Customer Reviews

The Face of the Tiger

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

he tosses off verbal zingers with the very best, offering pungent commentary with satirical jabs. i consider him a more erudite version of p.j. o'rourke--and not as mercilessly cynical. i often find myself laughing out loud reading steyn--my brother in england would often email his u.k. columns. but it's not sophomoric humor that engages steyn's wit; he's high-brow the entire way. it would be okay to label him an iconoclast simply because his take is often in opposition to conventional opinion and what passes for wisdom. steyn puts to shame all the muttering pundits who perform combat duty at the major mags and newspapers. perhaps frank rich is in his league, but i wouldn't trade steyn for the top draft pick, ever.

I've been a fan of Mark Steyn's brilliant column in the Telegraph for years now, it's great to finally have a book of his wonderful articles. These articles covera year from September 11 2001 to September 11 2002, and are all entrhalling to read. On the subject of September 11 he is deeply moving, his articles on this subject brought tears to my eyes. he can just as easily make you laugh, he's hysterically funny on the subject of the 'brutal Afghan winter' among other things. This book is brilliant and fascinating, there isn't a dull sentence in it.

Mark Steyn is a superb writer and stylist, a master of dazzling verbal pyrotechnics. More than that, he's on the good side! These columns are a delight to read and full of good sense as well. Steyn proves mastery of style and subject-matter is not dead. Like PJ O'Rourke, he redeems the name of jourmalism. Buy this collection, not only for your own edification and delight (as well as rage!) but to show your children a scintillating portrait of our strange times in the future.

Steyn is a supurb polemicist -- sharp unto the dividing of joints and marrow. There isn't a false note in his prose, and even if you don't subscribe to his warmongering right-wing madman bigotted homophobic ... am I leaving anything out? -- I quote from memory his own self-description ... oh! intolerant views, you can still admire the clarity and self-assurance of his style.

My own wonderful son is now serving in the US military, and I'm sending him my copy of Steyn's book, just to help my own wonderful son (do I repeat myself? I am vast!) stay focused on the whole point: if it is to be Jihad vs Crusade (and it seems that it is), we have to know which side of the line ... or should I say "razor" ... we're on ... or should I say "box-cutter"?

There is a folk tale, variously attributed, about the fox that is persuaded to carry a scorpion on its back across a river. "Oh, I surely will not strike you with my venomnous tail," assures the scorpion, "for then I too would drown." But halfway across, the scorpion does indeed sting the fox, and as they both flounder, the fox reproaches the betraying creature. Its reply came thus: "It is true that I too shall perish. But I am a scorpion, and to strike is my nature." How Islam is practiced by the vast majority of its adherents is as it may be. But its nature is Jihad.

In any case, Steyn is laugh-out-loud funny, and there is hardly a page that doesn't have some master-trope that just makes you shake your head and wish you'd thought of it first (I just pretend to myself that I did). It may be that even those on the far left would be convinced, if such a thing were possible. In short, a whole-hearted recommendation ... and did I mention my son is wonderful?

Particularly here in the People's Republic of Canada. Alas, Steyn, a Canuck, is no longer writing for that steadily deteriorating rag, the National Post (he was the main reason I subscribed). Fans should not despair, however, as you can head on over to his Web site at www.steynonline.com for a weekly booster shot. (Note: If you order this book directly from his Web site, you can get an autographed copy for the same price that you will pay at Amazon!) The power, eloquence and razor-sharp incisiveness of Steyn's wit and writing are refreshing and will have you saying "Right-on, brother!" every few sentences! He regularly exposes the feeble-minded, politically-correct dunces of the left (in Canada we call them "Liberals" and "New Democrats") for what they truly are. That this brilliant guy no longer has a column in his native Canada says all you need to know about the state of affairs in this country. Needless to say, he is roundly reviled here (and especially in Moscow North--Ottawa). As far as I am concerned, that is a strong sign that he is doing something right!

Particularly here in the People's Republic of Canada. Alas, Steyn, a Canuck, is no longer writing for that steadily deteriorating rag, the National Post (he was the main reason I subscribed). Fans should not despair, however, as you can head on over to his Web site at www.steynonline.com for a weekly booster shot. (Note: If you order this book directly from his Web site, you can get an autographed copy!) The power, eloquence and razor-sharp incisiveness of Steyn's wit and writing are refreshing and will have you saying "Right-on, brother!" every few sentences! He regularly exposes the feeble-minded, politically-correct .... of the left (in Canada we call them "Liberals" and "New Democrats") for what they truly are. That this brilliant guy no longer has a column in his native Canada says all you need to know about the state of affairs in this country. Needless to say, he is roundly reviled here (and especially in Moscow North--Ottawa). As far as I am concerned, that is a strong sign that he is doing something right!

This collection of Mark Steyn's essays is truly brilliant. His analyses cut through the political correctness and hypocrisy of media and politicians and lay it on the line in a way that will make many a public figure deservedly uncomfortable. Mr Steyn's writing is lively, though-provoking and, when he chooses, also very funny. Highly recommended.

When you first read a Mark Steyn column it only takes a few sentences to realize that he is a gifted writer of extraordinary intelligence. He is also conservative and libertarian and therefore mostly ignored by the mainstream media. To paraphrase the original Bard:

Mark Steyn's a bawcock, and a heart of gold,
A lad of life, an imp of fame;
Of parents good, of fist most valiant.
I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string
I love the lovely bully.

And you will too.
Mark Steyn sells this book on his website personally autographned for the same price it's available for here. (Sorry Amazon.)

A compilation of his columns for the year following the September 11 attacks, Steyn's book is worthwhile for the reader who is not a contemporaneous reader of his syndicated articles. However, a better choice for the new reader as well as one who follows Mr. Steyn in the daily press would be "America Alone", in which Steyn evaluates the accuracy of his opinons and predictions (I would gine "America Alone" 4 stars). As an exercize in monday morning quarterbacking, both "Eye of the Tiger" and "America Alone" validate the politcal trends about which Mr. Steyn writes so compellingly.

The Face of the Tiger proves just how underappreciated columnist Mark Steyn really is. One part William F. Buckley Jr. (without the grandiose language) and one part P.J. O'Rourke (without the sarcasm), Steyn takes the best of both men by being a both a humourist and insightful. Yet despite that he's not as well known as either man, something that The Face of the Tiger will hopefully begin to remedy. The book collects his columns from September 11, 2001 to precisely one year later and primarily deals with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. You can find him in the pages of The National Post and The Jerusalem Post as well as several other newspapers...