Rating: 
Summary: Good work, just a few weaknesses
Review: This is a very entertaining read. However there is a serious side to it, and this was best expressed by Mr Franken in the harrowing account of the negligence of the Bush administration in the run-up to 9/11. The picture that he builds is one of hijackers preparing their missions whilst the security services screamed warnings at the top of their lungs. The report that would have been read by the President recommending immediate action to combat terrorism worked slowly up the chain of command and eventually lay on his desk awaiting his return from the longest vacation of any President in 40 years. And then BOOM! That chapter alone was worth the price of the book.I will make one criticism though. Mr Franken does sometimes tend to lower himself to the same level as some of the people that he criticises. Personally, I'm happy enough to hear him call Anne Coulter a 'nutcase,' but in doing so he is only giving the right some more ammunition to throw back at him. Conservatives are fond of complaining about the dreaded liberals resorting to personal invective and claiming that it's a substitute for bankrupt political arguments. By all means satirise and hit the conservatives hard, but don't become one of them in the process. For the record I'm European and my views are slightly right of centre. In American terms that makes me a leftist commie nut. US politics are so far skewed to the right that more work like this is needed to give it a good shunt leftwards.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: This is a very funny book. A lot of people will enjoy it, but a lot of people (who write on-line reviews) will hate it without reading it. One thing that must be said for this book is "This is true. The facts are all verified and[unlike TREASON, Ann Coulter's exercise in literature of the absurd] the footnotes actually do what footnotes are supposed to do." The truth is a little complicated and a little uncomfortable, but it is true. Franken's book manages to be true and very funny, which is a wonderful thing to be.
Rating:
Summary: Great! Great! Great!
Review: This is a VERY good book. I love the way Al Franken uses humor to tell the truth. I also think it is great that Al is able to prove that the right-wing is full of liars. It is one thing to accuse someone of lying, but to be able to back it up and to have examples is a definite slap in the face to most of the right-wing conservatives. He brings up so many ideas that I would have never thought of. This book is very entertaining and hard to put down. Even if you are not a Democrat, you should read this book!! The proof is in the writing. Great Book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Smart, funny critique of right wing media
Review: This is a well-researched humorous, yet fairly direct and scathing rebuttal to the right wing media. Franken convincingly shows what many liberals suspected all along: The "liberal" media has many strong conservative factions, passing themselves off as either moderate or impartial. Franken never hesitates to expose distortions, information taken out of context, and poor research, which Franken more bluntly characterizes as lies. Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Fox News are targets for this expose', and Franken humorously, yet carefully documents why he claims they lie. Alan Colmes, the left-wing foil to Sean Hannity is even skewered for being too meek and timid. The book is laugh out loud funny in many places, but the material is complex enough to be mind expanding at the same time. It also makes a convincing case that the Clinton administration was far more effective and understanding in dealing with terrorists, while the Busch administration was dismantling the United States defenses against terrorism, until September 11th forced the Busch administration to backtrack. This was a surprising revelation to me, adding additional depth to Franken's critique of the right in general It loses a star for being about 100 pages too long. You should not feel bad about skipping a few of the chapters I didn't find to be funny or added little to the book. This is one of those books where one's opinion of it says more about the person giving the opinion than the book itself. So it should come as no surprise that I'm an unapologetic liberal. Liberals will love this book. Conservatives will probably hate it, but it should make them feel uncomfortable.
Rating:
Summary: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Review: This is a well-researched, blatantly biased piece of work that is nevertheless an excellent read. Al Franken is intelligent, funny, angry and extremely articulate, and these qualities are clear in the book. His allegations are well-documented, and, despite the humor, should be taken seriously.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for Mediaphiles
Review: This is a wonderful book for all who keep track of the media. Franken skillfully points out the fallacies of conservative sensationalists like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. If nothing else, this book really shows the need for a return to honest journalism and a departure from the sensationalism that has plagued our market because of FOX news.
Rating:
Summary: Hey Wolfowitz - right back at you, pal!
Review: This is a wonderful book. Buy one for yourself and then copies for your family and friends. I am. It moves quickly, in tight, entertaining, and fact heavy chapters (averaging about 8 or so pages each). It has a good sense of pace, includes everything from a description of the "O'Reilly incident" to an 11 page comic strip. And as far as I can tell the book, each joke, each jab, each peeling away of the layers of propaganda to get at lies, is fact checked from here to next Sunday. While I enjoy a good-humored comedy, I especially enjoy hard fact type books. But don't let that scare you off, it is very easy to read, fun and provocative (and it gets your blood pumping at lots of points - and not in the O'Reilly "Those Who Trespass" sense either). Basically, Franken takes a number of well known conservative commentators to task, pointing out their, well, lies in support of the Republicans, or rather, Bush and the Administration (at one point he mentions he likes McCain - and even backs THAT assertion up with an anecdote). Then he moves in on the Administration. Ann Coulter, Billy O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and other rather familiar faces get dissected. The same treatment is given to the White House, from the tax cuts, the military and various other policies that were presented to the public in ways that were, well, lies. Everything is meticulously footnoted and features a 19 page section of Endnotes (and not just to provide the punchline for an Ann Coulter joke on page 12). In chapter 22, I Grow Discouraged About the Tone, Franken presents Karl Rove as a rather disagreeable, foul mouthed fellow (in fact, many direct quotes from Administration big wigs feature four letter words) and the White House staff as have a "lack of even basic policy knowledge, and the only casual interest in knowing more..." Now, that quote is not an opinion from Franken, but his quote of a source, John DiIulio, one time head of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In the endnotes section, chapter 22 has seven instances of 'notes and sources' including the fact the full text of DiIulio's memo was obtained from the Drudge Report. The jokes aren't only funny, the lies exposed aren't only outrageous, but they are also well documented. Nothing is going to come back to bite Franken when he calls someone out. The pacing is very good, starting out on a silly note, sliding into some hard and funny exposure, but then, somewhat surprisingly, moving into some serious territory. The Wellstone Memorial is bitingly portrayed, frankly confirming my feeling at the time - it was a wonderful service that featured a few seconds of questionable politicking by people who were as motivated by their grief as much as anything else. This chapter alone is worth the book (especially if you don't really like humor too much - just get it because of this). The twists the conservative media put on it, to make it appear as the now understood "Maoist reeducation camp", are fully exposed. It moves into some more sillyness, including the comic book section, and ends on a chuckle, sort of kidding on the square (read the book to figure that one out). There are a couple of slow spots later in the book, and I really wanted a different end to the "Operation Chickenhawk" episode. But, over all, this is a great work. Everyone, even Republicans concerned about the direction our nation is going (and have thick skins) needs to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Stepford Democrats will love it!
Review: This is a wonderful Christmas gift for hyphenated Americans because it illustrates the difference between Republicans and Democrats. The poor liberals can't bear to read an offending sentence, so Al Franken willingly gives them an anti-conservative diatribe to make them feel good about themselves, a refreshing pause in their self-loathing and Bush-hating. Poor Al can't even get the title right. A "lying liar" is actually a truthteller. Think about it. But yeah, I enjoyed the self-delusional tone of the book. Al is mad because most people saw the Wellstone memorial for what is was: a disgrace and an embarrassment for Democratic politicians. It's obvious why Franken was so thorough with his footnotes this time. He had to be - DUH - this is a serious work (wink wink nudge nudge). But the author can barely contain his hatred in his writing; it's a trivial work.
Rating:
Summary: Lies, begone!
Review: This is a wonderfully well-written, incisive and entertaining book. You will note that, overall, negative reviews of Lies consist primarily of rants about the so-called liberal media and show no evidence of actually having read the book. Reviews from those who have actually read it seem to be positive most of the time. As a comedian, Franken's book is not the same as, say, Conason or Krugman, but it is entertaining (you would expect that from a comedian) and is remarkably effective in exposing the most popular right-wing pundits as, well, blatant liars. In the interests of full disclosure, I am a liberal, but Franken's case is based upon a careful analysis of said right-wing pundits, and deductions from that analysis using logic (something missing in most right-wing books), with a liberal dose of humor and satire (pun intended). If you've read the book and disagree, that's your prerogative, but I'd like to see anyone who dislikes Lies explain (based on the book itself, rather than a knee-jerk reaction to the "liberal media") why not. It's also a great reference, if one is the sole liberal in a sea of conservatives, for easily accessible and clear refutations to the misinformed positions one often hears. Lies receives my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: It's Not Funny - It Is A Frightening Tale of Curruption
Review: This is actually not a very funny book at all. Yes, Franken makes jokes when possible but as comedic relief.
The book is a thoroughly researched dissertation of a corrupted media advancing the questionable agenda of the radical right wing element represented by the Bush administration.
This book chronicles the outright lying of the right wing "journalists" and highlights their doublespeak when it isn't actually a technical lie. Also well documented is the Bush/Rove administration's flagrant hypocrisy. It is shown that they will do anything to get in and stay in power. This includes dirty tricks, outright lies, doublespeak, and misinformation. These tactics are all undertaken while wearing the smile, white hat, and slick speak of snakeoil salesmen pushing a toxic brew to those who would love for it to be true. Unfortunately those who are swallowing their lies in hopes of it being true are also those least willing to accept straight facts pointing out the deceptions. They don't realize that it is they who are being most used because they only true Bush agenda isn't even a true ultra-conservative agenda. It is just that those ultra-conservatives are most likely to accept that Bush's policies are in furtherance of that agenda. They will realize they are being duped when someday they put together that Bush's only agenda is keeping the rich rich and staying in power to do that. The Medicare bill is a great example. An anathema to the right, this bill's true effect is to further enrich the pharmaceutical industry and its fatcats. This book is a must read for all who want to see the playbook of this administration and to be enlightened to the way in which their media lapdogs at FOX further those aims.
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