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Dude, Where's My Country?

Dude, Where's My Country?

List Price: $42.98
Your Price: $27.08
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: From bad to worse: Dude, you call this writing?
Review: I am not going to argue about the value of Michael Moore's convictions. I am here only to comment about his WRITING SKILLS, and he's got very few.

The man rambles, he cannot structure his thoughts in a constructive way: it is all about an outburst of chaotic, angry and not very witty thought. Yes, his convictions are deep - so what? Deep conviction does not make a good writer, and Michael Moore, sadly, believes he's got a talent.

He does not. He is a very passionate, very well-meaning and yet completely talentless man. If you like his ideas, fine, but please, do not pretend that you appreciate his literary skills, because it makes you look like guys who say that they buy magazines with naked ladies "for the articles".

There is nothing wrong - I repeat - nothing wrong with having your own opinion about politics in America. But let me tell you one curious phenomenon about most enthusiastic reviewers of this book: they all seem to be pretty instructive on others HAVING to read this book. IT SHOULD BE MANDATORY. You MUST read it. Reading this book is your DUTY.

Back off, will ya? Do you think that people who don't think like you are this way simply because they haven't read Michael Moore's book yet?

In short - if you liked his film and the earlier book about Stupid White Men, buy it by all means. You'll enjoy every bit. For people like me, it's another proof of how much can be forgiven if ideological fundamentals seem to rhyme.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Valuable eye-opener
Review: This book provides valuable information for anyone unfamiliar with the Neocon agenda, which is without doubt vast majority of the US population.

For example, one of the issues addressed by "Dude" is the PNAC. Having myself quizzed a number of US citizens of various academic backgrounds (including students and staff from a top US business school) over a two month period this year, I found the typical response to be "PNAC? Never heard of it. What is that?".

"Dude" explains "Project New American Century" aka PNAC, and many other shocking facts about the present government's agenda in simple, occasionally (although not immensely) amusing terms.

Just a bunch of left-wing conspiricy theories? A simple google search will take you to the original PNAC website in seconds. Therefore, what is essentially a declaration of world domination by the USA, is freely available for anyone on the planet to read, and it comes straight from the horse's mouth.

Just to emphasize the need for information sources such "Dude", consider the following: The PNAC manifesto, which declares in no uncertain terms how "for decades the US has sought a position of power in the Middle East", was written pre 9/11 by a group of conservatives, 18 members of which form part of the the present US administration. Now you'd think the mainstream press would pick up on something like that, wouldn't you? Given that no one appears to have heard of PNAC, it appears the mainstream media didn't do a very good job.

This is the void that Michael Moore so essentially fills. It may be "fast food" in form and to some extent content, but hey, this population has been starved of the Truth for too long.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A response to another review.
Review: I have not read this book, so perhaps I ought to keep my mouth shut, but I was irked by an earlier review. First, I should explain that I am a liberal, but very moderate. I don't particularly care for Moore, mainly because, as was said in other reviews, he is inarticulate and looking for a fight.

On to my point: to the reviewer who, well, scolded other reviewers who disliked the book, and said that they only disliked it because they were conservatives and asked why such people read the book in the first place... It was perhaps because these conservatives you scold might be openminded and willing to try to see the other side of the issues. You are obviously a liberal and probably see yourself as open-minded, so why is it so bad that someone on the other side of the issues be that way as well?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MUST READ FOR ANY RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN!
Review: This book gave me a sense of assurance that this country is not filled with people who blindly accept the ideas and images presented to them by the President and the media. Michael Moore did such a wonderful job of presenting facts with humor and practicality that I will be giving this book to all my relatives for Christmas...especially the blind conservatives!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great, fun, fact filled book.
Review: I finished the book last night and found hard to put it down. I might not agree with a couple of things Moore says, but I do like his logic process: Give facts (with sources) and then draw conclusions and even build a couple of theories upon those facts. You can agree or disagree with them, but it is a logic process.

In his book, Bill O'Reilly, on the other hand, takes his own pre-conceived notions first ("The media other than Foxnews is too liberal, George Clooney's opinions should not be listened to, Even though no WMD were found, Iraq had them, All lawyers are crooks" etc.), presents them as facts (by then, he's lost about 3/4 of his readers, hence the low ratings of his book), and with the 1/4 remaining, for whom this "thought" process is enough, he goes on building up on his overused, boring rants.

Thanks Michael Moore for being brave in a world that has become too frightened to open their eyes and ears to the truth. People are starting to look around and listen up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow, what a wake up! I now feel better to be an American.
Review: On Friday, (today is Monday) I bought copies of American Michael Moore's recent books "Stupid White Men" and "Dude, Where's my Country?". I have recently seen "Bowling for Columbine" at a friend of mine's house and have been visiting American Michael Moore's website and I have been getting much more interested in American Michael's ideas/facts! Yes, they are facts, in fact, everything that American Michael has said in his films and in his books are true. That is why he hasn't been sued yet by anybody. It's all true! You guys have GOT to read his book "Stupid White Men!!!!! It may change your life. He has exposed corporate America in their sham and details how they get away with it! This guy deserves all of our support whether you are American or from another country...if you do not heed his warning, the budding police state in America will in a despicable sense, spread it's hideous shadow across the globe, with the ultra-rich taking cruel advantage of the majority of human beings on this planet... When American Bill Maher started his program on HBO, I remember that there was a collective sigh of relief in the U.S. that someone had the guts to speak up with a voice of reason. Now American Michael Moore has joined the ranks, thank your Michael!!! Read "Stupid White Men" and "Dude, Where's my Country?", to learn many of the the various truths that the media has been suppressing at the request of corporate greed. Learn about how the Democratic (Democratic-Republican) party has been purposefully aiding the Republicans...Even through the Clinton era! and how Gore sabotaged his own chances at getting elected. How the Republicans cheat and lie and use the democratic-republicans over and over again. This makes things a lot easier for the republicans. American Michael Moore (he is not Canadian!), has exposed the U.S. government, and possibly other governments in a huge scam. I hardly ever read "popular" books, and for some clearly obvious reasons, I couldn't put "Stupid White Men" and "Dude, Where's my Country?", down until I finished them, it took me around twenty-four hours and now I am beginning to finally understand what kind of wool has been pulled over my eyes. Come into the light and see the lies for what they are. At the very least, you will see the truth, and don't forget the truth can't hide and the truth is proud to be seen, and that lies don't hold up at all when scrutinized, in fact they run and hide...ooooo, I'm scared, run away! Unfortunately, these lies, I'm afraid, may be tearing the very fabric of our existence apart. Thank you American Michael Moore!! It is now clear, from the govt. number statistics that you present in your books, that we the people are the majority. (Even though others might have us believe otherwise) I now know that we the people, will always, no matter what, be sincerely grateful to you American Michael Moore for filling us in. When the dark forces were trying to keep us, well, in the dark, Democratic-Republicans have privately already conceded that they will lose the 2004 election! Don't get caught up in this ugly lie machine, the truth is that we the people are in the majority, "Let's STOP them!" WARNING: the hate machinery is already in place, waging war against American Michael Moore. If you do a web search for American Michael Moore, you will certainly find some nasty hate propaganda which proves the dark forces are scared and trying to trick your mind into believing a whopper of a lie. Read the books and then get back to me...I'd love to chat with anybody on this subject. Also, I can see that many of the "reviews" given are dedicated to corporate greed...read these books, what a revelation, don't be fooled by the greedy hate-mongering rich stupid white men.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Please! No More Michael Moore!
Review: Just awful! That's 5 hours of my life I'll never get back...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun and interesting book...
Review: Okay - first off I have to say: It's obvious that many of the people who gave this book a low rating are more conservative in their thinking... So why on earth did they spend their time and money to buy and read this book? Perhaps the same type of thinking that led Nixon to have his plumbers tap the Watergate Hotel? Shhh, Michael! Don't tell them our secrets!

Anyhow, on to the review...

What I liked about the book:

This is a fun and easy read filled with interesting (and some shocking) facts about the state of our union. If you read it consistently you'll be through it in a couple days. This book is also filled with opinions - most of which you will probably agree with if you find yourself leaning to the left side of the political spectrum. Moore presents the material in a humorous way that makes the reading much less dry than it could be, and doesn't spend too much time analyzing any one issue. This lends itself well to making the book a great commuter or potty reader :)

Many of Moore's critics have called him Chomsky for Children; which if you've read any of Chomsky's work you'll realize is more of a compliment than I'm sure they intended it to be. I think a more appropriate title for Moore might be Everymans Chomsky. Moore has no pretense of superior sophistication (which is one of the biggest downfalls of the liberal cause) and presents the material in a way that the majority of us can relate to. There are a few parts of the book that seem downright childish (like the dream sequence chatting with his future granddaughter) but you never get the feel that Moore is talking down to anyone.

What I didn't like about the book:

My only real complaint with Michael Moore's work is the pretense that the republican party and essentially anyone who calls themselves a republican is inherently greedy, mean, and almost sociopathic. For example, although the section on "Talking to Your Conservative Brother-in-law" was pretty entertaining, it was frustrating to feel that Moore doesn't acknowledge the good, decent, principled people who just happen to have a different ideology. I know plenty of people who call themselves republicans that are by no means greedy, self-centered, etc. This was however my only real issue with the book (and what else should I have expected?).

Overall this is a good book and you should run right out to the nearest store (oops, I mean order it here on Amazon!) and buy it. Even if you don't agree with Moores politics, you'd be hard pressed not to at least crack a few smiles while reading this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Gift Of Laughs and Political Insight
Review: Moore's sequel to his previous bestseller lives up to and exceeds the expectations of the first. His new verbal warfare is strongly aimed at the Bush Administration and the Democrats who quietly stand by idly as the Republicans "run amok." It seems no one is safe as Moore attacks Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Congress, the NRA, the U.S. Military, multi-billion dollar industries and corporations, and oil companies. His sharp, strong left wing humor will pull laughs out of even the most politically unconcerned people. Moore uses many statistics and figures to back up his claims and statements, and has footnotes on the first chapters to demonstrate a through knowledge of current events. Although this does give the impression that Moore is a little desperate to rely so strongly on numbers and figures, he does voice his own theories, and uses simple logic and common sense to support them.
Moore writes with strong, human rage and concern about the condition of the nation, which really causes the reader to relate and agree with him. However, Moore's rage can often drone into ranting, but Moore pulls the reader back into deep attention with a new point to make along with a few wisecracks.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants a very liberal opinion about current events, and a broader view of the country and politics.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 3.5 stars - Read and explore: some things to be learned
Review: Michael Moore, whether you agree with him or not is clearly an author that continues to stir up passions: that is out of the question. Just sift down the 300+ reviews that this, his latest book, has as of my writing, and you will see that -as with most controversial products- the majority of the comments either steer all the way to 1 star or all the way to 5 stars. In the end, the common sense prevails (or so I'd like to believe!) and the average rating hovers somewhere around 3-4 stars.

What is his latest book about? I don't think it's fair to say that it picks up right where "Stupid White Men" left, simply because much has happened since: September 11, and the War in Irak, to begin with; his movie "Bowling for Columbine"; and more recently, his famous acceptance speech at the Oscars, that gained him a range of reactions from boos to praise.

I don't personally concur with all that Moore has to say. In fact, I am in frontal disagreement with some of his views, but I have to acknowledge that he's learned some lessons since his last book, which (as some of you might know, from the review I wrote about it) I did not enjoy, because of his criticism without enough support throughout it. This time around, he's done one HUGE thing to help himself: he's provided sources (not just in the form of a footnote in the pages where quotes are included, but also in the form of an extensive 'Notes and Sources' chapter, which provides 25 pages-worth of detailed references as to where he gets the information he presents). As much as you can argue that his sources are wrong, it's not like he's getting undercover tips from an "insider source". He's taking information widely available and turning it around in what I consider to be an out-of-the-box approach, looking at them from a different angle: as an example, take the chapter that deals with stats and poll results touching on a wide range of issues that conservatives criticize and liberals tend to support.

In the end, if you don't loose your head over his arguments (which continue to be packed with sarcasm and occasional insults, something that I don't support -if he criticizes the angry attitude of some right wing spokespeople, using the same type of angry talk puts him in the same position he's criticizing, in my opinion), there's a some things to be learned from his book. I wouldn't call it an eye-opener (I mean... if you believe EVERYTHING you're told by politicians or the media, you'd better question yourself a bit, because you're bound for dissapointment more than once!), but the book does raise some very interesting points once more, with regards to the reasons underlying the US' current war on Terror and its presence in Irak. At the very least, my recommendation is to get this book, read it and explore it: don't take it literally, but don't discard it altogether.


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