Customer Reviews

The Overton Window

5 star:		(320)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(61)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(68)

 

 

I am conservative, but not a major Glenn Beck fan. I figured the book would have a lot of conservative political doctrine in it, and it did. For about the first half of the book, I would have given it 2-3 stars. The attraction between Molly and Noah seemed a bit contrived and the plot seemed to be kind of meandering. I was worried it was going to be a weak book that was just written as a vehicle to preach politics.

However, about half way through (and I will not give away any spoilers) Beck starts to put the first half of the book together in a way that made me understand what he was doing. It really starts to get good. The last half was a complete page turner for me.

Also, make sure to read the afterward at the end of the book. It was interesting to know how much fact was in the book. He also discusses how facts can be twisted (even by conservatives). IE, not all the conservative spiels in the book are what Glenn himself believes.

Overall, I was very happy I read it.

I am writing this review, because every review on here seems to be about the author and his biases and not about the BOOK itself. Let me first say that I am an avid reader. I read everything from Stephenie Meyer to Bertrand Russell, Chuck Palahniuk to Freakonomics. I read 3-5 books per week, fiction and non-fiction alike.

I knew very little about Glenn Beck before I purchased this book. Of course I had heard his name, and that he was a radio personality, but that's about it. I read a little about him before beginning the book, learning that he is a "conservative libertarian." With that being said, it didn't really matter to me, a good book is a good book, no matter the political implications or insinuations.

About the book: The plot was weak, it could have used a lot less quoting and preaching and a lot more character development and background. I found myself being thrown into a whole lot of speeches and little narrative or story development.

The original character descriptions were good, but I found myself wanting to know more about them, who they were really, where they came from, and what they were thinking. The protagonist of this story was the only character that was explored deeper than a name, physical description, and a little about their backgrounds. I wanted to know more about them ESPECIALLY what they were thinking.

The writing was a little below average. Mr. Beck just isn't that good of a story teller, I found myself drifting through the quotes and preaching, wanting them to be over so the story could continue...which it never really did. There was never a climax in the story, and the ending left a lot to be desired.

You would have expected to learn a lot more of the elder Mr. Gardner(the main character's father) before the last chapter. Additionally, I felt that it ended without anything being solved. It just kind of ended in what I would think of as the middle of the story.

All in all this was not worth the day and a half I put into reading it, and I suggest if Mr. Beck wants to share his political ideology, he stick to non-fiction. I would be happy to read it, and would probably enjoy it.

Why write a fiction book, when really all you want to do is write a book of facts regarding the corruption of our country? That's what we really need to hear and read...hiding all of that in the guise of a fiction story(dubbed a thriller, no less) is disappointing to those of us who want to read a good novel.

***NOTE: For all of you who are going to call me a biased liberal hippie, I am a former employee and lifetime member of the National Rifle Association(thanks to Mr. Beck for the kudos in the book), and a member of the libertarian party.

Not particularly liking or disliking Mr. Beck, I took a copy of this book from a co-worker with some reluctance, and it sat on my desk for several days before a trip caused me to pick it up for airplane reading. About 25 pages into the book I was hooked and finished it in a few short days. It is a great story. It is very well written. It is thought provoking. It is full of interesting facts and observations. And contrary to expectations, it is not a bashing of Democrats or a celebration of Republicans. Yes, there are political overtones but these can be dismissed, or considered, as the reader desires since this is just a great story.

A thinking person's philosophical thriller that went flat.
Glen Beck's new literary work is a thinking person's political thriller that went flat. Not to denigrate my favorite novel of all time, but Glen Beck's Overton Window is Atlas Shrugged "extremely lite". Mr. Beck attempts to coalesce his political philosophy around the conflicted world of the protagonist Noah Gardner and his "originalist" girl friend Molly Ross. The story starts strong but soon spins out of control as Mr. Beck tries to cover too much complex political philosophy in too few pages. The basic thesis is good, self-centered naive son of tyrannical self-possessed father meets political purist young woman and falls in love. But then the story begins to fall flat, as Mr. Beck injects his political views-much of which I agree with-without proper foundation. Still I found myself ambivalent of the Overton Window. I liked the message just not so much the vehicle.

What is The Overton Window? In Mr. Beck's words, "....it's a way of describing what the public is currently ready to accept on an issue, so you can decide how best to move them toward what you want." At any given moment the "window" includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, with "acceptable" defined as something a politician can recommend without being considered too "extreme" or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. From this concept, Mr. Beck extrapolates his story using the age old battle of good versus evil in the political world of America today. Good being the "original intent" of the Founders, versus the bad being the current move today toward bigger, more intrusive "nanny" government. This is where Mr. Beck' story breaks down into superficiality. Ideas such as Mr. Beck's needs a broader mosaic to work, hence the reference to Ayn Rand's tour de force Atlas Shrugged. The Overton Window needed more depth with political ideas developed through stronger individuals. Simplistic presentation of deep philosophical political ideas and principles become caricatures of themselves when presented too shallowly. Still, Mr. Beck raised some intriguing thought provoking ideas of our corrupted political scene today. Mr. Beck has an interesting mind and I personally wish he would have gone into more depth with this novel. I realize there are literary pressures in book length and content complexity, especially with political views, but come on Mr. Beck you can do better. You have the knowledge and the passion so next time let it ALL hang out.

No gratuitous language, sex, or violence. Character development was weak to mediocre which hurt this novel. This was a target rich character environment that was left wanting. So much opportunity so little done.
I am ambivalent in my recommendation. I did like the book for it's all too brief examination into the hyper-corrupt political world of today, and also Mr. Beck's investigation into the Overton Window theory. But overall the story was rather superficial and the characters generally lacked development and were one dimensional. Basically, it was a terrific opportunity missed. So I'd say wait for the paperback or get it at your local library. There simply is not enough there to justify the price of a hardback. I like Glenn Beck and I hope he learned something through this initial foray into the world of the political novel. Because of Mr. Beck's passion 3 stars.

This book is one of the best reads i have had in a long time. I usually hardly ever read fiction and read basically only non-fiction, related to economics and politics, primary source stuff. I like Glenn beck, though at times i think he gets to be a little much, regardless of what you think about Beck, the Overton Window is a great book that deserves a spot on the shelf next to Rand.

Furthermore, i think that it is important to note that this IS NOT a Tom Clancy novel, if you don't understand or want to understand the underlying ideological themes, then you will fail to understand the book and it will come off as an amateurish fictional book. I see this done with many liberals who read Atlas Shrugged and then proceed to review it as a fictional novel, independent of ideology (which is the main point of these fact based fiction books).

And finally, if you are a liberal or an extremely disengaged moderate who isn't interested in the problems of the world around you, this book is not for you. You will not enjoy it, end of story.So, before negatively reviewing this book because of your own incompetence, you can shut up and go back to reading Twilight, only to wake up one day and discover that the world around you has collapsed while you were busy watching Jersey Shore and Entertainment Tonight instead of actively engaging or seriously discussing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

I ordered a signed copy of this book through Glenn Beck's website and was surprised to actually receive it last Thursday--almost a week before it was supposed to be released.

I read it within 24 hours! I'm not a huge reader of fiction (one or two books a year), so I can't provide a trained critical review. But, as a concerned citizen of this country, it was refreshing to see an author correctly portray who the viliians of our society really are, and who the heroes are.

Some may call it a book filled with wild conspiracy theories, but it's not about trying to prove any particular conspiracy. The purpose of this book is to educate the reader to dig deeper beneath the propaganda we are exposed to on a daily basis and "question everything". It challenges us to find out for ourselves what to take on face value, and when to be a skeptic. And it does it all through a creative and entertaining storyline.

I can't wait for the sequel. I will be purchasing copies for friends and family.

By the way, unlike most thrillers written these days, this book is clean and appropriate for all audiences!

I will say this much, this book was a great read for its entirety. It was gripping in its conspiracy theory, and without a doubt it deserves a sequel. I pegged it one star because the book has no conclusion whatsoever. As a standalone book, it is worthless, however, Beck has already said that he has a sequel written and will publish it if this one sells well.

So please, for my sanity, buy this book and read it. I can't NOT know what happens to Noah and Molly.

I was hesitant to type out this review, because I know most likely it is just going to lead to a wealth of "not helpfuls" based solely on the rating. But oh well, I want to review this book because...wow.

To start off, I'm not a big fan of Beck and my politics are on the other side of the spectrum from him. Generally though, I do enjoy a good thriller. Beck introduces this novel saying that it is "faction," driving home the point that he is basically taking something he thinks could happen, and then pushing the edges of it to the extreme. The problem with the book comes not from the politics (which admittedly are very silly in parts), but rather from the overall clunkiness of the storyline.

The book references Star Wars quite a bit and you can see just how much that series of movies influenced the book. In the role of Princess Leia, we have Molly. She is the leader of the Rebel Alliance...I mean Founder's Keepers, the ragtag group of Ron Paulish patriots trying to save the world. Noah Gardner is Luke Skywalker, him of the evil father and reluctant hero. Arthur Gardner plays Darth Vader.

But that isn't particularly fair. Arthur Gardner is really an avatar for George Soros, or at least what people like Glenn Beck think Soros is. Gardner is a PR exec. who is responsible for creating Restless Leg Syndrome, Che shirts and the Iraq War. With his billions from the ad and PR industries, he decides he is going to remark the world as a sort of Aristotlian Aristocracy. To accomplish this, he needs to spark enough fear and panic to move window of acceptable actions towards this government by "the best." That window I referenced is the "Overton Window" of the title.

Noah begins the book by just basically doing what his father tells him to do, even though from any outside observer, it is pretty clear that whatever Arthur Gardner is planning, it is pretty evil. Then after meeting Molly, the pretty girl in the mailroom, he attends what amounts to a Tea Party rally with her. There is a setup at the rally to make them look violent as well as to kidnap one of the leaders. The books then plummets into a series of double crosses, political monolouges and then finally, a wee bit of action.

Beck is doing what he can with the book to try and push his political beliefs via a mroe palatable method than his radio, tv or political books. However, too often characters launch into long political ramblings at seemingly awkward times. By now I'm sure everyone has heard of the discussion of the flat tax after our couple's first kiss and it is as awkward as you would expect.

The writing style is poor as well. However, I noticed it more in the first half of the book than the second half. I can't tell if it actually improved or I just got used to it. In the first half of the book we are treated to a paragraph filled with cliche's that made me laugh while reading it:

"Noah noticed that the atmosphere in the bar seemed to have changed during the few
minutes that the woman had been on the stage. It wasn't just that you could hear a pin drop, it
was the whole feel of the place. She had them in the palm of her hand."

Wow. Again, the dialouge is clunky merely because a good half of the dialouge takes the form of political monolouges. Arthur Gardner has only a few scenes in the book, but all of them are monolouges talking about the greatness of Saul Alinsky, how he can change the world and how several thousand lives are perfectly fine to lose in this day and age. He is a cartoon character of a bad guy.

Most of the characters are cartoons. Noah is mostly an avatar for the story instead of being a real character. Molly is smart and beautiful. She lives in communes and can handle guns. Hollis, her partner is a big mountain man. It is also interesting to note that the bad guy is New York and the good guys are all rural characters.

Beck certainly makes his views about the Tea Party known as Founder's Keepers serves as their stand in (on a related note, I really wanted the bad guys to be "Losers Weepers"). While he beleives that most of the people at the events are patriots, he warns of the "intelopers," the Anti-semites, the racists etc etc.

At other points though, the characters just kind of lose themselves. On one hand, one of the impassioned pleas from the FK rally is for non violence:

"You're angry, I know you are, and you should be," the speaker continued. "but now I need
to urge you, to demand of you, that you renounce anyone who suggests violence. Just like Dr.
King, we aim to eliminate evil, not those who perpetrate it. To speak of violence in any form is
to play right into the hands of those who oppose us. They've already invested countless hours
into portraying us as violent, hateful racists, and they are just waiting for the chance to further
that story line. Don't give it to them. Instead of Bill Ayers, give them Benjamin Franklin. Instead
of Malcolm X, give them Rosa Parks. Instead of bin Laden, give them Gandhi. They are
well prepared on how to use violence to their advantage, but they have absolutely no idea
how to use peace.

Yet, 100 pages later they are seen making their own ammunition in their commune condo. They apparently do a lot of militia like training with guns as well. Molly is reported to be a great quick draw shot. Unless she is the world's oddest hunter, it seems rather likely that she is willing to meet violence with violence to some extent.

Everything else aside though, not much happens throughout the book. Things are implied, speeches are spoke with great frequency and in the end the amount of thrills in the book are minimal. The plot is pretty simplistic and its easy to see where it is going. Its clear the nuclear bombs and the occasional gun fight are simply the applesauce for thriller readers that the bitter pill of politics is ground up into to make it more palatable.

Demille, Flynn and Thor all have similar politics in their novels, but unlike Beck's, the politics is surrounded in action, not the other way around.

So there is an honest review, enjoy the unhelpful button if you must.

Please ignore the below reviews on this book. It hasn't even been released yet!! Commenting on a book you haven't even read just because you disagree with the author's political views is ridiculous, disgusting, and WRONG. It disrespects the author, this forum, and every single Amazon customer, and reveals the reviewer as a close-minded, bigoted fool. I have reported all of the below reviews to Amazon as inappropriate, and I hope others will as well.

If you have read this book and have an honest opinion, good or bad, about it, I'm sure we'd all love to hear it! Otherwise, please keep your prejudices to yourselves.

First I would like to say that I am a huge fan of Glenn Beck's. I loved "Arguing with Idiots"...but this book....I'm trying to think of a nice way to say "not that good"...There was absolutely NO character development..You know how when you read a really good book, you sometimes forget you're reading, and when the story is over, you kind of miss the characters...well that won't happen with this book.
I'll be honest, I read a lot..I finished this book in 7 hours...and as a conservative libertarian, gun owner and pretty much just an anti-government guy..I was pretty pumped about this book...it wasn't awful...just not very good...sorry Glenn, I love your show though!!