The No-Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "If you are thirty-five or older, chances are good that your childhood in America was pretty much like mine, no matter where you grew up..." (more)
Key Phrases: spin zone, humble correspondent, rap world, Jesse Jackson, New York, Bill Clinton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The audience of Fox's top-rated cable news talk show The O'Reilly Factor and of the bestselling book by the same name know that this explosive anchor can be articulate, bombastic, scornful, witty, iconoclastic, passionate, persuasive and sarcastic ("Can you feel Gary Condit's pain?"). When conducting interviews, O'Reilly, a two-time Emmy winner with 25 years reporting experience, delivers tough questions and corrosive counterpoints. In the No-Spin Zone (originally conceived for his TV show), "lies are rejected and equivocations are mocked." "All I ask is for powerful people to respond honestly to the questions, and if they can't, explain why," says O'Reilly. Here he excerpts past interviews with various memorable opponents James Carville (on Bill Clinton), Dr. Laura (on working mothers), former surgeon general Dr. Joycelyn Elders (on sex education), Puff Daddy (on rap), Susan Sarandon (on police brutality), Al Sharpton (on boycotts) and insightfully introduces each, mulling over the issue or providing background. To cover TV sleaze and violence, he splices interviews (Steve Allen, Howdy Doody's Buffalo Bob) into his own terse text. The same treatment is applied to the death penalty (George W. Bush, Bianca Jagger), taxes (Mario Cuomo, GAO head David Walker) and other issues. He saves the best for last Dan Rather on news stories the media overlooks, prefaced by O'Reilly's own memories of becoming "a 'dead man walking' at CBS News." (On-sale: Oct. 16) Forecast: O'Reilly's TV ratings continue to rise, and the show's "No-Spin Zone" title will grab book buyers. With simultaneous CD and large-print editions, and an e-book due in November, total sales should be astronomical.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

O'Reilly tries to top his best-selling The O'Reilly Factor with more acerbic bons mots on life in America.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1st edition (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767908481
• ISBN-13: 978-0767908481
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (459 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #449,795 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is thick of repeating subjects, February 22, 2004

By	Mike (Linden,NJ) - See all my reviews

As I read the negative reviews, some sound like spitting images from that of Maddox. But guess what, Maddox has the general feeling about this book.

My friend lent me this book to read. And no, Maddox's destruction of Bill's character didnt provoke me. It was that of how O'Reilly felt about Rap and his arrogant comments towards rapper Ludacris. Put it this way, Bill O'Reilly is nothing more then a conceided biggot who believes that what he 'feels' is the right way and the only way. And his book is nothing more then a transcript of past crap spat out from his show. But dont get me wrong, this book is good enough for something, evening out my pool table for starters.

Should you buy this book? Go right ahead, its a page turner up until page 76. Thats when it becomes a stomach turner. But if curiousity is the best of you, be my guest and destroy your inner child by buying it

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow, Bill. Wow., May 3, 2005

By	IReadBooks (New York) - See all my reviews

I myself am a conservative and an O'Reilly fan, but this book just blows.
Bill quit writing and just stick to out-shouting the guests on your show.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Childhood like yours? Riiiiight, May 1, 2005

By	Nick G. "Islander44" (N. Bellmore, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Bill O'Reilly is one of the most ignorant people that I have ever had the misfortune of watching on TV or in any other medium. He falls into the egotistical trap of assuming that everyone in this country over 35 years old has had the same exact childhood he has. Oh really, Bill? As a fellow Long Islander, I know some things about Bill O'Reilly's history. For instance, he attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY, which is an elite all-male Catholic high school that's been around for 75 years. You try to ally yourself with the working class of Middle America when you went to a $4,000 a year private school (in today's money)? You grew up in a sheltered suburb of Long Island, far from many of the worries that plague Americans in other parts of this country (for instance, we are not a manufacturing center, the closest thing we had to a major industrial problem on Long Island was when Grumman was bought out). However, despite this, you assume to know everything about this country and that everyone can identify with you. Seeing a man wearing $2,000 suits on TV claiming to be a friend of the working class absolutely sickens me....Don't watch his show, don't buy this book, and just ignore his bigoted and stupid opinions.