Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot [Paperback]

Al Franken (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 12, 1999

Move over P.J. O'Rourke! From Al Franken, America's premier liberal satirist, comes a hilarious homage to the wonderful, awful, and always absurd American political process that skewers a whole new crop of presidential hopefuls--just in time for the 1996 presidential election. "(Franken is) responsible in part for some of the most brilliant political satire of our time".--John Podhoretz, New York Post.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Rush Limbaugh claims his talent is on loan. With this book, Franken demonstrates that he owns. The frankly Democratic author's shtick reminds us how much of a free ride conservatives have gotten in the mainstream media. For instance, he really drives home the weirdness of the conservatives' preachiness about "family values" in light of Newt Gingrich's and Bob Dole's first marriages, and Rush Limbaugh's first, second and third marriages. And he has great fun with Rush's and Newt's miraculous draft deferments in a chapter where he imagines all of the great conservative "chicken-hawks" out on a Vietnam war patrol under the leadership of Ollie North. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Franken, a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live and in feature films, does to Limbaugh what the conservative talk-show host has been doing to Democratic politicians for years. Using admitted half-truths and out-of-context quotes, he skewers Rush & Friends as no liberal has done in years. Franken does a retrospective of Limbaugh's life from when he "fed off the largesse of the government in the form of unemployment insurance"; how he failed to register to vote until he was 35; how he used two airline coach seats to fit his opulent hind-quarters; and how he got a 4-F deferment because of a pilonidal cyst. There are two hilarious sketches: "My 'Conversation' with Rush Limbaugh" uses out-of-context quotes to corner Rush in much the same way that Limbaugh once had a "conversation" with Hillary Clinton; and "Operation Chickenhawk," with Ollie North leading Vietnam draft-dodgers Limbaugh, Quayle, Buchanan, George Will and Clarence Thomas to their demises in Asian rice paddies. Franken also doesn't have anything nice to say about Newt Gingrich, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Phil Gramm and others of the haranguing right. A mean-spirited, albeit funny, diatribe that will delight liberals. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dell; twentieth edition (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440508649
• ISBN-13: 978-0440508649
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (410 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #668,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Funniest Books I've Ever Read, and Re-Read July 17, 2004

By Danusha V. Goska

Format:Paperback

I've read this book straight through twice.

I really thought I'd never laugh out loud, as frequently and as uproariously, the second time as the first time, but I did.

Franken's "review," ostensibly by Jeanne Kirkpatrick, of RLIABFI is, alone, worth the price of the book. I laugh so hard when reading this I double over.

This humor is not for everyone -- it is for people who, like Franken, are both intellectuals and political junkies.

On the down side, I do have trouble with the title. It's funny, but ... it's rude and mean. I don't have a solution here. I don't know how to create humor that never hurts anyone's feelings, and I don't know the best way to respond to hatemongers like Rush Limbaugh.

If nothing else, the title of this book, which has become a classic, got us thinking and talking about the Right's muddying of public debate and its abandonment of civil discourse.

Too, at times I do find Franken's ability to be impressed by his own intelligence and high-power connections a bit hard to take, but ... I forgive him for that, he is such a valuable resource.

116 of 160 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny and honest, but extreme at times October 23, 2000

By mrovich

Format:Paperback

I am English, and picking up a random satirical political book from the shelf seemed like a good idea for learning a bit about American politics. And having a good time.

I didn't like the title, because it is somewhat...confrontational. But between the covers of this aggressive book lay a very, very funny man. He combines an astute political sense with a level of indignant humanitarianism which allows him to put radical conservatives in a very bad light. Franken uses stats and figures to support his claims, but never attempts to pretend his book is any more than satire - slightly less political than P.J. O'Rourke, for example.

Radical conservatives might struggle to enjoy this, but anyone with a sense of humour should be able to appreciate most of Franken's character portraits and, even better, anecdotes - for example, when he played with the President American football and made a play which won his team the game...but the President forbore to congratulate him. The quick prose is funny and witty...

But...it does go a little far at times, and though I learned to share some of Franken's views on Rush Limbaugh, to whom I have never listened, I still thought some of the writing went too far. It reassured me tremendously to read in Franken's "Why Not Me" that Limbaugh himself had bumped into him and instead of pummelling him had yelled - "hell of a book!". This, and grudging praise to men such as Bob Dole gives Franken a bit more depth than an out-and-out liberal satirist with no punches pulled.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun CD to listen to January 13, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

I don't see why so many people take this book so seriously. It's comedy. I only have the CD of the book so I haven't read the book, but I have to say that it is hilarious. I don't care if Franken is not exactly telling the truth, I'm not going to write a thesis based on the facts presented in the book. Franken openly admits to all the faults of the book such as: he only named it b/c it would be controversial, and he didn't really listen to the show at all b/c it got too annoying for him. People don't have a sense of humor anymore. I don't think he was attacking Limbaugh as much as he was smart enough to know that there are people that do not like Limbaugh and would appreciate the one-liners about the talk show host. I recommend getting the CD b/c you can get a better sense of what Franken's words are supposed to come across as (he reads his own book) and there's a great clip of his speech towards the end.

68 of 94 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nation's Premier Political Comedian September 9, 2001

By ANDREW MCHENRY

Format:Paperback

Franken admits that he came up with the title for this book before writing it. This is a hilarious collection of essays targeting the politicial right wing. The book kicks off with a chapter that pokes fun of Limbaugh's hypocrisy, weight, and political/social stances. He writes, "It's way too easy to quote him: 'It's time to start championing old-fashioned virtues like... self-restraint, self-discipline' and then write STOP EATING!!!" Much of the book is like this; spoofs on right-wing hypocrisy alongside exposures of some of their more asinine remarks. (e.g.- Rush Limbaugh: "Have you ever noticed how all newspaper composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?" Pat Robertson: "The feminist agenda....is not about equal rights for women. It's about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft and become lesbians." Newt Gingrich: "If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections... On the other hand, if combat means being on an aegis class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships, a female may be again dramatically better than a male, who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes." Franken retorts: "Two images come to mind. The first is of the grasslands of Africa. During the Neolithic Period. Rush, Newt, and Bill Bennett, all 825 pounds of them, are trying to run down a giraffe. The giraffe is thinking, 'No problem here.' The second image is of Newt, about fifteen years ago, explaining to his thirteen-year-old daughter that she just got her first 'infection....'") Subsequent essays cover a range of political figures and issues. My version, the new paperback edition, also includes a postlude of "New Dirt on the Nutcase Right". There aren't many Jay Leno-type one-liners in this one. Instead, the essays have the strange mixture of building into hilarity while enraging you.

Good: This book is a quick, funny read. The best essays are the ones that target specific characters, particularly the ones on Limbaugh, Newt Gingerich, Phil Gramm, Pat Buchanan, and Pat Robertson.

Bad: A couple of the essays drag a bit, particularly the fictitious "Operation Chickenhawk".

Opinion: This one is hysterical! I laughed out loud regularly while reading it. It's definitely nice to see someone giving Limbaugh a taste of his own medicine. Franken stops at nothing, and in my opinion has definitely established himself as one of the nation's premier political comedians. Read more ›