Dude, Where's My Country?

Rating:
Summary: Dude, Where's Those WMDs?
Review: Like its predecessors Downsize This! and Stupid White Men (The number one bestselling nonfiction book of 2002, Dude, Where's My Country? doesn't waste any time getting to the point. In 2000, democracy was overthrown by plutocracy nepotism. Less than a year later 3,000 people lost their lives, and as a result, more are dying every day.
Mike has more responsibility with this book now that all eyes are on him. When Downsize This! came out, fans of Roger and Me flocked to the book store. When Stupid White Men came out, those same people went to the book store, but were greeted by a line of disillusioned youth. Now, will millions of books sold all over the world, and the number one highest grossing (Oscar winning) documentary under his belt, to Mike, "the whole world is watching."
Dude, Where's My Country? begins with a little back story on the release of Stupid White Men, which contains more than a few laughs. But then it's down to business, and the humor takes a backseat to outing the "Thief in Chief" as a corporate criminal with strong ties to the bin Laden family. I suspect he will go into greater detail of this in his next documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11," but it isn't hard to tell that Moore means, ironically, war. However, that isn't to say the book is a dry, political ranting. As the name suggests, Dude Where's My Country? packs plenty of laughs and humorous observation, including a dream in which Mike is 100 in a post-armageddon America, and tells his great-great granddaughter (who is named after someone very Un-Mooreish) how things got that way.
As I write this, Dude, Where's My Country? is number one on the amazon.com item ranking, which just goes to show that maybe Mike is onto something with his idea of a "liberal paradise." Maybe we're there, and just don't know it.
This is required reading for any fan of Moore, Moore's ideas, of student of poltics. Unfortunately, the people who really SHOULD read this book, probably won't.

Rating:
Summary: It's all becoming so clear...
Review: I'm not much of a reader, but I am a total cable news and political junkie. I've been extremely uncomfortable with the path our country has been on for the past 3 years. This book helps me understand and articulate why. It's very well organized, easy to read with some humor, bold statements are backed up with facts, booknotes and references; and finally, I realize I'm not in the minority of this country.

I read 70% within about 3-4 hours. I took a lot of notes and underlined many sections. Ironically, it has a chapter that's geared to helping you talk to your conservative brother in-law, which is funny because my new brother in-law and I got in a major argument over dinner 2 weeks ago. Now I'm ready for a rematch.

Please read!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, this will be a bestseller for weeks to come
Review: I believe to be quite an open person. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Michael Moore speaks load and clear. We need more voices like his. In response to the first couple reviews, the ignorance is present. You have judged a book by not even reading it's content. Your probably Racist also, since you have the ability of judging an object without knowing it first. Everyone should read this book. If you are Anti Michael Moore, well it only makes you stronger. If you are for Michael Moore, it makes us stronger. We need more great minds. Right now it seems the great minds are the ones that read. Referring to the past reviews. Knowledge is power. "We will prevail" as bush put it. Long live Michael Moore. Our day will come. No more Bush.

P.S. Sorry for my lack of writing skills, I went to public school.

Rating:
Summary: Impeach George W. Bush
Review: Michael Moore has shown the American people the true character of George W. Bush and his cabinet of billionaires. I never knew how close George W. Bush was to the Bin Laden family until I read this book and the various sources that are quoted within it. If you have not read this insightful documentary that rivals the Washington Post and the Watergate affair from the 1970's, then please do and pass it on to people who have the right to know the truth.

Rating:
Summary: 0 Yes ZERO Stars
Review: Michael Moore writes and produces to promote the views of Michael Moore, nothing else. That he can do so is tribute to the political climate and arena that he so often criticizes. His efforts do nothing more than line his wallet for the sake of opportunity. His efforts on the "literary" venue are biased, and a personal agenda. That this puffy, fat man of simple mind can try to influence the masses in such a Large fashion is totally...American.

Rating:
Summary: Dude, where's brain?
Review: This book was as intelligent as the movie with the like name. You would have to smoke a bowl of pot to think either one has any redeeming value. Don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Don't shoot the messenger...
Review: Michael Moore is a fearless man in a country where people are afraid of everything. He is one of the few public figures I can admire without embarrassment. I don't agree with everything he says in "Dude, Where's My Country," but most of his arguments are well supported by independant sources, grounded in logic, and well intentioned. He is a true patriot, because he believes in the potential of this country, rather than those who believe in false propaganda.

This book makes the case that the media has been alarmingly easy on GW Bush, and the Bush Administration has used 9/11 as an excuse to sell its conservative, paranoid agenda. With no solid evidence to link Sadaam Hussein to the September 11th terrorist attacks, Bush and his backers sent thousands of American troups into harm's way, and caused destruction to many innocent Iraqi lives. This is Moore's argument, and he has decent evidence to support it. And for presenting a well reasoned argument, he is attacked by people who aren't even willing to consider the evidence.

Of one thing I am certain: history will be kind to Moore and expose the Bush dynasty for what it is. I'm sorry I won't be around to see this well deserved vindication.

Rating:
Summary: well, his side lost: whatever, man
Review: I consider myself a liberal person, and I do like this book, but micheal moore is sinking himself and us to the level of Ann Coulter and others like her. We need to show that we are better than the idiots in power, and books like this simply do not do that. I am not saying we should be perfectly polite, but yammering back and forth about these things in an idiot fashion like this book does will not help anyone. I do like some of the ideas and consider it worthwhile to check out, but in the end the book serves no real positive purpose. Sorry, Micheal

Rating:
Summary: From, http://kachinacrowe.journalspace.com/?entryid=401
Review: I think I'm going to write a book. Because "Dude, Where's My Country" has proven that one can write absolutely anything, and someone will print it. I thought this book was terribly written. Michael Moore's amusingly vicious style does not translate to straight prose. The first chapter of Dude, Where's My Country is precisely like the first twenty minutes of Fahrenheit 9/11. For my money, I'd recommend seeing the film because it's funnier and more coherent. Moore's style is based on going off onto excessive, un-funny tangents to prove a `point.' At page 93, Moore conducts his rant about the seven minute pause when President Bush sat listening to a kindergarten class after being told that the country was under attack.


"Or maybe you were just thinking `I did not want this job in the first place! This was supposed to be Jeb's job; he was the chosen one! Why Me? Why me, Daddy?' Hey, we understand. And we don't blame you. You looked like a lost puppy who just wanted to go home. Suddenly, this was not the party you thought it would be, and you were no longer the CEO/president, you were now expected to be the Warrior/President..."

Michael, you've gone too far. It's not funny, it's not clever and it's not enlightening, so what's the point of that paragraph - the entire page, in all honesty?


The above line is a first person dialogue between me and the intended reading audience. It is an affective tool when used carefully. Michael Moore can't stop using it. Perhaps it is only in college that the difference between a conversational tone and asinine rambling is clearly delineated because Moore just can't seem to tell the difference. The opening of chapter two ("Home of the Whopper") illustrates this perfectly:

"I like Whoppers. Flame-broiled, juicy, chock-full of onions and lettuce and loads of secret ingredients. They're big, too; bigger than a Big Mac. You don't even need to say `biggie size it, please' because it's already so damn BIG. But I know Whoppers are bad for me, so I've given them up."

I know that this sets up the premise for the chapter; Moore will introduce various lies told by the Bush administration as `combo meals' (e.g. "#4 Whopper heavy on the Pickles and Onions: "Saddam Hussein is the world's most evil man!"). but come on. I don't want to hear about how much Michael Moore enjoys Whoppers, or why. Just like I didn't want to hear him making some lame comparison involving how much people dislike going to the dentist. It's hideously boring, pointless and stupid. Speaking of hideously pointless, boring and stupid, Moore's take on the Coalition of the Willing -

"Back to the `Willing': Azerbaijan (we're coming to get their oil next so they had no friggin' choice), Bulgaria (any time you've got Bulgaria on your side, how can you lose? Plus I got to write `Bulgaria' twice in the same book!)..."

I was taught very young, not to use parentheses, (or to use them sparingly at the very least). That it's better to start a new sentence (for continuity's sake), make an appositive (where commas set off an additional phrase), a dependant clause or even use a double dash (my favorite!) to set off short unrelated notes and sidebars. The above paragraph has made my stomach roll over - twice. This is the type of literary nonsense that Moore uses throughout the book, relying on font size, italicization and underlining to make his points come across. He even makes use the punctuation I loathe the most - the exclamation point! This book is filled with shining examples of "WHY MICHAEL?! WHY?!" like chapter three, Oil's Well That Ends Well a dream sequence and Jesus W. Christ where the Christian Lord and Savior interrupts Moore's soliloquy with his two cents. 1) Non-fiction editorial type books do not have dream sequences for a reason. They waste monumental amounts of time and are remarkably dense. 2) If Jesus Christ actually writes or thinks in a phrasing anywhere similar to that which appears in Dude, Where's My Country I'm converting to Judaism now.

In spite of his best efforts, Moore still managed to make a few good points. Although stylistically enfeebled, chapter five "How to Stop Terrorism? Stop Being Terrorists!" managed to make all the points that I've been making for the last five years. I felt that chapter ten, "How to Talk to Your Conservative Brother-in-Law" made some excellent points - particularly number six `Admit that the left has made mistakes.' I personally don't acknowledge everything he's listed as a mistake, but the concept is good nonetheless. This is one place where Moore's folksy style is charming and not cumbersome. Chapter 11, "Bush Removal and Other Spring Cleaning Chores" on the other hand should have been severely edited or scrapped from the book. Never mind the fact that reading it now was rubbing lemon juice into an open wound, chapter eleven again returned to the asinine and I can tell you exactly where it happened: Page 206, the third line from the bottom where Michael Moore suggests that Oprah run for president. This, is idiotic. He doesn't just suggest it he goes on about it for three pages. The whole chapter just gets stupider and stupider, careening down the wrong side of the bell curve, overshadowing the good points made about how to volunteer in the electoral process (run for precinct delegate, etc).

In summation, I've seen better writing from the Bathrobe Blogging set. If Michael Moore weren't an Oscar winning filmmaker, this book would not have gotten published because it is absolute dreck. Even I'm biased. I should give this book a two, two point five maybe, but because it's Michael Moore, and I like his politics, I'll give him a gentleman's three. That extra point comes at a cost though Michael - You make the movies, I'll write the books and ne'er the twain shall meet?

Rating:
Summary: A truthful, yet sometimes exaggerated book
Review: Michael's writing and film style, for me, works best when he tells the truth using facts without embellishment. In this book, when he wrote in the 1st person as Christ, I found it distracting to the rest of the book and somewhat childish. When he wrote of the amount of money the Saudis have invested in our country, my attention was locked in. Its kinda like when you look at him and see his oafish mannerism and physique--it makes me wonder why this guy can't get himself into better shape so he can initially be taken seriously.