Rating: 
Summary: Tolerable criticism
Review: Ben Shapiro made me laugh and think - and for that I am most grateful.This book is so sarcastic and witty you have to read it just because it's such an intelligent and well-written book on dilettantes in academia. You'd hope having a college education might help you spell and understand the word dil·et·tante - but Ben Shaprio argues academics are far too busy skewing political conversations to actually teach students something new like new vocabulary. I can only tolerate reading politically slanted books if they're funny because to me it really doesn't matter whether the right or left wins so long as we're all landing in the middle. Be open minded and give it a read - you'll giggle. Giggles are good.
Rating:
Summary: Bucket of Water On the Wicked Witch of Liberal Academia
Review: There is an old radical bumper sticker which said "Question Authority". Ben applies it to academia... to its dismay and embarrassment. Ben successfully pierces the curtains hiding the monolithic liberal control of the university system... OK, he sets fire to the curtain, exposing the de-evolution of what was once classical and relatively balanced education to today's neo-nihilism obscured in academese--a jargon which renders thoughts incomprehensible to anyone off campus. Academese is no more indicative of clear thinking than is speaking with a French accent or the Queen's English. It just sounds fancy. But so can a member of Flat Earth Society sound fancy and "nuanced". Applying Occam's Razor, any real thinker, like Ben, would conclude that simplifying usually comes closer to the truth and Ben pares down ideas and facts to their core. I remember campus rallies at Columbia in the early 1980's about the US involvement in El Salvador. The rallies were far closer to a "US out of North America" theme. I lived across the hall from George Stephanopolous and knew Ted Rall. If one can't say that 98% of all campus activism is leftist (and most of the rest of campus believes in an amoral MTV-ism), one is incapable of stating or observing the truth. One legitimate concern is that there needs to be a clear separation between academics in the humanities and those in the hard sciences. The politics of the latter more closely approximate the politics of society at large. Moreso, devoted to reproducible outcomes, scientists are less likely to buy into the secularist religion that holds affirmative action, politically correct speech and hatred of Western Culture to be dogma. Some solutions for the infantile campus. 1) No PhDs should be offered to anyone who wasn't employed for 3 years in the private sector. 2) No tenure for anyone who hasn't worked at least 2 years in the private sector after gaining one's PhD. 3) Tenure demerit points for pontificating outside one's field of qualified expertise (Chomsky, Said, et al) or publishing more books on topics outside one's field than in one's field--accumulate points until one loses tenure and has to requalify as would any newcomer. 4) Affirmative action for conservatives in Liberal Arts departments, say, a minimum quota of at least 40% of the tenured faculty. One shouldn't be surprised at the gutless, unsubstantiated and anonymous (surprise!) attacks from the one-star reviewers. Look for reviews from people who are willing to stand behind what they write and sign their names to it, ignore the rest. Accountability is kryptonite to liberals. The only solution is to buy the book and read it for yourself. If it raises uncomfortable feelings... debate the facts, not the person. Ann Coulter, Michael Barone, Michelle Malkin, David Horowitz, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Larry Elder, Ward Connerly and Jeff Jacoby provide SOME of the glowing reviews of Brainwashed. My suspicion is that after reading it for yourself and not merely accepting the baseless ad hominem attacks of others, you will begin to follow the career of this up-and-comer.
Rating: 
Summary: 2 or 4 stars.
Review: It is disappointing that a number of perfectly good reviews have been given poor ratings for reasons of partisan disagreement. Grow up, people. Be fair.
Perhaps the most appropriate thing to say about "Brainwashed" is this: This is Ben Shapiro at his finest. If you are familiar with Shapiro's writings and have been impressed, certainly pick up this book. If you are familiar with his writings and have not been impressed, stay far away.
To risk partisan backlash, I would like to add a few complaints that I have against Shapiro's arguments. Essentially, he writes that academia has become a sort of breeding grounds for leftist education and thought. Political correctness pervades. The professors are frequently biased, to the left, and many of them pressure their students into accepting the leftist ideology. Given the widespread profusion of leftist professors and students - the political correctness, the persistence of the leftist agenda on campuses, the bias of professors - entering students are basically brainwashed into accepting the tenets of the left.
I think Shapiro neglects to consider three things: political un-affiliation; the idealism that is typical of youth; and the very structure and nature of education that tends to make professors partisan, and quite foreseeably, to the left.
Beginning with the first: It is hardly accurate to describe universities as essentially breeding grounds for leftist thought and practice. Walk on to nearly any campus in the USA, speak to the students, and you shall find that the largest percentage are politically unaffiliated. Many are disillusioned with political affairs. The ambivalent center is more pervasive than the brainwashed left. However, in fairness, those from the left are much more vociferous.
The audibility of the left, if one will, is probably greater than the audibility of the right on college campuses. But I think this reflects, more than anything, the idealism of the youth that get attracted to politics. The left defines itself in terms of issues (human rights, the environment, etc). The right tends to define itself more in terms of values (the church, smaller government, etc). I'll make two postulations: the first is that the youth are typically more idealistic than the old; the second is that college-aged youth are still looking for ways to define themselves in the world that is around them. What happens is that some college-aged kids try to define themselves in politics and political affairs. Because of the idealism of the youth, a larger portion of them are naturally attracted to the left. There is no conspiracy. There is no brainwashing. And finally, because more youth tend naturally towards the left - and because, after all, it would be awkward to hold a street demonstration in favor of greater values in America - the left is generally more vociferous.
The last thing that I think Shapiro (and political commentators in general) neglect is that academia, an sich, is a politically charged field. To see this, consider a hypothetical situation involving two newly minted PhDs. Say the first is not terribly partisan; say the second is. The second PhD could foreseeably have a hard time getting a job in "the outside world." This would especially be true if he had any leftist anti-establishment credentials or beliefs. The first, not being too partisan, could get a job wherever she pleases. However, unless one is among the cream of the crop, academia doesn't pay as well as the outside world. In effect, academics are not paid as well because, indeed, they are frequently partisan. In a sense, Academia attracts partisan individuals because it allows them to get away with what they might not get away with on the outside world (note that this can be a good and a bad thing). Whether or not such a situation should cease is left for someone else to determine. Either way, Shapiro does not explicitly comment on this, or the other two issues that I mentioned. Given the axiomatic nature of Shapiro's argument, and his failure to address anything new, I have to say that "Brainwashed" is mediocre. It is a treatise, of sorts, that will be revered and accepted only by those who already wanted to believe what was written inside of it.
Rating:
Summary: at least ONE smart arthor
Review: went to college at 16 for a reason this guy went to school for more than just lunch glad to see the liberals didnt get em
Rating: 
Summary: Amen Ben Shapiro!!!
Review: I have been a fan of Ben Shapiro's columns for a long time now and have witnessed personally the outright contempt of left-wing professors for conservative students, especially in the fields of history and political science. That said, I'm wondering why most of the reviewers giving negative opinions are unable to so much as spell properly or use correct grammar. Obviously they've been too busy badmouthing their country and conservatism to even learn basic language skills. Could this be evidence of inflated high school grades and/or SAT exam scores?
Rating:
Summary: Arrogant Ivory Tower Leftists
Review: Bravo Mr. Shapiro. Radical leftist professors love to cram their politics down student's throats. And they've ruined the curriculum with their ideologies (the humanities are a sick joke now). Don't believe anything your professor tells you--he or she crawled into academia to escape reality and make a living from speaking and writing utter nonsense.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't write worth crap at The Bruin, & you still can't
Review: This author: I've been forced to read his worthless garb for about four years now, and he's still going. Don't fund this 20-year-old's inevitable wealth via falsehoods and naivety. If you must read it, just check it out at the library. And points are awarded for tearing out his UCLA-laden comments. Shame on you little boy.
Rating:
Summary: Let Reason Reign
Review: The reason it is called HIGHER EDUCATION is because it LIFTS us OUT of stupidity..... this book will appeal to the type of people who thought the world was flat (and still do!). Let Reason Reign - rise above the propoganda presented in "Brainwashed", and don't become the persecuted as was the case with Chinese academics. - Eleni Otto
Rating:
Summary: Exposes the blatant liberal bias in higer education
Review: Twenty year-old Ben Shapiro exposes the dirty secret about higher education... There is a concerted effort to indoctrinate students with a liberal world view. I experienced this when I attended college 10 years ago, and this book demonstrates that it is even more true now. Shapiro's book is a must read for those who desire to grasp the scope of liberal bias in our halls of higher learning.
Rating:
Summary: Brainwashed
Review: Ben Shapiro a college student already on his way to success, what he has to say I'm sure has some real merit in a large amount of colleges but not all. You have to give this young man credit for speaking out on what he's gone through and heard while attending his classes. You do have to wonder just how much really does go on. My hat goes off to you Ben not only for speaking out but making money at the same time. Larry Hobson- Author- "
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