Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader [Paperback]

Michael Parenti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0872864820 | ISBN-13: 978-0872864825

“Radical in the true sense of the word, [Parenti] digs at the roots which . . . sustain our public consciousness.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

A powerful selection of Michael Parenti’s most lucid and penetrating writings on real history, political life, empire, wealth, class power, technology, culture, ideology, media, environment, sex, and ethnicity. Also included are a few choice selections drawn from his own life experiences and political awakening. Parenti goes where few political observers dare to tread.

Michael Parenti is the author of eighteen books, including Superpatriotism, Inventing Reality, and The Assassination of Julius Caesar.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Parenti communicates his message in an accessible, provocative, and historically informed style that is unrivaled among fellow progressive activists." -- Aurora Online

"Radical in the true sense of the word, [Parenti] digs at the roots which...sustain our public consciousness." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

[Parenti] takes on the corporate media, intellectual repression in academia, the stolen presidential elections... racism, sexism, homophobia...and many other topics. -- Book News, Inc.

About the Author

Michael Parenti, PhD Yale, is an internationally known author and lecturer. He is one of the nation's leadiing progressive political analysts. He is the author of over 250 published articles and seventeen books. His writings are published in popular periodicals, scholarly journals, and his op-ed pieces have been in leading newspapers such as the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. His informative and entertaining books and talks have reached a wide range of audiences in North America and abroad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872864820
• ISBN-13: 978-0872864825
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #930,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Parenti (Berkeley, CA) is the acclaimed author of more than twenty books, including, most recently, Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader; The Assassination of Julius Caesar; and The Culture Struggle. The New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, the New York Review of Books, Harper's, The Nation, and Antioch Review, are among the countless publications that have praised Parenti's work. For further information, visit his Web site: michaelparenti.org

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable, fascinating, more needed than ever.... August 17, 2007

By Susan Douglas

Format:Paperback

This book is a wonderful addition to Parenti's body of work. I sat down and started reading and found myself reading every article. Touching on many of the areas Parenti has examined for years, it brings together his usual sharp, readable critique and an extraordinary amassing of interesting facts and accounts. With such an array of topics and ideas and representing such a wide scope of learning and reflection it's an education all its own. And it's so beautifully written (as Parenti's books always are). It's so nice to know that there are people who can write this way, with such economy of prose -- so elegant in style yet saying so much.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The unvarnished truth about American Politics and Power April 20, 2008

By yankee2

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Maybe the first thing I noticed was that whenever I heard the word "democracy" used, and considered its context and meaning, that what was really meant was "capitalism." A typical example might be "we must defend democracy..." where what was really meant is "we must defend capitalism..." Anyone who disagrees should consider all the democratically elected leftist governments the United States has deposed (esp. South and Central America) through secret (i.e. illegal) economic and military attacks, to be replaced by violent, right-wing dictatorships, sympathetic to capitalist business interests.

I noticed that most news stories of importance to the government or big business are obviously one-sided. I noticed that one rarely hears both sides of many stories, and when one does, it is usually one short, page 14 contrarian bit, against many more front page articles supporting the big business or State Department view.

I began noticing that the language used in these stories is always biased, e.g. when there is a dispute between a company and labor, it is always reported as "labor trouble," or "a strike by labor, causing..." all kinds of problems. It is never "Management refuses to pay fair wages and eliminate hazardous working conditions, forcing labor to strike."

I began noticing other loaded language, like calling every potential enemy (of the state) a "terrorist." Of course American troops bombing private homes, killing innocent (usually foreign) civilians are not terrorists! NO! They are "peace keepers." No doubt about it, Double Speak is now official American policy, and far too many people buy it (lock, stock and Tomahawk missile).

I noticed George Bush spewing propaganda during the early days of his war in Iraq.... He came "on the air" at least 4-5 times a day (that I heard; probably much more) saying, with very little variation in wording, "we are right to be in Iraq." It was the same, simplified message, repeated over and over, with virtually no alternative opinions offered. It was classic, textbook propaganda, exactly as Joseph Goebbels (Minister for Public Enlightenment & Propaganda in Nazi Germany) described it.

I also noticed that government programs frequently fail to fully benefit the people they are supposed to benefit, but usually do produce millions or billions of dollars worth of profit for some industry. Do we suppose that is an accident? Really?

I noticed that at first Bush attacked Iraq to eliminate WMDs, then later it was to free Iraqis from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, then finally it is to prevent civil war. What do we know about a suspect when he keeps changing his story? That he's a liar, of course.

The list of inequities, injustices, inconsistencies and outright scams, larceny and lies, "not to mention" the occasional slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people, is endless. I name those cases which I recognized, even before reading Parenti, just to show that it's not that hard to recognize. And it's just not that hard to recognize the truth in what Parenti tells us.

Parenti's words ring absolutely true. The deck IS in fact stacked against the average American. The government (and especially the State) DOES IN FACT represent big money and big power, and most emphatically DOES NOT represent the average American citizen, though it certainly pretends to. Democracy exists only as a shell, to distract and divert the People, and convince us that everything is OK, or at least as well as possible.

I am not a "conspiracy theorist." That phrase is an example of what Parenti gently describes as "name calling," used by establishment media to discredit legitimate arguments which might threaten power. I knew that. But of course there ARE conspiracies. And there IS in fact a Big Conspiracy of capitalists against the people.

No, capitalists and people who work within and for that system do not necessarily meet with representatives of the government and state, in seedy motel rooms, wearing trenchcoats, after midnight, to plan their attacks. They don't need to. They all know their roles perfectly well, as they've been handed down to them, or which they've been indoctrinated for, and know that they must play them, if they want to STAY rich and in power. Money is in fact the root of all evil, with simple power not far behind.

Michael Parenti describes these cases and hundreds, perhaps thousands of similar ones, and explains them in the context of state, military, big business and big money power. He tells us the true story, unaltered by political and economic pressure, censorship and self-censorship, and the politics of exclusion (when is the last time YOUR leftist voice was heard in the major media?). It should be no surprise that power almost always wins, at the expense of everyone else, their claims to the contrary not withstanding. And all issues of justice and morality fall by the wayside, victims of capitalist money and state power.

I could go on, practically forever in fact, because the injustices, large and small, are practically infinite. But Parenti tells it much better than I, in fact most of us, ever could. The fact is, what Parenti tells us in Contrary Notions (and in his other books) is perfectly consistent with what can be observed every day, if we would just open our eyes. He tells the absolute, ugly truth, which every citizen should know if our society is EVER to change for the better.

Contrary Notions should be required reading for every American citizen who cares about Democracy and Justice (fat chance!). There is not a man (or woman) in America who tells the unvarnished truth about American politics, money and power more clearly and honestly than does Michael Parenti. Read more ›

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For Anyone Questioning The Status Quo April 15, 2008

By Rene Bilodeau

Format:Paperback

I've been reading progressive books for 40 years, so I've read plenty. When reading this book by Dr. Michael Parenti it struck me that if there was only one book I could recommend everyone should read, it would have to be this one. It touches just enough, on everything that one should be aware of, to make sense of why the world is as it is and why it is time to question the capitalist economic paradigm that we live in. Dr. Parenti shows his ability to take complex class-based analysis of the world order and our personal lives within it and state the arguments for how we can create a better world in a way that should be understandable to every reader. At least those readers who are prepared to remove the blinders imposed on us all by capitalist indoctrination. This is indeed a "reader" that instills a working class consciousness in simple terms and equips one with a clear understanding of our class enemy and the need to build a real people's alternative. Buy it, read it and share it. You won't be sorry! I'm going to approach my local library and get them to purchase it as well.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Notions contrary to J Bartlett "Joss" August 9, 2011

By Angel Wings

Format:Paperback

First of all, let me say that Contrary Notions is full of information that is challenging to the conventional views. A thoughtful and observant reader, however, will not only recognize the veracity of Dr. Parenti's collection of material here, but feel grateful to the author for opening his or her eyes. In fact, this book is so well written that I have it on my recommended reading list for my students in the classes I teach in college.
This review, however, is a response to the "review" posted here by J Bartlett "Joss".
J. Bartlett, "Joss"--as an instructor of college level composition, I must say that if you had submitted this for a class, your "review" would be returned with a failed grade and comment reading:
1. READ the work you are critiquing. Dr. Parenti is an academic writer of the highest caliber, consequently used by many college writing instructors as an example of superlative academic writing.
2. STICK TO THE TOPIC. Are you reviewing Contrary Notions, or History as Mystery? If this is a critique of Contrary Notions, then speak directly to that topic. Do not throw in another work.
3. Your criticism of History as Mystery is invalid. You obviously did not read the entire book or else your reading is inexcusably sloppy. Each chapter is thoroughly documented and annotated. Altogether every chapter included, the author has nearly 50 pages in notes alone, including hundreds of notes all told, again, each and every note includes full, detailed bibliographical information. It is evident from your comment that you only perused the last chapter to look for the notes there and presumed it was the complete list. The 71 authors used for chapter seven are certainly sufficient sources for one chapter!
4.... If you disagree with the content of a book, then discuss it at that level. Why is this new understanding of the writing of history such a challenge to you? You evidently are not familiar with the content, so you just criticize the author on an ideological level, but fail to give any specific details of what you disagree with. The author says NOTHING of Stalin in the book--why have you thrown that in? Again, do not attempt to write about a book you have not read.
5. LEARN TO EDIT your work. You have made grammatical and spelling errors that lead me to believe that you failed junior high school level English courses. Obviously you are incapable of critiquing academic work or else you were writing in such an agitated state of mind (or perhaps had even imbibed too much) that you failed to notice your errors. In any case,you should refrain from attacking or trying to critique any book until you either 1. calm down and can do so in a reasonable manner or 2. Become well educated enough to understand the work which you pretend to review. 3. Are sober enough to write in a comprehensible fashion.
As for History is Mystery itself, it is a new understanding of history as being written by the ones who are in power. Parenti gives many great examples of how one might challenge the more conventional understandings of history. I particularly found his explanation of Jean D'arc and the assassination of President Zachary Taylor to be extremely well researched and fascinating as an in depth example of how "mainstream history" might be distorted through failure to explore the full consequences of scientific research.
Finally, "Joss", your critique is too facile and easy to see through as the diatribe of an ideologue against an author whose ideas to not conform to yours.
Final Grade for your review, Joss: F Read more ›