Telling The Truth (Paperback)

by Lynne V. Cheney (Author) "A Massachusetts educator warns teachers about using The Story of Babar because it "extols the virtues of a European, middle-class lifestyle and disparages the animals..." (more)
Key Phrases: recovered memory movement, critical race theorists, conversation with author, New York, United States, Washington Post (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Conservative stalwart Cheney offers a polemic against what she sees as the dangers of political correctness.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Cheney, former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, summarizes complaints about the cultural malady best thought of as relativism the belief that, in any situation, truthfulness derives from the political relationships perceived by specific ideologies. In each of six chapters, Cheney considers a particular aspect of relativism and the damage it has done: so-called multiculturalism in primary and secondary education; political correctness in the universities; deconstructionism in the scholarship of the humanities; radical feminist legal theory in legal education and jurisprudence; politicized exaggeration and falsification in art, popular culture, and psychotherapy; and so-called new (i.e., politically slanted) news in the mainstream press. Although herself a Republican conservative, Cheney avoids partisanship in her presentation, and while her subject matter sometimes gets quite heady, her exposition remains accessible--so much so that Reader's Digest will be serializing the book. That and Cheney's increasing visibility on political TV talk shows should boost interest in Telling the Truth an interest that it greatly deserves. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (September 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684825341
• ISBN-13: 978-0684825342
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #696,397 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Did Bush Pick the Wrong Cheney to be Vice-President?, October 20, 2000

By	Steven Fantina (Phillipsburg, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lynn Cheney's intelligent book greatly enhances the body of literature dealing with America's cultural decline over the past 30-40 years. Her positions are astutely made, and the work is rich in specifics. Unfortunately, it was Mrs. Cheney's brave refusal to hold back that serves as book's sole drawback. Her graphic descriptions while generally appropriate can be nauseating at times. In her discussion of the assault on the arts, she references many the shock displays regurgitated into public view by too many so-call museums. There is just no tasteful way to relate "exhibits" that feature animal carcasses, human waste products, or pornographic debris that would make Bob Guccioni jealous. The one instance where the frank minutia seems gratuitous is the recounting of a heinous family murder that begins chapter 3. Readers may wish to skip this anecdote rather than forego a few nights sleep.

Beyond this tendency to lay it all on the line, Mrs. Cheney can hardly be faulted for the brilliant dialectic. A good portion is devoted to the revisionist theories currently being force fed to college students-especially in humanities-related studies. She rightly comments on the execrable danger presented by the one-sided indoctrination that has replaced factual learning and the presentation of multiple perspectives in America institutions of higher learning. The author, herself, demonstrates an exceedingly open mind; she speaks of the good aspects she sees in philosophies such as feminism, multi-culturalism, and Afrocentrism, even though she finds militant versions of these perspectives harmful.

The title of the book concerns the overall dismissal of the concept of truth that Mrs. Cheney explains is threatening so many segments of our culture. She does not truckle in the face of her imperious adversaries, boldly stating, "when we find ourselves faced with situations that violate good sense-whether it is how our children are being taught or how our legal system is abandoning the principles that have long undergirded it-we should, each of us speak out about what we see. We should not let ourselves be intimidated by seemingly sophisticated statements about how there is no reality and thus no truth."

This book was published in 1995 when her husband's political career seemed to be in permanent hibernation, but it does contain some forward-looking criticism of Al Gore. Reviewing the vice-president's controversial environmental tome, she castigates his animus toward western civilization and the infallibility of truth. She opines "as Gore describes it, the worldview that led to the scientific revolution has been responsible for everything bad (including `the atrocities of Hitler and Stalin') and nothing good, which does cause one to wonder what worldview the vice president imagines gave rise to anesthesia, (the) polio vaccine, and--his pet project-the information superhighway.

Any credible book that advocates veracity naturally criticizes Bill Clinton for his inimical views on truth and his widespread effort to disgrace the concept. Let's hope that this work serves as a fortuitous augur of an era that celebrates and strives to emulate all that is honest and noble in our American heritage.

5.0 out of 5 stars The absolute truth and accuracy in analysis, April 20, 2009

By	Carol Ann Carelli-Sennett "Conservative patriot" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read other books on this subject, and I can unequivocally say Lynne Cheney's analysis and explanation of the cultural decline of our country and the direct connection to liberalism is without a doubt the most erudite book on the subject I have read to date. Anyone who criticizes this book is in the liberal camp and as liberals regularly do will criticize the messenger. No, Lynne Cheney would not have made a better Vice President, as Dick Cheney is one of the best VP's this country has ever been blessed to have. However, she knows her subject matter and writes with clarity and expertise. I highly recommend this book. You are missing out, if you do not read this one! BRAVO,MRS. CHENEY and thank you! I am ready for your next book!

35 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Postmodernism and its influence on the culture., April 2, 1999

By	Greg B. Shoom (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lynne V. Cheney's "Telling the Truth" is an investigation into Postmodernism and its influence on today's culture. Postmodernism holds that there is no objective reality, and therefore that there is no such thing as truth. Reality, in its view, is constructed by dominant social groups, defined by race, gender, or class. Postmodernism is hostile to reason, to excellence, and to standards of any kind. Politically, it is manifested in movements such as multiculturalism and radical egalitarianism, It is hostile to the notion of individual liberty, which it regards as an "inherently oppressive" concept. This philosophy has become widespread in the academic world and is having a growing influence over our culture. Most of Ms. Cheney's book focuses on the cultural manifestations of Postmodernism. Many of these are truly frightening. I recommend this book if you want to learn more about the threat that this intellectual movement poses. The book is written for a general audience and is easy to read.