Customer Reviews

Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I found myself at an event in November 2002 where Bill was pushing his "When you Ride Alone, you Ride with Bin Laden" book. I was so fascinated with how good it was, and how creative it is, that I kind of went on a Bill Maher kick. I bought this book afterward.

Being an incredibly SLOW reader, I was still halfway though this little paperback in under an hour. It's mostly questions that were asked at a show, the occasional comment by Bill, and very rarely sprinkled with guests' answers. There are a few gems in it, but overall, your money is much better spent on "When you Ride Alone you ride with Bin Laden."

Maher is great but this book isn't. Bill often has profound viewpoints that I agree with. In this book, however, Maher too often placed a higher priority on being funny than making intelligent remarks. Also, although the cover says "The Best of POLITICALLY INCORRECT," the book is not really related to the show. I expected intelligent comments by both Maher and a wide variety of guests. Instead, nearly all of the book consists of statements made by Maher (not on his show) and not by his guests. This book is not worth reading although Maher's show is worth watching.

Lee J. Markowitz, Ph.D. Student

Bill Maher has cranked out a number of clever, memorable, very funny one-liners. Unfortunately, to do this he's had to toss off a much larger number of gags that just don't work very well. The book reflects this scattershot approach to his comedy: a few gems with a lot of mediocre filler. It doesn't diminish the value of his truly hilarious comments, but you do have to wade through a lot to get to the good stuff--kind of like a Mel Brooks movie.

As for the political content, I didn't make the mistake of bringing my personal politics into the process of reading political satire. If you're so hardcore that you think "I'm a Republican, so satire of Republicans can't be funny," then I pity you. Humor can and should rise above mere political affiliations, and I'd welcome equally funny material from any writer on the spectrum. Neal Boortz, for example, although I despise his politics, can be a very funny guy. So can Howard Stern. Do the "political ramifications" _really_ matter?

Leave your flag and soapbox at home and approach this book the way it's meant to be approached: as political satire, often mediocre, but occasionally brilliant.

I am not what one may call a "Maher Fan". I find his show, Politically Incorrect, difficult to watch, as Mr. Maher repeatedly contradicts himself to maintain the impression that he is in control of the show. Apparently the man feels the name of the show doesn't merely refer to his feelings about political issues, but also to an abandonment of respect and coherency.

I do, however, agree with many of his stances when they are presented in a comprehensible, and occasionally funny way. This book is OK; it's not put together terribly well, and it smacks of a Dennis Miller "Rant" format. What I appreciate the most is that Maher openly criticizes both Republicans *and* Democrats. I don't expect to get very many helpful votes for saying this, but supporting one party over the other seems severely short-sighted. Over the years the party platforms have changed and members of both have committed wrongs against us in the name of Corporate Sponsorship.

Bill Maher's approach may be distasteful, but he isn't just a mouthpiece for a corporation, and that's what people really have a problem with.

Listen, people, Bill Maher IS NOT A DEMOCRAT.

He is a libertarian... while some of his views are clearly democratic, he dispises both republicans and democrats, and for good reason.

Bill is also a brilliant and funny guy, with this book clearly showing his cleaver and sharp humor.

Hillarious. Bill Maher's cynical approach to everything is just down right funny. Well worth the money. It has 1 page summaries about many topics that have been aired on the show.

It is an alright product, but I would not buy it again, because it did not inform or give me any other information that I expected, and I would only watch it once - waste of money to buy something that I would use/view only once.

Funny, irreverent, thought-provoking, daring--that is this book. Bill Maher brings his unique style and wit to this compendium of installments from his hit show. Slyly observing today's issues from his own skewed perspective, Maher skewers topics such as foreign policy, American morality, supermodels, date rape, smoking and OJ. And does it in such a way that the reader will end up reconsidering the wisdom of the trend towards "political correctness." The only real problems with the book is that it only covers shows from '93-'94, and contains no substantial quotes from his guests. But, hey--that's another book! The best thing about this book is that you can read it from back to front and it still makes sense! Thank God someone has the guts to say what the rest of us think but dare not utter aloud. Irreverent, yes, but definitely not irrelevant

I found this book to be nothing more than an instant replay of Maher's television shows. But then that's exactly what it's advertised to be. We should give thanks when we end up with something that's as advertised. It's just that after six years of Bush and Cheney, the truth is boring.

True, this is more of a soapbox than a review, but that's okay since I'm a registered Republican. George W. Bush has decreed that we're not governed by the same rules and laws as everyone else. It wasn't that long ago that Bush bashing was one of the loneliest jobs in the world. Now, if you're not careful, you'll get trampled under by the androids and politicians who are trying to distance themselves from Bush, Cheney and America's Dachau--Abu Ghraib and the Iraqi holocaust.

For those of you who love Comedy Central's contribution to political satire, this book is for you. For those of you who thought Al Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot," had too many inane observations (such as Franken's solution for rising health-care costs for the elderly), this book is definitely for you. "Politically Incorrect" takes potshots at everyone, regardless of what side of the fence they're on. Granted, "Rush Limbaugh..." was meant to be funny first and foremost. "Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits" presents real-life issues with more down-to-earth observations, incorporating biting wit in abundance. The book is presented chronologically, with each show's topic, Bill Maher's opening statement for the discussion, and witticisms from the guest panelists. I didn't feel as though there were enough comments from the guests; however, I'm sure this did pose a problem for the book's editors, because they certainly could not print the transcripts from each show--the book would have had the thickness of an encyclopedia! This is the only fault I found with the book, and it probably will not deter you from enjoying it. The pages devoted to celebrities on overblown ego trips, (the "Get Over Yourself" segments), are especially fun to read. This book could very well hit the New York Times bestseller list in the near future