Rating: 
Summary: Over-the-top cynicism that doesn't age well
Review: I bought the book because of the brief "based on" mention at the end of Wag the Dog. Upon opening the book I realized that it was a different story that only shared one conceptual element: the idea of bringing in Hollywood talent to run a war. So far, so good. The book starts well with a brilliant opening chapter with James A. Baker, III at the deathbed of Lee Atwater. There are other great moments in the book as well, such as when the war's director goes to a ball game. In general, though, the book fails on two grounds. First, for apparently litigational reasons, Beinhart fills the pages with extensive footnotes clarifying over and over, what characters are real, what are fictional, and that as a work of fiction he doesn't really mean to argue that the real characters did anything he suggests in the book. There are also way too many pace-stopping data dumps (generally in footnotes). Yes, we know you did a lot of research on Hollywood and the Gulf War for your book. You don't need to cram all of your notes into the book somewhere. In the end, however, I turned against the book because its cynical core overwhelmed the characters and the story. Much of the book is enjoyably playful, biting, and cynically funny (though the footnotes break the pace something awful). Prospective readers should be aware, however, that toward the end the book turns savagely nihlist. For the first time ever, when I closed it I threw a book across the room (which is another reason to get the paperback edition, if one must!) and the next day sold it off to a second hand bookstore.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, I guess.
Review: I enjoyed reading this story but I was not drawn in to, really. The thoughts and ideas seemed to scatted in many chapters.Still, a good read, one that will make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: I Liked the Outrageous Humor
Review: I find outrageous humor in so much that is nonfiction that this novel with great footnotes helped to remind me how much I like footnotes in the other books, particularly in history, which have to find a way to deal with all the information that no one could possibly agree with. This novel is much longer than I would like, because when I think of a line that I would like to find to make sure that I am remembering it right, I have a terrible time finding it now. Putting in a favorite joke or two here might spoil it for those who haven't had the pleasure of reading this yet. As far as I am concerned, I liked all the jokes.
Rating: 
Summary: Two books in one - one good, the other VERY bad
Review: I liked the plot but disliked the horrible pulp PI story, with big breasted girls and macho guy. Despite what the author affirms, Joe is a RAMBO character. The conspiration plot was wonderfull, and I'm starting to think that the movie Wag the Dog took the best part of the book
Rating: 
Summary: Fact or Fiction?
Review: I love a good conspiracy theory and this is one of the best. This was a very interesting novel. The thought had never crossed my mind that the Persian Gulf War was a false war. This opened my mind to the realization that a fake war could be a reality. Although the book begins with the disclaimer,
This is a work of fiction. Many public figures appear in the text. Their speech and actions as depicted here are figments of the author's imagination except where supported by the public record.
, it appeared that the Larry Beinhart knew what he was talking about, that or he has a really great imagination. I really liked the book because it was about the side of politics that no one ever really sees. The dirty, no holds bar, the ends justify the means, kind of stuff. A life of politics takes a lot of strength and courage. The two timelines that Beinhart used made the story flow better and gave a more "common person" side to it. Overall, I felt it was a great book and I'm off to find the movie version.
Rating:
Summary: American Hero is a fictional (or non-fictional) masterpiece!
Review: I read Larry Beinhart's "American Hero" after seeing the Oscars. Wag the Dog looked like such a good and interesting movie, but my mom wouldn't allow me to go (I'm 14). I asked her if I could buy the book and read it, so she agreed, and I read it. It was the best book I have EVER read! I enjoyed the spine-tingling mystery and the suspense which kept me reading way past midnight most nights!! I also thought the way he tied himself into his own book was very clever. I know that the rating for books is up to 5 stars, but I think that "American Hero" deserves more...for creativity (or research)! You figure it out : did Pres. Bush really stage the Gulf War?
Rating:
Summary: Nobody gets it
Review: If the author intended to or not, this turned out to be a greatbook. Whilst the two intertwined plotlines were radically obvious, Ithink the involvement of the clichéd PI part only added to the extravagance of the situation, and the outlandishness of Bush and Baker's involvement in the Gulf...
Rating: 
Summary: A Tale of Two Books
Review: Larry Beinhart's AMERICAN HERO is really two novels; a trenchant political satire and a by-the-numbers PI story. The story of Joe Broz and his Hollywood paramour was stricken with the same situations, relationships, developements and cliches (even a Kung Fu showdown, fer cryin' out loud) as a zillion other Private Detective novels. Nuff said. The other part of AMERICAN HERO, the shimmering Verasalles palace of the the book, is the tale of Lee Atwater's fevered public relations pitch, it's acceptance by George Herbert Walker Bush, and it's conception in the hands of Hollywood heavyhitter John Lincoln Beagle. In these chapters, Beinhart shines: exposing the stunning gullibility, mindless jingoism and political apathy of the American people. One wonders why he stopped short of describing the war itself, but since it is such a recent memory, the readers themselves can think back with embarrassment at how heartily we embraced that highly dubious military foray, with yellow ribbons, ticker tape parades, and a nintey percent approval rating for ole George Herbert Walker. Beinhart lets the chill run down our spines as we close the book and realize for ourselves that Atwater was right. We're a nation of suckers, tacitly complicent in our own duping. (LOVED THE FOOTNOTES!)
Rating:
Summary: The beauty of irony
Review: The book is merely average but worth reading for the historical dimension it unintentionally provides. Originally written as fiction about Bush, it actually became reality for Clinton. The similarities are so striking that one wonders if Clinton's PR people swiped the plot for their strategy like silverware from the White House. The thinking is banal but it still works on the simple minded: continually accuse your opponent of every wrong that you are committing.
Rating:
Summary: An important novel by an under-rated writer
Review: There's something about _American Hero_ that pulls at the edges of the reader's mind: you will not turn a page without pausing to think, "Could this really happen? DID this really happen?" I'm a veteran of the Gulf War. I was there. I KNOW what I saw. And yet... _American Hero_ is putatively the novel on which the hit film "Wag the Dog" is based. A president intent on reelection, a film producer confronted with the biggest project ever, a war made for the screen. But however much Beinhart's opus depends on the world of film, that paradigm doesn't have enough dimension to capture the essence of _American Hero_ in return. You NEED to read this. The book is complex, heavily footnoted, and written in such a manner as to prove itself fact or fiction, whichever you prefer to believe. Chances are, you won't KNOW what to believe by time you read the final summation. Beinhart, whose other work (_You Get What You Pay For_, _Foreign Exchange_ and _No One Rides For Free_, as well as the non-fiction _How to Write a Mystery_) hasn't achieved the popularity it deserves, has delivered a masterpiece.
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