How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: (and Found Inner Peace) (Paperback)

by Harry Stein (Author) "I realize this may sound petty and, even worse, smacks of that cardinal sin of the age, a refusal to take personal responsibility..." (more)
Key Phrases: white progressives, black conservatives, New York Times, Bill Clinton, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Conservatives aren't born--they evolve. And for Wall Street Journal ethics columnist Harry Stein--once vilified in The Village Voice as "a well-known asshole"--that evolution began with the birth of his daughter. But Stein's memoir on transforming from bleeding-heart liberal to someone who gets junk mail from Patrick Buchanan isn't a sappy tale of fatherhood; it's a witty, intelligent account of how one man began to think for himself. "I remember when I was called a fascist for the first time," Stein writes about a dinner conversation in which he sided with Dan Quayle over the Murphy Brown/single-motherhood controversy. While alienating his left-leaning friends, Stein takes to task The New York Times, AIDS hysteria, men-hating feminists, and Bill Clinton, just to mention a few bastions of liberalism that contributed to his social makeover. As if to prove he didn't start out this way, Stein spends a great deal of time trying to convince the reader of his liberal roots. His wife, a former story editor for a major motion picture company, once belonged to a group called Women Against Right-Wing Scum. His sexual escapades as a single man (including a trip to a New York "swap" club) make up a whole chapter. He also writes of his admiration for Tennessee Williams (whom he once interviewed) as if to say, "See, I am not a homophobe."

Contrary to another conservative stereotype, Stein manages to keep a sense of humor throughout the book, writing in a conversational, amused style. His quips and lists read more like naughty office e-mail than diatribes from an angry right-winger: No. 3 in the 12 Ways to Tell If You've Joined the Right-Wing Conspiracy: "You sit all the way through Dead Man Walking and at the end you STILL want the guy to be executed." Longtime conservatives and converts like Stein will find themselves nodding their heads in agreement. Others will simply get a good laugh. --Jodi Mailander Farrell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
The journey from liberal to conservative chronicled here by Stein is a journey already described by others such as Norman Podhoretz and David Horiwitz. Though thus predictable, Stein's account is nevertheless amusing. He relates personal anecdotes about growing up, raising children and relating to friends and colleagues, but also touches on current events, culminating in the sexual transgressions of Bill Clinton. The light tone and humorous prose eventually wear thin, however, and Stein sets up a straw man in his attacks on the Left. Essentially, Stein paints himself in his liberal days as a man with ideological blinders firmly in place, and he skewers liberals in general as if they all wore the same blinders. For example, in claiming that liberal psychology undermines personal responsibility by abjuring everyone from fault for everything, he presents an extremist position. Stein himself states at one point that extremists on both ends of the ideological spectrum deny "a fair hearing to alternative views on complex social issues"-yet he is guilty of the same error. (June)
Copyright 2000 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: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060936975
• ISBN-13: 978-0060936976
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #117,731 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's sure to honk off the liberals, June 13, 2000

By	Harry Thomas (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace) (Hardcover)

Considering the left bent of most of today's media (I work for a major metropolitan newspaper, so I know what I'm talking about here), along with his own leftist leanings in the 60s and 70s, Stein has stepped out on a limb here. But it's a risk he's willing to take. Taking a phrase from the AIDS movement; no one should be cowed into silence. He has as much right to the moral high ground as any left- or right-winger does, and his arguments are well reasoned.

If you reside on the Left side of any of the issues Stein skewers in "Right-Wing Conspiracy," you'll hate this book. You'll probably hate it if you're on the extreme Right as well. But, if like most people, you're in the middle of the road, trying to make sense of what has happened to America since the 1960s, then you'll probably get a kick out of it. It should make for some interesting discussion at your next party when a liberal confronts you on your political views.

I rate this at four stars because I think there are some parts that could have done with some judicious editing. Not on the content, but on some of the long-winded-ness of some of the chapters.

77 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Objective Political Assessment........Really, March 10, 2001

By	Christine Lynn Jones (Missoula, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace) (Hardcover)

Journalist and former radical liberal, Harry Stein, puts together a fine account of how life experiences changed his views and turned him into a conservative. Mr. Stein presents his beliefs with compelling evidence that would be difficult to argue against regardless of which side of the political spectrum you are on. Below is a brief list of topics he touches on:

1. Honor: Why has this become meaningless? Why do so many liberals view a man that cheats on his wife as someone who is just, "trying to find himself?"

2. The Media: How did it become so biased toward the left? Insider, Harry Stein, will tell you.

3. "Blame the Victim": A phrase directed at conservatives by liberals. But in certain instances, such as sexual promiscuity leading to STD's, are all "victims" 100% innocent? What about personal responsibility?

4. Sexgate: The Clinton scandal. Initially most liberals were outraged. But soon the liberal press made statements such as, "it's just between Hillary and Bill," or "let's just censure the guy and move on," and even "everybody does it." Do we no longer expect our President to set moral standards?

5. Feminism: Who doesn't support equal opportunity, a level playing field, and equal pay for equal work? But did the pendulum swing too far?

6. Higher Education: What ever happened to our colleges and universities mission to preserve and defend the essential truths of the past while providing a safe haven for open debate? How can we have open debate when we must be politically correct? Why do we now have "speech codes" designed to mute talk deemed insensitive?

7. Minority Conservatives: Why are these people so viciously attacked? Why is Clarence Thomas belittled for asserting his right to think for himself and refusing to have his ideas assigned to him because he is black? Is Colin Powel a trader to his race?

What Stein does surprisingly well is that he leaves out the bitterness and condescending attitude that most political authors draw on. He is actually quite complimentary toward many democrats, never insulting the person, only challenging the notion. This would be a terrific read for the conservative democrat, liberal republican, or anyone else who teeters with his or her own convictions.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harry Stein speaks for a lot of us, November 6, 2000

By	Kevin Atherton "A Happy Clam" (ELMHURST, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace) (Hardcover)

"How I Fought My Way Out of a Paper Bag" might be a better title for this book -- that was my sardonic thought as I progressed through this vastly entertaining, readable book. But before long I had to admit I shared in his moral struggles to emerge from the cocoon of self-righteous leftism; struggles that seem easy in hindsight, but which took both of us years and years and lots of critical thinking to overcome. It's hard because liberalism (as it has devolved in the last few decades) is not so much an idea as a spirit; a spirit of self-righteousness, of always being the Good Guy/Gal, of being "progressive" (as if anyone knew what we were progressing towards); and it's difficult to come to grips with a geist. Also, it's hard to face up to the fact that your beliefs may not, after all, be the conclusions of reason but simply feelings inculcated by TV, movies and the press. Harry Stein does a remarkable job in this book of tracing the emergence of his critical thinking from the web of leftist rhetoric. I believe that he emerges not as the right-winger he characterizes himself as, but rather as a true, traditional liberal; i.e. fair, open-minded, committed to justice.

(I give the book 4 of 5 stars only because it is a bit disjointed. It sometimes seems assembled from many short pieces and the seams show. Other than that criticism I highly recommend the book.)