Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing, but don't open the champagne just yet
Review: Ahah, another book that's likely to raise heckles and cause much gnashing and wailing of teeth!Ok, on with the review, dear reader. Glasser has, with a fair amount of success, debunked many misconceptions that are regularly force-fed to us via various media channels. Whilst his own conclusions don't always follow "fairness in journalism", it's important to remember the nature and context of the content, to begin with. In particular, I found the chapters relating to child kidnapping, and teen suicide, both enlightening (in terms of factual evidence offered - I had no problem actually tracking down the references and checking myself), and frightening (in terms of what the media WOULD have us believe instead of facts). Glassner also covered the breast implant scare very thoroughly. Again, I was able to source some (but not all) of the reference material myself, and confirm the reality of the situation, in it's own context. Because I'm at a distinct advantage having worked on both sides of the drug and clinical trial industry, I found myself being particularly judgemental on the material covering this topic, but Glassner did a very good job in showing how even government agencies (the FDA) can have their hands forced by anecdotal and media-invented "proof", where clinical evidence was largely ignored. In other chapters, the pervading message that "It's the guns, stupid", whilst well-intended, often misses the mark - as we know, there's a large (if not the majority) number of would-be criminals who would use a knife or other weapon if guns weren't available. The tool doth not the crime maketh. The bottom line is, we ARE living in an age when the media can and will use it's force to breed and support stories and misleading statistics, which sadly often take anecdotal stories and portray such as "truth", when the truth is often quite, quite different. I gave the book four stars - it's really somewhere between 3 and 4, but there's no "half star" counts. So, four it had to be. Absorb it, use your own common sense and resources, and above all...don't believe everything you see on TV.
Rating: 
Summary: Be careful of oversimplification
Review: The problem with this book is it does exactly what it criticizes. It over-simplifies things. Alot of things it narrows down to a single problem, like guns. Without guns kids wouldn't have the means to do mass shootings. But I think the more important issue here is Why di kids want to create mass mayhem in the first place and what can we do for them that would make them not want to create mass mayhem. Better gun control is fine, and it may help. But if something psychologically is wrong with them, getting rid of guns is not helping them out. They'll just find other means of enacting their revenge on the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: Great book! Exceptionally eye opening text to be read.
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Summary: The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is....Nothing Really
Review: Are we a nation of fearful people? Is this a nation of anxious people? Furtive? I believe many people are anxious. Glassner points out the many "fear" alerts that we are inundated everyday with: local T.V. news, news-magazines, Journal of American Medical Association findings, advertising (there's a cure for every terrible thing--if you *buy* it), terror alert warnings, local T.V. and newspaper reports on heinous crimes--which are a rarity. Violent crime by youth is down considerabley in recent years, yet the news coverage of youth violence is up 600% It's a fact that getting hit by lightening is more likely to occur. News producers and broad-casters like shock value and surprising stories. (Don't touch that dial!) Scenes of flashing red and blue lights, and yellow crime scene tape. awe-struck bystanders crooning for a peak. Interviews from shaken witnesses followed up by a person who lives nearby, who says "I never thought this could happen here." Hide in your homes, lock your door, buy a guard dog, carry pepper spray, whistle, and stun gun--don't forget the cell phone--I know a lot of people who bought a cell phone for "safety." In a community with extremely minimal crime. Child abduction is a terrible thing perpetrated by bad people. But with 20,000 homicides per year in the U.S. why does the media jump on one particular case in Missouri, Ohio, or Oregon for that matter?
And then relentlessly tortures us with its' boring redundancy as it develops? Will this one crime affect my community 1000, 2000, or 3000 miles away? Do I care about this crime? Of course not. But this "bad thing" bomabards us on a daily basis via T.V., radio, Internet, and on the first pages of our newspapers. The one thing I didn't agree with or understand was Glassner's belief that guns and guns alone cause crime. I've never heard of a gun picking itself up, loading itself, and firing itself on it's own. People commit crimes. Accidents are caused by irresponsible people, as well as irresponsible gun owners who don't lock up their guns. He also states that poverty causes crime. That's old news--and an old cliché. Motivation, and a respect for education can reduce crime--if these "poor" people decide to do something for themselves. Stop having babies, partying, and start reading books. Those in poverty have often (but not always) made many bad *choices* and done poorly *chosen* actions to get where they are. If someone is in poverty in America, they've really got problems. Thanks to Glassner who appeared on "Bowling for Columbine" (which I haven't seen) some won't focus on the latest finding that caffeine will kill us, all strangers are dangerous, the economy will crash, an Earthquake will get us, kissing take years off of our lives, and riding in airplanes are dangerous. His correct take and truthful voice, supported by research, is few among many, unfortunately. But Glassner's insightfs can lead some to see things from a different and more positive perspective. The only thing we have to be annoyed with, is fear itself
Rating:
Summary: Excellent but ill-conceived
Review: This book is a most thorough and informative investigation of modern fears -- but I feel that it is a dis-service to Americans in this day and age to focus even more on the issue of fear; which is SOOOOO destructive and counterproductive. I much prefer the work of authors such as Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, and Clint Arthur, who focus on positive aspects of living instead of the negatives. In particular, Clint's "9 Free Secrets of New Sensual Power" is a superb example of how concentrating on positive influences can have a beneficial impact on life.
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Summary: insightful but possibly biased
Review: This is in many ways a very enlightening book. However, when Glassner begins to defend the pharmaceutical industry and the fairness of scientific journals, I had to make a doubletake and think a bit more about his conclusions. For example, Glassner tells the story of how a pharmaceutical company managed to delay the publication of certain inconvenient research results by 7 years. Glassner's conclusion about this? It shows that the scientific publication process WORKS! Really? How many 7 years does a scientist have in his whole working life? Sure, scientific journals remain our best (or least bad) source of latest scientific knowledge, but to claim that they are completely fair and objective in their review process is a different matter. At one point, Glassner ridicules a critic of the pharmaceutical industry by saying: does she ever take prescription drugs? Glassner's implication seems to be that since this lady takes prescription drugs, she shouldn't criticize the companies that invent and make them. Well, this is as unreasonable as saying that since Glassner watches TV and reads newspapers, he has no right to criticize the media.
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Summary: Breaking News!
Review: An excellent book that is just as relevant today(2/7/03) as any other time. Whether you agree with the author or not this book will cause you to be more skeptical today at the motives behind certain campaigns and news stories that try and portray themselves as unbiased. The media is just another business that needs bottom line results. In order to achieve these results they must sell ads and to sell adds they must attract viewers. To do so they capatilize on their knowledge of human psychology. Humans do not necessarily make rational decisions because we are driven often by our emotions. Emotion sells regardless of reality. Another extremely important point made in this book is the ability to skew numbers and statistics to support whatever agenda you may be promoting. a 100% increase is alarming right! But that 100% increase may be the result of 2 cases of some illness instead of one. As I sit here writing this review msnbc, cnn and other media outlets have had breaking news going across the bottom of their screen all day. Accompanied by dramatic music the news they are referring to was formally anounced over 8 hours ago and was available unofficially for several days now. The terrorist threat level has been raised and the media hopes to raise our emotions by reporting breaking news that is no more breaking than me telling you it will get dark tonight! Don't let certain people and institutions be the only one's that Understand human emotions, their limits and fallibility!
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Summary: This book changed my life
Review: After viewing Barry Glassner's impressive interview in Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" (I also recommend his book "Stupid White Men"), the next day I had to have "Culture of Fear." For years I tuned in to 24-hour news outlets. I was increasingly anxious and had a growing dislike for society. After reading and studying this book, I am much more aware of the print and other media's scare tactics. Each chapter dissects the headlines, separates the truth from fiction, and makes it plainly evident why we are afraid of the wrong things. I now feel a little better about our culture, and armed with this knowledge, I won't be so easily duped by the mainstream media anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Glassner proves again that he is America's best sociologist.
Review: Barry Glassner's appearance in Micheal Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" made this book a hot sell among fans of the film. Glassner's insight into the fear injected into all Americans through the media via distorted statistics and blatant overcoverage is outrageous. His discussion of everything from plane crashes to portrayls of blacks, from effects of abotion to aliens leaves the reader in awe. Though even more in awe at the book's conclusion as he makes predictions about what may be necessary to unite a country divided over fear.
Rating: 
Summary: decision is up to you
Review: Glassner makes the point that media and political leaders distort numbers to their advantage and create a great fear among the citizen than in actually neccessary. He bring out that media has a tendency to focus on a certain topic and concentrate while ignoring critical fact biasing informantion to their whim. However I personally found that his basic idea was common sense and could have proven his point in a shorter essay rather than a book of 210 pages. I began to skim the pages couples chapters into the book.
However you do gain considerable insight into the deceptive statistics that have scewed the concept the the dangers of society. for instance, the road rage fury in the past couple years. the road rages seemed to be a huge problem but they were actually rare incidences. however, the press seem to point every accident to road rage when it could actually be attributed to stress just a plain accident.
Also some of the material seems dated. The book was publish in 1999, so the research is from dates before these dates. he discusses the priest scandals as an extremely rare occurances but last years findings don't coincide with his dated research. don't hihgly recommend but not a total waste of time either. my guess is that he will be coming out with a revised or a newer edition some time later
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