions of dead in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with devastating consequences for the survivors. Is it possible for a thinking human being to brush this aside as some exception that proves the rule? Is the concept of the "reluctant warrior" supposed to exclude diplomatic, financial and military aid to mass murderers like General Suharto and Saddam Hussein? Does it ignore the various coups we have staged (Guatemala) and death squads we have employed (El Salvador) and hundreds of thousands of corpses attributed to US Foreign Policy (East Timor) ? If so, doesn't this make the concept of "reluctant warrior" somewhat worthless? If the facts matter, the type of self serving propaganda generated by Matthews (and many others in his field) is worthy only of ridicule. Thoughtful readers would do well to spend their money on more accurate and substantial material.
Rating: 
Summary: All-American
Review: Author Matthews has an "All-American" view of our collective
history, and he does a nice job of highlighting some of the
things that have specifically shaped him into a particular
"all-American" character himself.
He touches briefly on some of our cultural heroes, and since
they are all worthy of review, his thoughts on them are
worth reading. It seems a bit odd that he puts such emphasis
on movies and their heroes, but those movies have no doubt
influenced his view of America, just as other factors have
shaped our own view.
The author hits only the high points of a rather odd mixture
of historic figures, but they are all worth reviewing, and
he gives the reader some positive thoughts to consider, and
it is a nice review of a few American leaders who have influenced our collective thinking about exactly what a "real"
American is.
Given the author's experience and education, this book has a
rather "light" feel to it, and it is rather easy to get through
it quickly, but his points are nonetheless valid. Many factors
make up a true American, and they come from a great variety of
sources during the last 300 years, and we still credit a lot
of our qualities to our forebearers, both real and fictional.
An interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Blow-hard blows hard
Review: Chris Matthews is beyond doubt the most annoying person on tv, and his writing style is identical to his huffy, overwrought tv style. This is a worthless book, written by someone who needs to be put out of his misery.
Rating:
Summary: American Civ for Dummies
Review: Chris MATTHEWS' latest "book," once again, is small format, large type with wide margins, lots of blank pages, and pictures. 208 pages, 25 lines per page, 9 words to the line. He said on one of his snake-oil sales interviews that "The word 'I' NEVER APPEARS." It was a fantastic assertion coming from this ego-maniac---and---it's a lie. The infernal "I" is there from the Prologue and Chapter 1 on. The whole thing is a re-hash of selected cliches in American Civilization 101 courses out there. And, sublimating his 3-years' hit-job on Al GORE here, without the "I", his slant on President GORE in the 2000 Campaign was that this was the time for a Common Man and "there wasn't one" and that "most people voted for him but they didn't want to hang out with him for four years." At least this weak product isn't on the best seller list---yet.
Rating:
Summary: With Pride and Prejudice
Review: Chris Matthews' new book, American - Beyond our Grandest Notions, is a gem. It's a quick read, and for that reason alone may appeal to students, parents who want be able to explain to their kids why America is truly the land of the free and home of the brave and perhaps most importantly - this book will give boomers and seniors a much needed booster shot of pride in this nation.The prejudice comes in because it frankly and without pretense champions the citizens of the USA. Not a bad combination in today's world where it is fashionable to take the pseudo-intellectual position of seeing the rest of the peoples of the earth as victims of Americans and beating their chests with feigned mea-culpas. We've had decades of post-modern, deconstructionist cynicism. It is entirely appropriate at this time in our history to remind ourselves that Americans have some unique qualities and why this is so. The 10 people Matthews chose to demonstrate these characteristics come from nearly 250 years in our past to the present. Want to have some damned good, honest responses to share with the next boor who whines about the demise of your homeland? Treat yourself and people you care about to a copy of American.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Read
Review: Despite Chris Mathews political stance as a moderate Democrat, this book is a good read for all Americans, no matter your political tendencies. He describes in 10 notions American's privaledge to live in a country of such opportunity. A short read, but one that truly breaks down why America continues to thrive.
Rating:
Summary: RIPPPPP-OFFFFF
Review: Did Chris M. need money for purchase of Christmas presents???? One would expect Chrisy to posess a more meaningful depth of knowledge regarding American historical notions. Recommended reading for Chrisy is "A THREAD ACROSS THE OCEAN" from which he may gain a "notion" about American notions.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Blame Matthews
Review: Don't blame Chris Matthews for this tripe. He has to make a living somehow, and it's become the standard m.o. for manic political cranks on television to churn out these hastily written tomes about "grand American themes." These books have become a genre unto themselves, featuring, invariably, a big glossy photograph of the "handsome tv host" along with the words "liberty," "freedom," and "America" in combinations limited only by the imagination of Fox News. If one criticizes such "works," you are, by definition, a "blame America first elitist." So don't even start. I don't criticize them myself because they are beyond criticism. It would be like critiquing the picture menu on a fast food establishment's cash register. It works, doesn't it? The pictures are easy to identity. The familiarity is comforting. What could be wrong?
|
