Rating: 
Summary: Very forgettable book......precious little substance
Review: I find myself in the distinct minority on this one but much to my surprise I really did not enjoy this one very much at all. Perhaps I am missing something or maybe the humor just went right over my head but for the most part I found this offering to be neither informative nor very humorous. While I have enjoyed some of Tucker Carlsons work on television I found his writing to be rambling and at times tedious. The book contains very little of a substantive nature. I find books like this to be largely a waste of my time. Perhaps this is what cable news has become as well. Continuing coverage of people discussed in this book like Monica Lewinsky, Jerry Falwell, James Traficant and Dick Morris, to name just a few, contribute little to an intellgent discussion of important national issues. Maybe if you are just looking for a chuckle this will fill the bill. Otherwise, there are many other better ways so spend your time.
Rating:
Summary: Very forgettable book......precious little substance
Review: I find myself in the distinct minority on this one but much to my surprise I really did not enjoy this one very much at all. Perhaps I am missing something or maybe the humor just went right over my head but for the most part I found this offering to be neither informative nor very humorous. While I have enjoyed some of Tucker Carlsons work on television I found his writing to be rambling and at times tedious. The book contains very little of a substantive nature. I find books like this to be largely a waste of my time. Perhaps this is what cable news has become as well. Continuing coverage of people discussed in this book like Monica Lewinsky, Jerry Falwell, James Traficant and Dick Morris, to name just a few, contribute little to an intellgent discussion of important national issues. Maybe if you are just looking for a chuckle this will fill the bill. Otherwise, there are many other better ways so spend your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing look into politics and media
Review: I had to read this book for my government class and I found it very enjoyable. I had watched Crossfire on CNN with Tucker before I read the book and always thought him to be an amusing guy. This book reads just like how he talks on the show, full of wit and bite. The stories he tells will make you laugh and his love for the game of politics is refreshing in a world of people who think politics is some sort of religion with no funny faults. I would recommend this book for any one looking for a short and funny read with a focus on the absurd of politics and media.PS: His section on the McCain 2000 presedential campaign is brillaint. So if you like McCain it is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing look into politics and media
Review: I had to read this book for my government class and I found it very enjoyable. I had watched Crossfire on CNN with Tucker before I read the book and always thought him to be an amusing guy. This book reads just like how he talks on the show, full of wit and bite. The stories he tells will make you laugh and his love for the game of politics is refreshing in a world of people who think politics is some sort of religion with no funny faults. I would recommend this book for any one looking for a short and funny read with a focus on the absurd of politics and media. PS: His section on the McCain 2000 presedential campaign is brillaint. So if you like McCain it is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Politics in moderation
Review: I never saw Tucker Carlson on Crossfire, but I wish I had based on this book. Carlson strikes me as a moderate, not really a conservative, and this was one of very few books that delve into politics without an overload of spin. Limbaugh on the right, and Franken on the left, try to make their audiences angry while they entertain. Tucker appears to have no agenda. To some, that might make him seem tame, but to me, it was refreshing. He has many entertaining and enlightening stories to tell, so if you want a break from party warfare, but you are still fascinated by politics, this might be for you.
Rating:
Summary: Good...but a little disappointing
Review: I so wanted to like this book (I listened to it on tape). Mr Carlson is a good thinker and for the most part fair in his assessments. Listening to him on tape was great for my beltway commute. However my biggest disappointments were the use of so much profanity (I think it is more pronounced when you hear it vice reading it) and the way he would seemed to need to counterbalance any criticism of Republicans with even more criticism of Democrats with similar issues. For example he mentions the Trent Lott debacle. He makes it seems however that Mr. Lott's downfall was because of partisan politics and (if my memory is correct ) doesn't mention at all the part the Republicans (the President included) and the conservative media played in Mr Lott losing his job. On the other hand he goes to great lengths to dredge up information on Sen Byrd and his affiliation with the Klan and his remarks about not wanting to serve with "Negroes".
All in all I am a fan of Mr Carlson and enjoyed the book. Wished he had spent a little more time talking about his time in cable news and not going off on little rehashing of history that had little to do with his experiences and more to do with filling some pages in his book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun
Review: I truly enjoyed this book. Carlson seems less partisan here than elsewhere. He freely bashes and praises liberals and conservatives alike. Speaking as a Washingtonian, his stories ring true. I would have given it 5 stars, but it was way too short for the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Mindless Palaver
Review: I wanted to like Tucker Carlson's book. He has the opportunity to show the interesting side of politics. The truth is, the writing is horrible. I wouldn't waste the money on this book new. I'm sure there will be plenty of used available soon.
Rating:
Summary: A Breezy and Entertaining Account of Carlson's Experiences
Review: I was only passingly familiar with Tucker Carlson before cracking the binding of his book, POLITICIANS, PARTISANS, AND PARASITES. I vaguely recalled a few articles he had done for The Weekly Standard and The American Spectator, and I knew that he was on CNN's Crossfire. The problem is that at casa de Hartlaub we don't really tune in to CNN all that much, and as for Crossfire ... if I started watching James Carville with any regularity it would be the mark of a behavior deviation so devastating that my family would probably ship me off for that long promised 30-day psychological evaluation. While Crossfire appears to be on its last legs, Carlson's career trajectory is only beginning, if POLITICIANS, PARTISANS, AND PARASITES is any indication. For one thing, Carlson is really funny. His written delivery is very conversational. Reading POLITICIANS, PARTISANS, AND PARASITES is like having this hip, smart, observant guy over for dinner and being happy to let him monopolize the conversation for the entire evening. Carlson is right to center right politically, but he doesn't beat you over the head with it. He chooses his battles wisely and almost always wins them. But POLITICIANS, PARTISANS, AND PARASITES isn't a regurgitation of Carlson's views. It's a breezy, entertaining account of Carlson's experiences in television journalism and reporting. Carlson's accounts of his adventures in the trenches of television news journalism are not presented in an orderly fashion. It's not quite stream of consciousness but the link between one topic and another can be a bit tenuous. You're not really going to care, however. Carlson is so entertaining and funny that you'll be more than happy to sit back and let him drive at 100 words per minute while he maintains a nonstop monologue concerning what is flying by. His most entertaining accounts concern being on the campaign trail with John McCain, his trip to Vietnam (again, with John McCain), the crashing and burning of his first television program, The Spin Room, and his dead-on descriptions of Carville. But Carlson's literary audience will not be limited to conservatives. Liberals who have not lost their sense of humor will find plenty to enjoy in Carlson's accounts as well. Carlson pins Jerry Falwell and Larry Klayman to the wall with his laser-like scrutiny and does it so well that even if you like those gentlemen you won't mind. Well, you will, but you'll be too busy laughing to let it bother you for long. POLITICIANS, PARTISANS AND PARASITES is a series of dead-on critiques and observations of current events, television news, and the people and personalities behind both. Its substance more than makes up for what it lacks in organization. This is Carlson's first book, but it hopefully will not be his last. Highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: buy the book to read 142-146
Review: I watched Tucker give a preview of his book on C-Span at the Miami Book Fair and couldn't wait to order the book. It was great from page 1 but when I got to page 142 I just couldn't believe what I was reading. Mr. Carlson is totally believable so I have no doubt this is an accurate account.
I hope he writes a book like this every year as he does have a knack for interacting with some real "characters" in and around the world of politics and the media.
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