Rating: 
Summary: Piece of garbage writes book.
Review: How could anyone reward this piece of garbage? I read a few pages of this trash - loaned to me of course - and I found it nothing more than an excuse to blame others, use racism, and drugs as the reason that this garbage did what he did. I'm a vegeterian so I would never call him an animal, so for me, a piece of excrement would be the most just description. Perhaps he should become a nanny for Jessie's illegitimate child?
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time and line Blair's pocketbook
Review: I am an avid reader (2-3 books a week), and also an open-minded reader. However, to anyone who is considering buying this book, my advice is simple: don't bother. For one thing, Blair is not a good storyteller. He doesn't stay on track. He would have a fairly decent story line going for about a page, and then would interrupt himself with 2 or 3 pages of chatter about nothing. I found myself looking up from the book thinking "What was THAT all about?" Secondly, the book is self-serving and irritating. Blair plays the race card, the substance-abuse card, the childhood sexual-abuse card, and the "I was wronged by the Times" card over and over again. Give me a break. Bottom line: the book was too whiny, self-serving, boring and poorly written to be worth the used-book price I paid.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book
Review: I didn't decide to pick up this book until it made it onto the New York Times bestseller list in early April. I figured that if its sales were able to reach No. 32 on the bestseller list, at least some people might find Blair's story interesting. I had read a positive review in the Amsterdam News, but I still was wary because of other more critical reviews. Just by standing up and agreeing to face the wolves and offering what is sincerely and apologize, I give Blair some credit, but what made this book strong was that he provided insight on the general problems that people in all sorts of areas -- law enforcement, government, corporations and journalism -- face.
Rating: 
Summary: A real page-turner
Review: I liked the book a lot. It was a page-turner and I find it simply courageous of Jayson Blair for NOT passing the buck. He takes full responsibility. I think many in the media are a bit misguided in their critiques that Jayson has not been contrite.
He has done an important service by forcing us to grapple with the affects that mental illness and substance abuse has on the African-American community (you know, folks are still in denial about this)
In terms of weaknesses--I would have liked to hear more about how he arrived at the Times. He talks about his career and it's trajectory upward, but I felt some details were missing about how you prepared yourself to make it to the Times.
Rating:
Summary: Pass me a drink!!!!
Review: I loved this book and simply could not put it down. I especially enjoyed Blairs description of the bar on Eighth Ave and Forty-fourth St., in NYC--Robert Emmett's. He talked about it so much in the book, that I plan to make a trip there in the next few weeks just see the place!! Good Job Jayson--stay strong and don't let the harsh remarks get to you. You made a mistake and now you are owning up to it and moving on...you do have your supporters out here my brotha'.
Rating:
Summary: A solid disappointment and further discredit to Blair's name
Review: I read Blair's book because I honestly wanted to read his side of the story and give him a second chance. After reading it, I now realize he didn't deserve this much of my consideration. "Burning Down My Master's House" is riddled with ad hominem attacks, self-serving soliloquy, and a disturbing lack of supportive referencing (which is essential due to the potency of his allegations and established lack of credibility) . Also missing was a proportional apology for breaking the trust of the world and the hearts of loyal NYT readers. Every page seems fueled in the interest of his own vindication - a now impossible task after the publication of this book, which should only deepen the recidivous Blair's ignominy. What a loss of a fine writing talent.
Rating:
Summary: Liberals will fear this book
Review: I saw Jayson Blair on The O'Reilly Factor and decided to give the book a chance. I was amazed at the tale. It was easy to read and had a lot of interesting moments about the business of journalism. What is book really does is expose the liberal lie that The New York Times is unbiased and infalable. And for that we all owe Mr. Blair. He has shown us the truth about The New York Times and I am not at all surprised that the reviewers in mainstream publications are circling the bandwagon around The New York Times. If this book becomes popular, the truth will come out. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING LOOK INSIDE NYTIMES
Review: I was at first skeptical, but after I finished Burning Down My Master's House, I became a total believer. Jayson Blair writes with great aptitude and his story is riveting!! I totally reccomend this book to everyone. What is especially great, if you follow the news, is all the controversy surrounding this book. Especially how threatened the NY TImes feels. Its almost comical and very predictable how there are panning it. But it's a great story, don't miss it!!
Rating:
Summary: If you must read it, borrow it from the library
Review: In America, convicted criminals are not legally allowed to profit from their crimes. I see no compelling reason why a serial liar like Jayson Blair should somehow be an exception to this rule. Folks, this country has a terrific network of public libraries that would be happy to lend you this book free of charge or, if it is checked out, reserve it in your name. In the meantime, you can read something more rewarding like "Fast Food Nation" or "The Da Vinci Code."But I digress. Let me tell you why reading this book should be a low priority. Jayson Blair simply is not a credible author. He weaves a few too many fantastic tales here as well as more than a few self-serving ones. The clearest and most credible information presented in the book merely serves to indict him further for being deeply ungrateful. He never seems to realize that he was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime chance by the New York Times - one which plenty of journalists I know would have given their arm for - one which he blew to high heaven. As to why he blew this so badly, he presents a multiplicity of uncompelling reasons. He attempts to claim that his behavior was far from atypical at the Times but only manages to cite the case of Rick Bragg, whose failure to credit a stringer came out a few weeks after Blair's own pattern was reported. Jayson Blair may be incapable of realizing this - and he certainly does not in his book - but few newspapers would have allowed him a future after Metro Editor Jon Landman's famous memo (to the effect that Blair needed to stop "writing for the Times. Right now." For whatever reason - and Blair doesn't shed any real light on it - the Times was determined to see no evil where he was concerned. Not only did it fail to act, but in the crucial subsequent year it gave him choice reporting roles in the Washington sniper case and domestic reporting on the Iraq War. This seems a lot less like the racism that Blair purports to have seen than a very ill-starred favoritism. Blair - again - can't recognize this. Where editor Gerald Boyd is concerned, and Boyd was most responsible for tabling Landman's memo and keeping Blair around the paper for that last crucial year, Blair can only manage to be scornful. Like Stephen Glass' own attempt at writing, Burning Down My Master's House is an embarrassing and sloppy mess of attempts at self-justification (including, as the book's title would indicate, a deeply confused effort to play the race card), half-baked vendettas against old colleagues, and claims that - in light of Blair's known career of deceit - simply aren't credible. If you must read it - if you derive some pleasure from Blair's pathetic tale of self-pity - I guarantee you this: you won't want to read it twice. Make it a library book - you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Startling Truths about The Times
Review: Journalism's bad-boy Jayson Blair delivers a knock-out punch against his former employer and reveals truths about the paper that bills itself as the "paper of record." Its no wonder the Times has done everything it can to suppress Blair's story. The sordid details of how the Times is run makes spell-binding reading and, while not excusing his own failings, Blair is contrite, honest and entertaining. It's too bad most of the mainstream media will ignore this book rather than question whether they should be letting the Times -- as shoddily operation as can be imagined -- set the tone for what the rest of the media cover. Great story, well-crafted book. I highly recommend it.
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