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Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

List Price: $34.95
Your Price: $23.07
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: VERY, VERY FUNNY--DESPITE A VERY SERIOUS TOPIC
Review: I thought LIARS would be a funny (but not a very serious topic).

I WAS WRONG...

LIARS is both hysterically funny AND a serious work!!! Only Al could combine these two together in his inimitable way

For those of you who have not read the book-- Enjoy. (And be sure not to skip the last chapters, which I think are the best!)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: uninteresting
Review: I thought that this book was purely out there to mock and debase sound conservative thought. I was unimpresed by its content and message

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Comedy or Slander - Limbaugh's middle name
Review: I thought the "Comedy or Slander" reviewer was writing about Rush Limbaugh - the review is perfect description of him and his "work." What can be more lunatic fringe than the extreme right wing few percent who have taken over the airwaves?

Franken's book is classic political satire. It's intelligent and well-written. And hilarious. I've been waiting for a very long time for someone to take on and expose these manipulative, deceptive con artists who seem to have taken over our country's media. And no, I'm not liberal. I'm just not an extremist and I'm concerned about the ways in which the population is being duped into following an extremist agenda that is designed simply to increase the wealth of about 2 percent of the population.

This is a great book. It's about time. Hope it's just the beginning.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Al, thanks to you and TeamFranken
Review: I thought the book was great. But enough about that. Al, could you do me a favor and call the folks at Google and find out why there news page features stories from obvious conservative "news" agencies like the Washington Dispatch. Pretty poor news reporting by Google if you ask me.

Oh and to those who have not read this book, read it. Also, see Bowling for Columbine which is probably the most important documentary since Cadillac Desert.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Reviewers lie too!
Review: I thought these reviews were supposed to be by people who have read the book. Yet I see a negative review claiming the book is almost entirely UNSOURCED when in fact there are 13 pages containing well over 100 detailed source notes, and another "reader" claims Al's research team is made up entirely of WHITE MALES when I can plainly see in their picture on page 368, THREE FEMALES(yes, unfortunately all white, but maybe that's the best Harvard had to offer).

So, from a political moderate who has actually read the book....

Al Franken's new book is funny, and at times it is insightful, illuminating and even vicious. One gets the feeling he has finally taken off the gloves and is ready to get in there and sling it with the best of them. At times he overstates his case. Like when he catches Bill O'Reilly lying about where he came from, being an independent, the whole Polk/Peabody thing, or catching Ann Coulter lying about her age. These kind of lies, while they may say say something about the individuals' personality, are not that important. The book might be better if he talked more about the really important lies, but it probably wouldn't be as funny. Don't get me wrong. He talks a lot about about the big lies, the statistics designed to deceive, the dirty campaign tricks, the dishonest reporting, etc.

Al claims the media does not have a liberal bias, and he makes a decent argument. I disagree with some of his conclusions, but I agree with his contention that news media (left, middle and right) suffer from many other biases that undercut their ability to do a good job of reporting. An example (NOT from Al) is the misleading coverage of Whitewater by The New York Times and Washington Post which, for two papers with a supposedly "liberal bias", sure did a lot of damage to Clinton.

In summary, the book is funny and worth reading. Even though it's target is the right wing media, the lessons are applicable to all. It should be of value to all news viewers to show them the many ways in which they are mislead and deceived, sometimes unintentionally. No one should take what they see and hear from these people at face value. The book does not have an index, so the targets will have to search for their mentions and might even be forced to read whole sections. Al has challenged them to find factual errors. I hope they try (and cite them if they do). They might learn something.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Researched, funny satire, much like The Daily Show
Review: I thought this book was extremely funny. Although a little more left wing than John Stewart tends to be, it's the same sort of humor that leaves you saying, "It's funny b/c it's true." And then you're left with a grimace as you it hits you some of these frightening things are true.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Important, irreverent, and irresistible
Review: I thought this was a remarkable book. Franken manages to confront the conservative base with energy that matches their constant harangue against the left, but an underlying essence of compassion comes through in every chapter (I thought especially in "I'm a Bad Liar," in "The Waitress and the Lawyer," and in his discussion of "TeamFranken"). I was a bit disappointed in his willingness to use physical deformities as the subject of a joke--e.g. In chapter 13: "particularly inept guests like the man with the lazy eye and the speech impediment who's come on The Factor to demand rights for child molesters," or chapter 23: "let's face it, you might be willing to alter wire service copy about a guy who has the power to force you to marry the gal in ad sales with a hump." (Admittedly, the first is somewhat arguable--he could say he was just trying to define which guest--but the second example is really hard for me to excuse in such an otherwise excellent book.) Nevertheless, it's an important book for the quality of the research, the warmth and humanity that comes through, and the brazen humor.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: LOTS OF BITTERNESS
Review: I too barely got through two chapters prior to having to take it to the local library. Which informed me that they really didnt want anymore. They already had five on the shelf by people who had "donated" them. Full of nothing balanced in my opinion but more venom than I experienced in any book. I am sure I will not buy any more Franken books.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Garbage from the LIBERAL (Socialist) left
Review: I took a look and read some of this book. I also so an interview that Franken did and I must say this book is garbage. It is nothing but a collection of liberal, humanistic, socialist, and Decratic party propaganda. I would like to caution people that if you buy this book remember this was written by one of the worst and least talented SNL comics. This man must be Michael Moores hero (another even worst liberal). As another reviewer says this is the liberal bible, so don't buy this lame excuse for a book and read instead the real Bible (it is the word of God). God Bless.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Franken formulates fantastic fodder for freedom-minded folks
Review: I tore through "Lies" in two days. Anything that pisses off Fox and Rupert Murdoch must be worth buying, I thought. And it was worth every penny! Franken deftly uses the Right's own rhetoric and lazy research methods against them.
He shows how the laziness of the so-called mainstream media slavishly mouths Republican Party press releases without bothering to check the facts or context of a "story".
Unlike conservative dogma, liberal views are very difficult to turn into sound bites that fit the current National Attention Span. Using humour is one way to get Brad six-pack to listen just a few seconds longer. I think Franken's book should be made into a series of music videos or comic books to further reach young white males who are currently hypnotized by Fox.
The beauty of "Lies" lies in the fact the lies will always keep coming, allowing for endless new editions. There is so much raw material to work with...
Buy this book, make your friends buy this book, put down the video game controller, and READ IT!


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