Rating: 
Summary: A rather disappointing, one-sided polemic.
Review: This book is very uneven. The author has his own very strong political agenda and, while he does a good job of debunking those irrational fears that impede his agenda, he shamelessly engages in the same kind of fearmongering to promote his own views. This is most noticeable in his discussions of gun control, where his own paranoid fear of guns and gun owners is clearly evident.On the other hand, the book does an excellent job of exposing the irrational hysteria that underlies the War on [some] Drugs, Satanic child abuse allegations, Road Rage, Crack Babies, and similar modern day witch-hunts. The problem with this book is neatly summarized in the subtitle: (Why Americans are Afraid of the "Wrong" Things.) "Right" and "wrong" in this context are highly subjective moral and political judgements. The author doesn't really want us to give up irrational fears entirely; he wants to ensure that we are afraid of the same things that he is afraid of: Guns, Conservatives, Country music, Heartless corporations, Unemployment, Income inequality, etc. And he wants us to stop being afraid of the things that he supports: Political correctness, Hillary-care, Income redistribution, and a strong collectivist government with enough power to "...feed, house, educate, insure, and disarm ..." the entire population.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Wonderfully-Written
Review: This is a wonderful expose of the profiteers of fear in our society
Rating:
Summary: It explains so much so cleary.
Review: I instinctively knew that what was being described night after night on the TV news and week after week in the news journals couldn't be as bad as they were making it. Turns out it isn't. The axiom, "figures don't lie, but liers do figure" also turns out to be true. My personal congratulations and thanks to Professor Glassner for taking the time to dig up the facts surrounding the real story.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, very impressive.
Review: Glassner has an uncanny ability to make a person see things in a different way. I suppose that people with closed-minds, be they lefties or rightwingers, won't like this book, because it challenges many of the assumptions that ideologues on both sides of the political spectrum hold dear to their hearts. But for someone like me, who is tired of being fed lies from both sides, and from scare manufacturing reporters also, The Culture of Fear is a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrible disappointment
Review: The book is not at all what it pretends to be. A more appropriate title would be " My political agenda that will eliminate all your fears." Glassner has set up nine "straw men" and used them to promote his personal poliltical agenda. His agenda describes his own fears, some of which also seem to be irrational. He picks and chooses unique examples of statistics out of context to justify his own prejudices. Into each chapter on each fear (nine) he manages to weave his beliefs that you should be more afraid of Republicans, criminal laws, smoking, drinking and religion than the fear he is attacking. He also says we can counter all of these irrational fears with more gun laws, feminism, diversity and political correctness.
Rating:
Summary: great jury reading
Review: Spent hours waiting for jury duty but the time went by so quickly while reading this important book. It really makes you question the way the media and politicians depict so many events and "facts" and the ways they distort them.
Rating:
Summary: A fun and challening read.
Review: I wish I had taken a sociology course from this man. I always thought that sociology and media studies sounded dull. Not this book. He is extremely convincing about which things we fear that we shouldn't, and he doesn't sugar-coat things, either, or blame one group (the media). Instead, Glassner talks about what we SHOULD be afraid of as well as what we should not, and he explains how all kinds of special interest groups and people selling products are behind what he calls the culture of fear. Amazingly, he has a wonderful sense of humor, too.
Rating:
Summary: I recommend this book to everyone.
Review: I cannot recall a book that had greater breadth and as much information and was also so entertaining. To be an infomred citizen in our crazy country, everyone needs to read this book and give over their misplaced fears.
Rating:
Summary: A very important book.
Review: This book demolishes so many myths that candidates and the media feed us. I loved it and I learned a lot. It also helped me get over my fear of flying.
Rating:
Summary: Smart book, important thesis
Review: Those who enjoy tabloid television or even the nightly news should read this book, which explains how the media are complicit in exploiting our fears for profit. Glassner is on the mark with his explanations of what we _shouldn't_ fear and of what we _should_ fear.
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