Rating: 
Summary: Thanks, Al...
Review: If you want to read a frighteningly logical exposition of our current international troubles, try Noam Chomsky's 911. If you want (or need) to laugh while contemplating the mess the conservative right has made of our country, read this book. Franken's new book is great because it takes on the media-based twistoids who've been daily subverting our national psyche, and plainly calls them out for what they really are -- liars. This is a very funny book that addresses a very serious topic; the sytematic undermining of our basic priciples of liberty, decency and honesty by the greedy who control, and the scared and uneducated who support them. Thanks, Al for having the guts to say what needs to be said.
Rating: 
Summary: An Okay read
Review: If you want to read a funny book and be able to speak of its conents and sound smart, read this. To me, it's too partisan. I realize that's the point but it don't mean i gotta like it. In case you are wondering, I am a liberal. Oh yead, Franken has a sick fixation on Sean Hannity.
Rating: 
Summary: A Leftist Spin Doctors Fantasy
Review: If you were looking for a book that tells the "truth" about the lies of the right, well all I can say is this book isn't where you'll find them. So many distortions and spinning to make everything reported look plausible. A great book for the uneducated, mind numb robots on the left who believe anything written as long as it fits their agenda. The author was better and more believeable as Stuart Smally on SNL.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Begin the new "Al Franken Decade"!
Review: If you're a democrat, moderate, or a republican wondering about who hijacked your party and when, you should be interested in this book. What's happening within GOP circles reminds me of the 1940 movie "The Mortal Storm" (look it up on Amazon).. sane conservatives are cowed by the new breed of cruel, jealous, cynical and vengeful neo-cons. I live in Illinois, where republicans and democrats are neighbors and friends. But I can tell from conversations that republicans are horrified by the viciousness that's infected their party.The stories in Al Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" are often humorous. But they can become sad and frightening, especially the tale of how the neo-con spin machine soiled Paul Wellstone's memorial with an oft-repeated lie, and made regular folks believe it was something that it clearly wasn't. It's frightening how often "mainstream" TV news correspondents easily believe lies, once they've been repeated enough times. Franken sticks pins in lie after lie floated by the neo-con disinformation machine. Franken blows away Bill O'Reilly's claim that he was born and raised in working-class Levittown (he wasn't, O'Reilly's own mother says Bill was raised in an affluent suburb). And yet a recent "Parade" magazine, published AFTER the claim was debunked by Al, STILL repeated O'Reilly's Levittown story. It's not the only pile of neo-con bull-ploop that Al Franken sweeps away. The research is right on the money. It can all be backed up. There are plenty of laughs, not the least of which would be found in the tale of "Supply-Side Jesus". But there are serious parts, and this is serious.. this is our country being hijacked!
Rating: 
Summary: Who's the liar?
Review: If you're a liberal there's no doubt that you'll enjoy some aspect of this book. Just don't expect it live by it's tag line "A fair and balanced look at the right". Al Fraken is a very good political comedy writer. And taking the book on these terms it works very well. Things begin to get muddled when Al starts making serious allegations against such institutions as CNN, The New York Times and Time magazine. The picture he paints is a bleeak one. Essentially he is saying that we can't trust our newspapers, magazines, news broadcasts and especially our politicians when they are talking about politics because they are all lying to us. Maybe it's true, but the comical tone undercuts these intriguing ideas. Al knows his comedy weakens his stance and even plays into it. This tactic left me unsure of how to be consuming the book, comedy - or serous attack. Now that I've finished the book it's obvious Al Fraken wants it both ways. Sorry to say, it doesn't gel into a masterwork. Taken as a political comedy sketch though it's a laugh riot. Approach the book from that angle and all liberals (and maybe even some conservatives) will enjoy it. Hopefully some other less comical writer can tackle the seroius allegations Al Fraken makes.
Rating:
Summary: Get ready for Humor and (surprise!) Insight
Review: If you're a Liberal who fizzles with frustration at the mere mention of Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter; a Conservative who still thinks that the Bush administration is a bit out of control; or anyone else who wants a refreshing perspective on politics, you should read this book. Al Franken's overwhelming, laugh-out loud dissection of every leader of the modern American Right had me hooked from the first page. He says everything that I (as an admitted Liberal) have desperately wanted to say to Coulter, Hannity, Cheney, Ashcroft and Bush. What's more, he distinguishes himself from right-wing political pundits by being genuinely and happily funny (as opposed to the upsetting, bitter humor of books like Bernard Goldberg's "Bias"--also dissected) and surprisingly informative (thanks to a team of Harvard researchers who helped him out). This is no mere attack on the right--it is a careful, conscientious refutation, and manages to be both intelligent AND readable (I finished all 350 pages in a day and a half). Die-hard Conservatives will undoubtedly slam Franken for occasionally indulging in their own brand of more mean-spirited laugh-getting (he and Bill O'Reilly just don't get along), but the icing on "Lies"'s cake is Al's refreshing willingness to admit when he's gone too far--as when he reflects on the lessons learned after posing as the father of a prospective student to the infamous Bob Jones University. (Other great moments include an ironic "Supply-side Jesus" comic and a perfectly vindicating explanation of how Liberals really DO love America.) If there is any book in this politically charged time that will both reassure left-wingers and plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of a few of our more right-leaning friends, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" is it.
Rating: 
Summary: Eh... only entertaining.
Review: If you're a liberal, you'll love it. If you're a right wing conservative, you'll hate it. If you're a moderate, its only entertaining at best, no real insight and someone who is not bipartisan can see through this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Emperor Has No Clothes
Review: If you're an angry and frustrated liberal, you will love this book. But as a political independent who generally dislikes both pundits and politicans, I found Franken's book as mostly a large dose of liberal self indulgence without a great deal of substance beyond his genuinely funny humor and the self-serving plate of "evidence" he liberally serves to his hungry fans. Let's be realistic. Could Limbaugh not have found equally compelling evidence from the opposite perspective? And don't get me wrong: I'm not a defender nor an admirer of the strident likes of him nor his clones; but like the child who could see the emperor was naked, I can also see that Franken's message is guilty of the same sins as the right-wing "liars" he attacks. Moreover, he's preaching to the choir and likely not expanding its numbers. It's feel-good reading for an increasingly irrelevant political segment that clearly needs something -- anything -- to feel good about. Perhaps the book's most impressive attribute is its shrewd sales and marketing positioning in that the author found a void and filled it. Ironically, Barry Goldwater once said he'd rather be right than president and that seems to be the only conclusive point Franken makes. At what point is he -- or anyone -- going to write a substantive book that goes beyond the viperous humor and schoolyard whining and shows a liberal model that actually works? How about "Worker Productivity in France," "Italy 24/7," or "California: The State That Works."
Rating:
Summary: Frightening and funny
Review: If you're an honestly thinking person--whether liberal, conservative, or other in your politics--then you will appreciate this book. You may not *enjoy* it, however, if you are A) both conservative and thin-skinned, or B) non-conservative yet squeamish about confrontation. Being neither A nor B, I came away from the book simultaneously 1) amused, 2) angered, 3) vindicated, and 4) frightened. 1--Amused because, simply, it's funny. 2--Angered because the book reveals quite thoroughly and honestly (i.e. information is presented not only with adequate research, but *in context*) that the most radical right-wing leaders of the U.S. have done and are doing everything that they can--no matter how unscrupulous or vicious--to gather power to themselves at the expense of the welfare of the nation. 3--I felt vindicated because I have long thought that the right-wing leaders were doing precisely that, and finally here is a book that presents evidence to that effect that is simply unrefutable if one is intellectually honest. 4--And, finally, the book frightened me because it confirms that many of the leaders and mouthpieces of the right are *not* intellectually honest, and they *will* do whatever they can to gather power to themselves at the expense of the nation. If you're looking only to be amused, don't buy this book. If, however, you can stand a little discomfort with your entertainment, then do buy it. It's important.
Rating:
Summary: Al Franken's latest work is therapy for the progressive
Review: If you're at your wits end with right wing talk media and their incessant claims about the "liberal media" conspiracy then this is the book you've been waiting for! Does Al Franken ruthlessly make fun of his targets? Certainly. Does that make the book all the more gratifying to read? Oh yeah. Particulary enjoyable was Franken's complete dissection of Ann Coulter's misuse of footnotes/endnotes. He attacks his targets so flawlessly with facts and tongue in cheek insult that I'm very curious to see how right wing media chooses to respond to this book. By the way, to the following reviewers who gave the book 1 star out of 5 (Bill Shepherd, Hal R. McKee, Taymyr and about 20 more of you): your reviews were very poor and indicative of the sources of information you rely on. None of you give any examples of where the book's facts are incorrect or loaded. Like your icons Coulter, Hanity and Limbaugh, you cite how you think the book is worthless with no tangible evidence to support this opinion or simply blow condescending hot air and resort to petty insult and labeling. Just brushing books like this aside as liberal fiction isn't going to get it done anymore folks! Conservatives who haven't actually read the book, note how 10% or less of the readers found your reviews helpful. This book represents a line in the sand for progressives/liberals. Gentlemen, if your going to post a BOOK REVIEW on the internet then don't waste the reader's time with childish insults like "Victim Party," liberals being "wimpy" and "...running to Mommy," or how anything this left of center is a "journey into total fiction." Unless that is, you'd like to further embarrass your constituency and add fuel to Franken's arguments about the Right.
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