I Rant, Therefore I Am (Paperback)

by Dennis Miller (Author) "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but daytime TV talk shows have become a vast, fetid, sump-sucking wasteland, populated by..." (more)
Key Phrases: pro wrestling, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Dennis Miller (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (June 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076790575X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767905756
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #293,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice breather between longer audiobooks, and funny, too, July 16, 2000

By	Joseph P. Menta, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: I Rant, Therefore I Am (Audio Cassette)

I often listen to long unabridged audiobooks (usually in the car) of titles I simply don't have time to otherwise read. Between those long titles, I enjoy taking a breather to enjoy a shorter, punchier audio, like a four-cassette mystery anthology or a one or two tape comedy production. "I Rant, Therefore I Am" was a fun example of the latter. Funny stuff, here. I especially enjoyed the way Miller varied his rants' subject matter between lofty topics like the war on drugs to everyday stuff like pets. And I had to smile when I heard that Miller wasn't above doing a rant about a topic covered by nine hundred comedians nine hundred and ten times before: the trials and tribulations of air travel (it was one of the funnier rants, too). A minor quibble is that one or two rants should have been done again from the top due to a frog suddenly materializing in Miller's throat halfway into a rant (though even this was a bit fun, as it generated entertaining suspense as we wonder if he will make it to the end before his voice TOTALLY breaks up). Also, there were one or two instances where the dramatic emphasis was placed on the wrong word, thus weakening the strength of the punchline. But again, this is minor stuff, which somehow even contributed to the organic feel of the piece, reminding us that it's a real guy out there complaining about all this stuff. I didn't mind that the tape is abridged, either. The weaker rants from the book were left behind, leaving us with Miller performing aloud all the good ones. Survival of the fittest, after all!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny, Pure Dennis, December 11, 2000

By	James F. Lacher "San Diego Native" (Littleton, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Rant, Therefore I Am (Hardcover)

If you like Dennis Miller on HBO, you will of course enjoy this book. I rarely get a chance to see his show so this book was perfect for me.

When Miller was making headlines this summer with his addition to MNF I thought I'd get his latest rants. I was glad I did. The thing I like about this book is that you can pick it up at anytime and have yourself a good laugh. Each chapter is only 4-5 pages long. You don't have to remember what you read the last time you picked up the book because each chapter is a different rant.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it is all from the tv show. So there is no original material here. If I happened to have seen that episode the book isn't quite as funny.

Overall, if you are a Dennis Miller fan, it is definitely worth the price. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Of course, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong..., July 11, 2000

By	M. Johnson "admiralmpj" (Southern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: I Rant, Therefore I Am (Hardcover)

It's a good book, but unlike George Carlin's and Chris Rock's books (which have added extras not featured in their respective HBO specials) these are just the Rants. Nothing more, nothing less.