From Publishers Weekly
The third entry in Emmy-winning Miller's witty and cynical ranting series (after The Rants and Ranting Again) features 53 monologues, an armada of satirical projectiles. Beginning each fast-paced session with the line "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here" and closing with "Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong," Miller touches on everything from affirmative action to bad taste. He also weighs in on capital punishment, college ("the last convenience store before the desert of responsibility"), consumerism, cops, country music ("Branson, Missouri... where plastic pink flamingos migrate for the winter"), the death of eccentricity, doctors ("When you're not insured, doctors act like you've got some kind of a disease or something"), the end of privacy, fear of flying ("Every flight I'm on there's a screaming baby. Me"), Jerry Springer ("the Yoda of Daytime"), network news, the Oscars, paranoia, talk radio, taxes, workaholics ("power-suited desk jockeys") and wrestling ("To call pro wrestling a sport is akin to calling... Hillary Clinton a New Yorker"). All in all, the volume makes it clear why Miller's fans chant "The rants, the rants, the rants!" when he walks onstageAthey're fun and smart. Even so, in future publications Miller might consider including transcripts from some of his show's incisive celebrity interviews. Of course, that's just our opinion. We could be wrong. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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From Booklist
First, there was
The Rants (1996). Then there was
Ranting Again (1998). And now, this. Can nothing stop this man? As long as his collections of monologues from his HBO show become best-sellers, probably not. Surely we all know the drill by now. Just about every one of these suckers begins "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but," and ends, "Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." Never were more insincere words spoken. Which is precisely the point. Miller has made quite a career out of superficial cynicism. It isn't so much that he doesn't believe in anything as it is that he doesn't say anything worth believing. Mostly he calls celebrities names, mocks popular movies and TV programs, trashes trends, and glues the name-calling, mockery, and dissing together with the excretory expletive. It is possible to see him as the latest figure in the line of public affairs humorists that includes Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and Bob Hope. In fact, if you think the progression from Twain to Rogers to Hope is actually a retrogression, maybe even a degradation, it is easy to place Miller next in the series. From genius to perpetual potty-mouthed 13-year-old in less than a century and a half--that's entertainment, American style!
Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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