Rating: 
Summary: The timing alone makes me laugh.
Review: Not since Ellis Weiner's "Decade of the Year" and Birnbach, Hodgman, Marx and Owen's "1,0002 Great Things About Getting Older" have I laughed this hard. Man, gimme a Kleenex.
Rating:
Summary: Cruel and malicious, pointless mockery! I am outraged!!
Review: As a person who suffers from a condition of unusually long nose hairs, I have been mortified by the sustained attack upon me and my condition from page one until the very end, which I haven't read yet (having fallen asleep for reasons unknown). I was given this book as a gift, a cruel, cruel gift. Mr Franken, do you realize the idea of transforming someone like me, with long unsightly nose hairs, into someone like you, with glasses and nice shirts, is not appealing!!! I would not vote for you!! Neither will my nose hairs!! And we are registered, too, Mr. Franken. This book is about running for the presidency, supposedly, though it is in fact about mocking victims of circumstance, and the victims of victims of circumstance. (For the record, I have not hurt many people with my nose hairs). That said, every word about Brokaw and Brinkley is laugh-out-loud wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the funniest books I've ever read
Review: Al Franken is a very very funny writer. On every page there is at least one joke that made me laugh out loud. (And if you don't read, there are hilarious pictures). This is a great gift for anyone who likes political satire but doesn't want to resort to reading the newspaper for laughs.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This book is really hilarious. Once I had to stop reading it on the train because it was too embarrassing to laugh that much in public. I think it's both a political book masquerading as a humor book and a humor book masquerading as a political book. His open letter to the press instructing them not to speculate on whether or not he has had extramarital affairs is worth the price of admission. (And it has some great Chronic Fatigue Syndrome jokes, too).
Rating: 
Summary: The Literary Equivalent of Bubblegum
Review: Briefly enjoyable, but with no nutritional value. Al Franken has the art of the formulaic joke down pat, but even with the big type and widely spaced lines, the book seems a little tired after 150 pages or so. I'll admit that parts of it are sheer genius, yes: the mock Newsweek story hits the nail right between the eyes, as it were. The way it's organized makes no sense at all: The book lingers on the months before the primaries start for 200 pages and then zips through the heart of the primary season, the party conferences, the fall campaign and the november 2000 elections in SEVEN skimpy pages. What's up with that? I bought it because I heard an interview Franken did on NPR where he read from the book, and it was much funnier to hear his delivery than to read the words on the page. With that in mind I'd recommend considering the Book-on-Tape version.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: Franken's Book is possibly the funniest book I have ever read. I feel though that many readers will not get a lot of the humor. In today's impeachment climate the book is a Godsend. I imagine that ten years from now, when historians judge the impeachment of President Clinton as a mistake and the most partisan action in history, this book will be referenced as needed humor
Rating:
Summary: Franken rules
Review: Al Franken is hilarious -- one of our generation's top satirists. I haven't read his new book yet but I'd recommend that you do like me, and get it soon.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely funny, irreverant and somehow sadly true
Review: In reply to the first review of this book. Question: Did you read this book? It does not denigrate "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", the book does not claim the President Al Franken's problems were caused by CFS. That was a proposed "excuse" spun by the alleged president's handlers to cover up his clinical depression exacerbated by his manic debauchery. The real book, which I urge people to read, is about how a totally amoral, self-centered and woefully unqualified individual can decide to become president "for the money" and then be used by political insiders and special interests to further their own agendas. The portrayal of real life "political celebrities" such as Dick Morris, Fred Luntz and Bob Woodward is hilarious. The idea that an entire political campaign could be based on just one issue "ATM fees are too high" is brilliant. This is a funny, funny book that will be enjoyed by anyone interested in what passes for political discourse today.
Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot"
Review: This book is probably a useful primer for the upcoming campaign season. It could help people better recognize ways that candidates distract voters with triviality. It's readable.
Rating:
Summary: Walking through wet sand...
Review: I really enjoyed the book for the first 100 pages. They seemed a foray into refreshingly funny political satire. After Candidate Al takes to the road in Iowa, I found myself reading the same "jokes" over and over again. Kind of like a Saturday Night Live skit that's run into its third season: tried, true, but not really that funny anymore. Worth the read...when it's out on paperback.
|
