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Rating: 
Summary: The truth revealed
Review: I've lent this book to countless friends who all regarded former President Ronald Reagan as "a great man." Few of them adhere to that opinion today. It's astonishing to think that anyone so out of touch with reality could have been elected to two terms as President. Slansky's brilliant book combines seemingly unrelated pieces of information into a cohesive whole that reveals, once and for all, the astonishing incompetence of the Reagan administration. As a bonus, Slansky also manages to skewer virtually all aspects of popular culture of the 1980's. Since those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, this book should be required reading for all, lest we get another presidency like Reagan's. My copy has been read so many times that it is literally falling apart. One of the great books of the last fifty years.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff-wouldn't mind one on Dubya!
Review: If I owned a time machine, I'd go back to the late seventies when Reagan was starting his campaign and drop copies of this book all over the country.Perhaps it could have helped. The idea that someone so incompetant and clueless could become PRESIDENT is a sobering thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Did This Really Happen?
Review: Maybe it was just me, but when I purchased this book on line I assumed it was going to be a book, you know the type with chapters and well thought out paragraphs. What I got was a book that is made up of day by day humorous quotes from the news sources of the time. So I was a little disappointed at the start just because my expectation was not met. With that out of the way I dug in and found the book provided a number of laughs and brought back a number of memories. The author picked up on mostly political issues to populate the book, but he does toss in a few pop culture items that usually show the ridiculous side of American life. The humor the author uses is rather dry and sarcastic, which fit very well with the news reporting style blurbs.
Overall the book is an easy to read, fun review of the 1980's that brought back a lot of memories for me. The author does tend to focus on a small group of topics, Geraldo Rivera, his dislike of popular music and Michael Jackson all seem to get repeated mentions. The book is the type you can have around and pick up every now and then and read a few pages. It is light fair and shows a 10,000 feet view of the 80's.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Ruthless but Alarmingly True
Review: Paul Slanksy evidently hates everyone, and the 80's supplied him with more than enough material to nail them all. Obviously, Republicans take far more abuse because the book IS about the Reagan era. This book is funny and really cuts through the nostalgia many (GOP in particular) hold about the 80's. Great Read.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Time Capsule into the American 80's
Review: The cover has been crudely taped on backwards, the cover laminate is gone, the pages are dog eared, but my copy still holds together after countless re-readings.
Chronological, exhaustive coverage of the gaffes and shocking lies told to the american public that made reagan so memorable (or should have), combined with gems of pop culture, entertainment, crime, and so on. An illustrated, cynical diary of soundbites and factoids. If you were under the general impression that reagan wasn't that bad of a president, you will walk away from this a changed person: he WAS'NT the president! The ascerbic commentary may seem occasionally unfair, (more so if your a republican), but 9 times out of 10 it hits straight on, attacking both democrats and republicans with their own quotes and foolishness. But mostly reagan.
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