Rating: 
Summary: Too Funny!
Review: I have read Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and even Ann Coulter. They're great, but now I'm adding a new name to the list: Michael Graham.He calls himself a "right-wing" nut but he's really just a funny guy who tells the truth about everyone, especially northern liberals. His stuff about how Berkeley and New York are the new capitals of redneck attitudes on race and free speech was great! He really nails the hypocrisy. I'm giving this book to two friends: One's a southerner who lives up in Minnesota. The other is an obnoxious liberal (but sweet) Yankee friend who lives down here in the South. They're both going to love it.
Rating:
Summary: Liberals, Beware! You're The "Rednecks" Now!
Review: I like Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh--but all of their books put together aren't as funny as just the first chapter of REDNECK NATION. Michael Graham is a liberal's nightmare: Smart and funny. After reading this book, I would love to see him debate Michael Moore sometime. In fact, Graham reminds me of Michael Moore in the way he's willing to go after people. REDNECK NATION isn't a conservative tract or Republican position paper (sorry, Rush). Graham makes fun of everyone. But having suffered the arrogance of northeastern liberals that Graham describes, the best parts of this book is when he shows how hypocritical and "redneck" in their thinking these folks are. Everytime I was about to get mad at Graham for making fun of southerners, evangelicals, etc, he launched a double-barrel blast against the northerners and Barbra Streisand liberals--and I busted out laughing. Lots of books say they are "Laugh out loud funny." Redneck Nation really is.
Rating:
Summary: You want grits with that??
Review: I loved this book! Michael Graham skewers everyone from radical feminists to radical Christians to radical NASCAR fans (and lots of folks in between) with his razor sharp wit. I don't know if the South can really be held responsible for all the wacky things going on in this country today. Maybe we can just chalk some of it up to basic human stupidty. But if you've ever felt a little queasy while listening to someone talk about last night's "Survivor" episode...if you've ever wondered how educated adults can gaze upon an art masterpiece and be offended...or if you've ever despaired over the darker side of human nature that gives us racism and all other manners of intolerance, you'll enjoy this read. In spite of the comic presentation, a book like this should make us take a hard look at ourselves and say "I'm going to stop this idiotic behavior." We all know that's not going to happen, but if Mr. Graham's points are completely lost on you, then in the immortal words of Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a redneck!
Rating:
Summary: You want grits with that??
Review: I loved this book! Michael Graham skewers everyone from radical feminists to radical Christians to radical NASCAR fans (and lots of folks in between) with his razor sharp wit. I don't know if the South can really be held responsible for all the wacky things going on in this country today. Maybe we can just chalk some of it up to basic human stupidty. But if you've ever felt a little queasy while listening to someone talk about last night's "Survivor" episode...if you've ever wondered how educated adults can gaze upon an art masterpiece and be offended...or if you've ever despaired over the darker side of human nature that gives us racism and all other manners of intolerance, you'll enjoy this read. In spite of the comic presentation, a book like this should make us take a hard look at ourselves and say "I'm going to stop this idiotic behavior." We all know that's not going to happen, but if Mr. Graham's points are completely lost on you, then in the immortal words of Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a redneck!
Rating: 
Summary: A voice from the redneck darkness
Review: I was born and raised in the South, am now 32-years-old, and have yet to come across the stark, benighted, abject ignorance that Michael Graham revels in concerning his former place of residence. First off, he needs to re-read his history, or, at the very least, pick up a tome that tells more than half the story in relation to the Civil War and his much lauded civil rights movement. Maybe find one that discusses the lynchings that took place in New York and other bastions of liberal northern thought, or one that objectively discusses the cruel generosity of Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation," which only freed slaves in the South and was used more for political leverage than humanitarianism. Or, perhaps, even go way back and read a book that discusses how slavery has been an institution for at least as long as the human race has existed, because it has. Hell, our beloved forefathers were slave holders before there even was a South and North division. It would also behoove Graham to study or read a little philosophy in order to come to a better understanding of that elusive thing referred to as "human nature." As Erasmus once said, when given the option people will always choose the worst. The South did not invent hatred, racism, ignorance, mysticism, irrationality, or the victim complex -- believe it or not all of those have existed in one form or another since the beginning of time. Graham's attempt to ascribe all the traits he sees as being negative in our country to the South is absurd. Why didn't he simply take it to an extreme and blame the South for the crucifixion, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust? Seems like the one with a victimization complex is Graham. His hatred for a region -- much like his apparent hero, H.L. Mencken -- has obscured his reason, and arbitrary excoriation always seems to be the last foothold of a floundering intellect. Maybe we can convince Graham to secede to some island in the Atlantic where he can wallow in his delusions -- it would raise the IQ of both the South and the North.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting look at America
Review: I'm a liberal and found this book an interesting read. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but it was sometimes amusing and rather thought provoking. Alas, Graham's observations that the South's nepotism, racism and elevation of the mediocre have become instead the entire USA's standards seems to be proven by a casual look around me. In fact, the North went the South even better and took all its attributes to levels undreamed of before. It's rather a depressing tale, though Graham tells it in a humorous manner. The book encourages thought as well as some smiles and it is nice to read someone kick NASCAR a little. Although the author might be antagonistic about the South, the book itself clearly demonstrates that America is united in its redneck attributes and one cannot accuse the South of being any worse than the north.
A worthwhile read but be prepared to feel pretty depressed about the state we're in.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best right-wing offers...(and I'm liberal)
Review: It has been some time since I first read this book (about three years), and after re-reading it, I found it just as well-written and entertaining, but was even more baffled about the right-wing tendencies of its author.
Essentially, the thesis of the book is as follows: Michael Graham, a southerner, always thought that the North was a place where good ole boy politickin' was abhorred, intellectualism is celebrated, and idiocy was absent. But after living there and observing Northerners like me (although I live in Tennessee as the profile says, I was born and raised in Chicago), he has concluded that the general lunacy that is commonplace in the South is actually commonplace everywhere, Northerners just don't realize it or admit it if they do.
Good premise because I agree wholeheartedly, though I do have to believe that this is more prevalent down south, having lived here for six years and counting and finding stereotypes reinforced everywhere. But anyway, the book itself goes beyond the premise to a much deeper and effective arguement, and that is the demise of intellectualism in the country as a whole is not something to be celebrated or treated lightly. He consistently, and hilariously, points out example after example of things that are thought of as trivial, or not representative of the status quo, being just the opposite. People like to think that diminishing social standards and scary addictions to pop culture trash are not really that bad, that they are just little guilty pleasures. Like Graham, I am very troubled by that notion, and have never understood why the intellectual in this country is mocked and admonished, rather than thought highly of.
Graham touches on this as well when he says that the root of Southern anger at the North lies in the fact that not only do Southerners know that Northerners think of themselves as superior and more intelligent, but that Southerners often suspect that the "Yankeeboys" are right, although they'll never admit it. He touches on the idiocy of many fundamentalist Southern religious groups, where he produces one of my favorite quotes about groups like that which is, "In the South, the true measure of devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ is to be a complete and utter idiot on his behalf."
In the end, I really enjoyed the main points of the book, but did not appreciate how Graham framed the context, which in some instances morphes into a right-wing slant, with rants on extreme multiculturalism and school choice. But what really is odd, the previous sentence nonwithstanding, Graham comes of as fairly moderate in this book, politically speaking. All of the values he champions in this book, like the praise of the intellectual, his anger at the rejection of reason, evidence and science in favor of "my way or the highway", his admonishment of extreme religion and faith as the guiding forces in life, and his bemoaning of decisions and appointments made through friendship and back-slapping relationships instead of by quantifiable results (among other examples in the book), are all thoroughly rejected in the neoconservative power we have today in America. And while Graham tries to be fairly moderate in the book, I have visited his website frequently and listened to his show a few times and he is very much a supporter of modern conservativism. That just makes me wonder why, being that he identifies himself with a group that has made no secret of championing what Graham says he hates most.
All in all though, a very effective book and can still be enjoyed by liberals who appreciate a well-written and defended conservative viewpoint, although they might not always agree.
Rating:
Summary: All the stuff you wish wasn't true....
Review: Let's suppose, for a minute, that your impression of America is of a place where the best rises to the top, where the backwards days of racism and good ol' boy networks are long gone, where stupidity is challenged and intelligence is rewarded. If that's how you feel, I'm not saying you shouldn't read Graham's book... I'm just saying you should sit down with a nice, stiff drink before you do. Graham's book is a rapid-fire presentation of tell-me-it's-not-true facts and rapier wise-guy commentary, asserting that while it's commonly accepted that the northern ideals of meritocracy, anti-racism and accountability won over the backwards southern society of the 1960's, in fact it was the south that won. According to Graham, today we live in a culture of whining, victimized, racist idiots - and he piles up the proof so high that by the end I predict you'll be crying either from laughter or depression, or perhaps a combination of both. Graham has presented a tight, witty volume full of stuff you'll wish he was making up - but he's not. Oh, man. I need a drink.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and interesting, but kind of trite.
Review: Many other reviewers seemed offended by Graham's stereotypes of southerners and their mentality. It is obvious they didn't get the joke, which was spelled pretty explicitly in the epilogue titled "Confessions of a reluctant southerner." This book is not anti-southern, and the author acknowledges the good in the south of his childhood while also acknowledging the bad. The point of this entire book is to turn the tables on what he views as snobby Northern liberals by pointing out that they are hypocrites who in fact practice every core idiocy of the Southern stereotypes they look down on. But what Graham is really doing in this book is trying to redefine what "redneck" is. And what it is, is "liberal." In this sense, "Redneck Nation" isn't that different than any of the other trite smear-liberals books that are out there, from Coulter's to Limbaugh's. The only difference is that this book is not mean spirited and divisive. It is funny, and relatively open-minded, and will probably really irritate fundamentalist conservatives. As a liberal, I'm always really happy to find a conservative writer that provides some intelligent political thought, and who isn't angry or playing heavily on resentment politics. The best and most true point Graham makes is about the insidious rise of superstition in our country: it isn't just the fundamentalist southern Christians, but the tree-worshippers, the vegans, the new-agers, the UFO fanatics, and those that like watching TV shows where people talk with dead relatives. The main flaw with this book is that it really has too simple a thesis too fill an entire book; and at the same time it is too short. How is this possible? First, Graham is simply taking every hot-button issue, from race to feminism, and using a formula to show how modern liberals have adopted the attitudes of old southern bigots and rednecks. By at least halfway through this book, you will be able to read the chapter topic and pretty much know what the rest of the chapter is going to say. And since it is such a small, dedicated topic, Graham repeats himself an awful lot for only 228 small pages with large print. Trimmed down to good sized humor article published in some liberal yankee journal, it would have been perfect. Yet the book is too short to make its case. 228 pages is too long for a punch-line, and too short to make a real case. The thoughts and observations seem truncated. Like the aforementioned Coulter and Limbaugh, Graham uses the most extreme and absurd examples from fringe leftists--or quotes them out of context--and then quickly draws his repetitious point: "We are a redneck Nation." (Because of Liberals.) But if he took the time to elaborate and provide substantive analysis of the issues he covers, like the problems with education, feminism, entertainment, or victim mentality, his book and its arguments would not only become dull, but they would crumble under their own weight. We would more easily see that rather than presenting an important truth, this book was presenting an entertaining gimmick. This gimmick at best points out that human folly extends to all humans, and not just southerners. Not a mistaken point, but Twain did it so much better.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and interesting, but kind of trite.
Review: Many other reviewers seemed offended by Graham's stereotypes of southerners and their mentality. It is obvious they didn't get the joke, which was spelled pretty explicitly in the epilogue titled "Confessions of a reluctant southerner." This book is not anti-southern, and the author acknowledges the good in the south of his childhood while also acknowledging the bad. The point of this entire book is to turn the tables on what he views as snobby Northern liberals by pointing out that they are hypocrites who in fact practice every core idiocy of the Southern stereotypes they look down on. But what Graham is really doing in this book is trying to redefine what "redneck" is. And what it is, is "liberal." In this sense, "Redneck Nation" isn't that different than any of the other trite smear-liberals books that are out there, from Coulter's to Limbaugh's. The only difference is that this book is not mean spirited and divisive. It is funny, and relatively open-minded, and will probably really irritate fundamentalist conservatives. As a liberal, I'm always really happy to find a conservative writer that provides some intelligent political thought, and who isn't angry or playing heavily on resentment politics. The best and most true point Graham makes is about the insidious rise of superstition in our country: it isn't just the fundamentalist southern Christians, but the tree-worshippers, the vegans, the new-agers, the UFO fanatics, and those that like watching TV shows where people talk with dead relatives. The main flaw with this book is that it really has too simple a thesis too fill an entire book; and at the same time it is too short. How is this possible? First, Graham is simply taking every hot-button issue, from race to feminism, and using a formula to show how modern liberals have adopted the attitudes of old southern bigots and rednecks. By at least halfway through this book, you will be able to read the chapter topic and pretty much know what the rest of the chapter is going to say. And since it is such a small, dedicated topic, Graham repeats himself an awful lot for only 228 small pages with large print. Trimmed down to good sized humor article published in some liberal yankee journal, it would have been perfect. Yet the book is too short to make its case. 228 pages is too long for a punch-line, and too short to make a real case. The thoughts and observations seem truncated. Like the aforementioned Coulter and Limbaugh, Graham uses the most extreme and absurd examples from fringe leftists--or quotes them out of context--and then quickly draws his repetitious point: "We are a redneck Nation." (Because of Liberals.) But if he took the time to elaborate and provide substantive analysis of the issues he covers, like the problems with education, feminism, entertainment, or victim mentality, his book and its arguments would not only become dull, but they would crumble under their own weight. We would more easily see that rather than presenting an important truth, this book was presenting an entertaining gimmick. This gimmick at best points out that human folly extends to all humans, and not just southerners. Not a mistaken point, but Twain did it so much better.
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