An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this appraisal of America's woes, conservative TV and talk-radio host Beck (The Real America) lays lighthearted siege to everything that makes the world worse. [P]olitical correctness is the biggest threat this nation faces today, he declares, as it makes us prey for Islamic fundamentalists, renders taboo the roots of our economic troubles (poor people are, in fact, lazy, he argues) and creates rampant distortion in the media. Beck goes paragraph for paragraph with global-warming alarmist Al Gore, merrily slaughtering the sacred cows of the environmentalist crowd. Not sated by the hide of the former vice president, he goes after everything and everyone from poverty to perverts, offering solutions to these and other problems (e.g., the key to success in the capitalist system is to believe in it). While often informative, as in his chapter on global warming, Beck is sometimes tedious, particularly when dealing with Islam and education (France is literally teetering on the edge, and our biggest ally, England, is about to be turned inside out as well). He's at his best when most absurd, and funniest when he's his own target (the father of four is little more than a flesh-and-bone jungle gym). This should make a good read for conservatives. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Glenn Beck is CNN's chief corporate-fascism advocate."-- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

"Finally! A guy who says what people who aren't thinking, are thinking."-- Jon Stewart

"Satan's mentally challenged younger brother."-- Stephen King

"There's something about him that suggests that, one night, he'll say something that will cost him his career...."-- Keith Olbermann

"Glenn Beck shouldn't be on [the air]."-- Al Franken --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Threshold Editions (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416560440
• ISBN-13: 978-1416560449
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (479 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 177 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

By	lighten_up_already2 "lighten_up_already2" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems (Hardcover)

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.

44 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag of Good Points, Raw Humor, and Superficial Critiques, January 2, 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems (Hardcover)

Glenn Beck does his readers a service by suggesting that we get to the facts behind all those opinions and assertions that bombard us daily . . . and the ones we hold that we haven't looked into in about 20 years. He is at his best when pointing out the weaknesses of polls, statistics, and arguments made to push certain political positions.

His idea of humor reminds me in places of the kind of outrageousness that was popular in high school for flaunting authority. The humor works best when he has a sound underpinning of a suggestion for a better idea (as he does in several cases). Otherwise, it's just blowing off steam (a rant, in other words). I find rants (even humorous ones) to be boring so they didn't work very well with me.

The parts of the humor that I found very effective were the moronic quotes of people who either didn't understand what they were saying or displayed hidden motives in public.

Where he gets into trouble is where he doesn't know enough to take a position apart but thinks he does. I admire him for trying, but arguments based on charts displaying correlations just don't prove anything unless you can also show a cause-and-effect relationship. I suggest he get some people to help him who can take the time to pull these issues apart at a little more fundamental level.

I would recommend that those who don't normally question their political beliefs take a look at this book. It's a template for how to check your own thinking by doing a little research . . . something we should all do more of.

I had never heard of Glenn Beck before reading his book so I didn't have a prior opinion of him as an on-air performer.

I also haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, so I don't know how accurate his satire of Al Gore is.

I found his humility about explaining his prior mistakes to be refreshing and praiseworthy.

I could really relate to his description of what it's like to have a guy show up to pick up your daughter for a date.

If he gets someone to check his work a little more carefully and finds a few more solutions, Glenn Beck could be quite a positive force.

88 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is The Paranoid Optimist Right?, January 15, 2008

By	Steve Guardala "Support The ASPCA. Ignore All... (?????) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems (Hardcover)

The book covers plenty of topics with varying degrees of quality & quantity. 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 intimadated 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.