151 of 205 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I guess a bibliography was too inconvenient for this book., December 31, 2007
Let me say first that I'm not reviewing Glenn Beck's politics or his character. I think his radio show is great fun, and his life story is inspirational, but this book to me was ultimately disappointing.
Now, the full color printing and the little cartoon and blurb asides on most every page make for a very attractive and fun book to read. The extra cost and effort to produce stuff like this is not lost on me. This is likely the most attractive book by a political media pundit that I've ever seen.
The main problem is that this book is full of facts and figures, and many of them are unreferenced. For example, on page 7 the author writes that the increase in the amount of coal that China will burn will send as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 3 billion Ford Expeditions driven 15,000 miles a year.
That's funny, but where did he get this? Where's the little number that points to the notes at the end of the chapter, or the book, that tell me the source that he cited? I haven't found it yet.
Political media pundits are great for raising issues and directing our attention to things we may have never have though of before, but they are not primary sources of information, and they should not pretend to be.
So, I quote this figure above to one of my liberal acquaintances, and s/he says, "that's funny, where did you learn that?" And I say, "that new Glenn Beck book". And s/he says "ha ha ha ha ha". And I can't back up what I said. So much for the war of ideas.
So, full color printing and cartoons and little blurbs and all that fun stuff were not too inconvenient for this book, but rigerous referencing of the stats presented to make arguements apparently was too inconvenient for this book. Ann Coulter's writings may be caustic, even in the extreme, but at least she is careful to cite her sources. I wish this author would do the same.
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96 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is The Paranoid Optimist Right?, January 15, 2008
The book covers plenty of topics with varying degrees of quality & quantity. I believe parts are done totally in a tongue in cheek manner.
Chapters 1-22 have the following titles. "Global Warming, Marriage & Porn, Islam, Body Image, Blind Dating, Income Gap, Oil Dependence, Liberal Universities, Political Games, Movie Rentals, Media Bias, Political Correctness, Tipping, Pedophiles, The UN, Remembering Names, Minimum Wage, Aging, Opinion Polls, Poverty, Parenting, & Illegal Immigration."
This book is not meant to be as rich in detail or as thorough as say Pat Buchanan's "Day Of Reckoning," so the 1-2 star reviewers should lighten up a bit. Nor is it as political as the reader may have thought.
Mr. Beck bases his views on common sense{an oxymoron if there ever was one}, his moral code, & life experience.
I will focus on the most relevant chapters. Ch-3 on Radical Islam could not be more spot on. Ninety percent of Muslims are peace loving, law abiding people. But, it is also true that the majority have been intimidated so as not to speak out against the minority of those who are twisting their faith for evil ends.
Indeed, Mr. Beck is correct, "we should sweat the small stuff." We should also reinstate the first amendment & toss Political correctness in the dust bin of discredited & absurd ideologies. On page 44, do we really want to become France? A country that has practically allowed for small Muslim states to exist within their borders with tiny effort to have them assimilate. However, unlikely the prospect of that occuring here, it is food for thought?
Ch-6 John Edwards is practicing class warfare, but he is partially correct about the income gaps having widened. Page 83, yes indeed, we "all are created equal." At least under the law that is.
What we do with our lives is mainly our own choice. Page 85, how shocking that the NYTimes twisted the facts by not mentioning that the income tax code has changed over the decades??? Anyone who is surprised by that must be truly gullible. The stats on page 88 could not be truer. Ch-7 page 99, sorry Mr. Beck the Russians never called their empire "Byzantine." the latter was Greek in culture & language. While the government, military, & law codes were thoroughly Roman. Page 101, yes president Carter deserves credit for trying to cut our imports & use of oil. Pages 104-7 are true, if we have the will we can solve our energy problems.
Ch-8 may be the truest one in the book? We as a society should dump tenure at all of our schools, including Universities. Everyone should be accountable in the workforce. Why should folks in education be given a pass?
It would also end the monopoly the political left has had for generations on our campuses. Ch-9 pages 128-9 are sad, but its time for we Americans to say "MEA CULPA"-pronounced {May-ah-coolpah}= my fault. Ch-14 pages 184-5, amazing that we as a country are doing the right things to reduce the perverts access to our kids. Ch-15 page 189, Kofi Annan's statement was right. Yes, the USA. leaving the United Nations which was badly set up in the first place is fine with me. Ch-20 page 257, could be true? That could explain much of the problems we face. Ch-22, we as a people can solve the illegal immigration by punishing the employers. That is the key to reversing the trend. In conclusion, however satirical & simple the book is at times{I did not expect Mr. Beck to be a younger William F. Buckley}. Mr. Beck has common sense & that alone deserves four stars.
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