Rating: 
Summary: A little lacking in confrontation
Review: Bill O'Reilly's follow-up to "The O'Reilly Factor" is a collection of short essay-style pieces centered around those individuals who have stepped into O'Reilly's "no spin zone." I think the word "confrontation" in the title is a bit misleading as the "confrontations" -- bits of transcript from O'Reilly interviews with folks like James Carville, Dr. Laura, Dan Rather, and others, in the form of about a dozen short chapters -- are not particularly confrontational. Actually, reading the transcripts, the interviews come across as polite conversation on any number of social and political subjects. O'Reilly begins and ends each chapter with his commentary on the subject at hand. If you're just now discovering Bill O'Reilly, this book is not a terribly accurate substitute for his Fox show, "The O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly is doing a bit of spinning himself in this book, glossing over the fact that O'Reilly, on occasion, goes beyond confrontation with his "factor" guests, with Bill shouting at his guest, jabbing his finger at them, and causing a vein in his forehead to throb. O'Reilly paints himself in "The No Spin Zone" as a gruff, no-nonsense news analyst without the meaness that's frequently on display on his show. Here's hoping that if O'Reilly gets around to writing a sequel, we'll get to read about some real confrontation.
Rating: 
Summary: Snoozer
Review: Sorry Bill, I like your show but this book a real snoozer. Nothing really new here. Now -- on to a real entertaining book, Harry Potter.
Rating:
Summary: thin skinned song and dance - bordering on hyprocrisy.
Review: Is this guy's 15 minutes up yet? All I really needed to discern about this book and the author's true colors I heard in a recent exchange on his radio show. BR was going nuts, telling his listeners to write, email, phone a well known book retailer in the hopes of them taking some rapper's records off the shelf. When an intelligent caller said '...uh, Bill if you feel so strongly about this, why don't you tell that same retailer to quit selling your book on their site - after all do you want to be accociated with such a company?". O' Reilly went nuts and sanpped back : " THATS DIFFERENT AND YOU KNOW IT IS". End of dialogue, next caller. I'm right and you, Mr. Public, are an idiot. Its really worn thin from BR and all the talk radio self proclaimed experts on everything. Objectively criticze them and they go nuts screaming about liberal media elite blah, blah, blah. I'm no liberal and I'm sure no elite but I've come to the conclusion this act got tired long ago.
Rating: 
Summary: A review on The No Spin Zone
Review: This book was great. It was not hard to read but it gave me a great sense of polotics and what is happening by a respected individual. O'Reilly puts his own ideas with others and shares interviews from the show. I loved this book. Everyone should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: This is how it is
Review: Bill O'Reilly is (*gasp!*) a media figure who presents material in an unbiased fashion, and while he may seem overly opinionated, the man says it as it is. He attacks the liberals who try to fool the American people into believing their lies and following their master plan, which will ultimately lead to the destruction of ethics in humanity. From blasting Puff Daddy to digging up dirt on Jesse Jackson (one of the main people responsible for the continuation of racism), O'Reilly asks questions that Americans NEED to have answered. Now, I don't agree with Bill on everything; for example, he's too soft on abortion. You're either for it or against it... well, if you have a conscience, you're against it, but conscience doesn't exist in America anymore... anyway, there's no middle ground. This is great reading for anyone truly concerned with the fact that America is going down the toilet because of corrupt politicians, morons in the entertainment industry, and flat-out high-profile liars. Of course, liberals (I don't hate you for the way you feel, I just don't agree with you) probably won't like it. Fortunately, unlike Rush Limbaugh, who does more to hurt the conservative cause than to help it, O'Reilly has the ability to control his Irish temper and resist the urge to rip some folks a new one... although sometimes the temptation overwhelms him! But for the most part, I found this to be a very good depiction of why this very vocal "right-winger" feels America needs to reform. On a side note, I think it is worthy to mention that one of the most beautiful aspects of our freedom as Americans lies in our ability to voice opposing opinions and not be punished for it. You may not agree with Bill's point of view, but I personally feel he bases his opinions on thorough research, analysis, expert opinions, and other means to produce the point of view that best suits his moral standing. Very entertaining reading.
Rating:
Summary: Analytical Thinking 101 by O'Reilly
Review: What does it mean to be an analytical thinker? It means instead of reading the opinions of others and adopting them, critically judging the opinions of others. There is little of that done in the news media except by O'Reilly. This is one of the reasons his show is so popular. There are no good, academic books on analytical reasoning and thinking. Through its sixteen chapters, this book attempts to give both sides of the issue and then have the reader decide which is right. The book is obviously skewed towards the author's opinion. The opposition is given a couple of lines used more as examples in the defense of O'Reilly's thesis. Although taking out the stops and stutters appears to be beneficial to the flow of the book, it does not give the full perspective of hearing the guests speak for themselves. I feel that this book was written to boost O'Reilly's ego to show how many of his guests he could back into a corner and beat senselessly with their spin. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it's definitely a book designed to sell copies and regurgitate what was on his popular television show then give any new radical insights. The only exceptions are the "Opening Bell" at the beginning and the three chapters at the end. These provide good commentary reminiscent of the first book. If you like O'Reilly, you have probably already bought this book by now. If you do not like him, you probably could not stand to read the book any more than watch his television show. It does demonstrate critical analytical thinking that is sorely lacking in the news media, college, and American life.
Rating: 
Summary: more hogwash from neo con blowhards
Review: don't waste your time with this book
Rating:
Summary: Giving Thinking Americans A Voice
Review: This is Bill O'Reilly's second short work of non-fiction. It is written for the common American, and it is very, very entertaining. In Bill's first book (The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, The Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life) he covers a much broader, more generic, list of topics like friendship, dating, work, marriage, children, etc. In this book Bill takes dead aim on his topics and targets, and usually lays waste to them. I particularly enjoy Bill's style: he's in your face with his "simplistic" and "absolutist" views, and he loves every minute of watching his prey squirm and wiggle when assigned the task of justifying their incoherent and inconsistent positions. With Bill O'Reilly, common sense, logic, and an actual base of moral values take hold. Beware, Mr. O'Reilly is not a PC sellout, so this book is not for the faint-hearted - he tackles with reasoned arguments taboo topics like gay-rights (which he supports), capital punishment (which he doesn't support), and isn't afraid of those who try to pull the race card on him (when all else fails). Bill O'Reilly is neither a friend nor foe of either major political party - both could learn a great deal from Bill concerning what makes America great. Outstanding, Mr. O'Reilly, outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: More lies from a right-winger
Review: O'rielly claimed on his show that he won 2 Peabody awards, which he had NOT. Peabody awards are the highest award in journalism. This nut could never win one. He's a talking head, and not a very good one.
Rating:
Summary: A rare, honest member of the media.
Review: While I disagree with a lot, maybe even most of the positions held by O'Reilly, I think this book represents a step in the right direction for media. Opinions and facts are clearly distinguished; the commentary is actually even left to the end of the chapter in most cases. Although the transcripts are necessarily edited to reflect the most extreme remarks of the guests, he is careful to often moderate some of his criticisms by noting other remarks or positions held by the subject of the chapter. If every person was as careful in examining their own positions as critically as O'Reilly does, and as open to changing them in the face of new information, I suspect that we'd live a world with fewer scams and better informed policy.
|
