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Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ James Hirsen (Author), NewsMax (Author) "It seems that some people are always trying to come up with new ways to defend the media..." (more)
Key Phrases: smoking scenes, entertainment community, entertainment capital, New York, United States, Los Angeles (more...)

3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When Barbra Streisand sends Dick Gephardt a personal fax, it makes headline news. When international relations expert Sean Penn leads his own "tour of peace" in Baghdad, every news desk across the country reports it. It's no secret that Hollywood has a leftward tilt when it comes to politics. But what the celebrity-fawning media fail to show is how Hollywood's liberal bias affects actors, movies, and even public policy.

In Tales from the Left Coast, author and political commentator James Hirsen digs deep into the liberal underbelly of Hollywood to reveal how biased politics have corrupted the entire entertainment industry. Through extensive research and scores of interviews, Hirsen uncovers some of the most ridiculous, infuriating, and damning political stunts pulled by celebrities of yesterday and today, and he traces the tangled web of influence the Hollywood elite have over politicians in Washington, D.C.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Crown Forum; 1 edition (July 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761517855
ISBN-13: 978-0761517856
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #904,182 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

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First Sentence:
It seems that some people are always trying to come up with new ways to defend the media. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
smoking scenes, entertainment community, entertainment capital

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Los Angeles, White House, Michael Moore, President Bush, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Susan Sarandon, Left Coast, World War, Julia Roberts, Communist Party, Live Aid, Bill Clinton, Bob Dylan, Captain Planet, Fidel Castro, Martin Sheen, Pearl Harbor, Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin, Rob Reiner, Robert Redford, Soviet Union

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 47 books:

Kevin Costner by Books Oliver on page 64, page 65, and Back Matter
Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit by Albert Gore in Front Matter, and page 254
Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore on page 226, and page 288
Ronald Reagan (Encyclopedia of Presidents) by Zachary Kent on page 60
Robin Williams by Mary E. Moore in Back Matter

See all 47 books this book cites

3 books cite this book:

Progressive Hollywood by Ed Rampell on page 164, and page 307
South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias by Brian C. Anderson on page 126
Why the Left Hates America: Exposing the Lies That Have Obscured Our Nation's Greatness by Daniel J. Flynn in Back Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

You're Only as Good as Your Next One by Josh Young

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Roger Ebert's Video Companion 1998 by Roger Ebert

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	94% buy the item featured on this page: Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics 3.2 out of 5 stars (44)
	5% buy Hollywood Nation: Left Coast Lies, Old Media Spin, and New Media Revolution $14.95
	2% buy Hollywood Nation: Left Coast Lies, Old Media Spin, and the New Media Revolution 3.5 out of 5 stars (10) $4.56

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Customer Reviews

44 Reviews

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3.2 out of 5 stars (44 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and tragic, July 31, 2003

By	Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Some years ago I remember a distinguished actor of the old school- I don't remember who, specifically- said that actors come in two varieties: Those who see it as a craft, and those who see it as a calling. The first group approach it lke any other craft, something to be honed through work and study. The second group see it as a gift bestowed on them by chance and practiced through intuition, and this view tends to extend to other aspects of the world as well. Not having ever had to work or think to attain their lofty position, they tend to approach everything intuitively.

And so the people of Hollywood judge the word the way they judge each other- by appearance and other superficial measures. How else to explain Sean Penn presenting hiumself as an international diplomat- and the news media actually taking him seriously? JFK is still considered a saint in Hollywood, more for his boyish good looks than for anything else. Bill Clinton was a hero for his purported support of gays, even as he abandoned them when it came time to take a stand. Noam Chomsky is worshipped by people in show business who've never read a single book on economics or politics because he makes the right kind of overarching judgements.

Hirsen is a bit strident at times, but overall this is still a fun read- until you realize how much influence Hollywood has on the decisions people make. Then it's just a little tragic, too.

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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood's Love Affair with Liberal Politics, May 3, 2004

By	Bryan Carey "Bryan Carey" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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Hollywood stars like Rob Reiner, Susan Sarandon, Alec Bladwin, Julia Roberts, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, and others can be counted on for many things. We know that, sooner or later, we will see them in a movie production or making a television appearance. We also know that, sooner or later, we will hear them voicing their concerns about any number of political issues. And we know that, more often than not, the political side they take will have a distinctly left- leaning direction.

This book takes a close look at the entertainers that make the Hollywood world go round and it discusses the background and the different events over the past 50 plus years that have led to the present "liberal" Hollywood mindset. Communist infiltration into the American way of life back during the McCarthy era, the Vietnam War, and other events were decisive in shaping Hollywood politics. These liberal views have precipitated over the years to more and more generations of Hollywood entertainers. They are shared by a large majority of Hollywood folk, in proportions that do not reflect the population as a whole.

The Hollywood elite can often be counted on to voice some wild opinions, and author James Hirsen presents some of them in this book. Quotes like Chevy Chase's comment that "Cuba has proven that socialism can work" and Sean Penn's nutty statement that he would like to "trade news personality Bill O'Reilly for Osama Bin Laden" are just a sample of some of the crazy things that have come out of the mouths of our beloved movie making friends in La La land.

I like the way Hirsen keeps this book on an entertaining and humorous level. He doesn't hit below the belt, like some other political writers are prone to doing. Rather, he keeps things lightened up and funny as he shows how biased the members of Hollywood often are in their collectivist political mindset. They almost always favor a government- intervention position (except for issues like abortion and a few others) and they often cozy up with authoritarian- type individuals, like Fidel Castro and others.

The dry humor contained in this book and the one- sidedness makes it the type that many readers will scorn. However, I think it's an entertaining read for people of all political stripes and colors. Hollywood stars are entitled to their own opinions, but what some of them say and do will surprise many readers. Hirsen includes lots of amusing quotes and stories about the bigwigs in Hollywood and others in the entertainment industry, enough to have readers simultaneously rolling their eyes and shaking their heads as they read some of the outrageousness that comes out of Tinseltown.

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82 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Not War & Peace, but I'm still laughing...., July 8, 2003

By	Sandy Frazier "www.sandrafrazier.com" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being an avid book collector and reader, I couldn't rate Dr. Hirsen's book a 5 for obvious reasons... but it's still one of the funniest, wittiest, most ironic books to come out in ages! It's a book that is long overdue... and, post-9/11, much needed. Everyone who is interested in what their ... movie ticket is funding should read this book because it might give them pause at the movie theatres... when we all stop to realize that some of the celebrities we've been supporting all these years truly hate America in ways most of us "Star Spangled Banner"-singing Americans could never fathom! But let's keep this light... The anecdotes in this book are shocking, but they're also hilarious. James Hirsen has written the Bible (so far) of all that is crazed about the Hollywood Leftists... and I'm not righty!!! You go, James!!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Fails in its attempt to be funny and smart.
This might be a funny book to 10-year-olds, or to people who haven't noticed that movie stars can't hwlp but open their mouths and sy something politically irrelevant and... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Alesia

4.0 out of 5 stars Important
I read Hirsen's book while a teacher in West LA who lived with an angry, left wing, out of work actor. Read more

Published on October 21, 2007 by NA Miles

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Tinseltown!
Hollywood. The home of swimming pools and movie stars, of silicone and botox, of power lunches and big money deals. Read more

Published on August 13, 2005 by Jeffrey Leach

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny but Sad at the Same Time
"They get paid megabucks for their unparalleled skill at reading and acting out prepared scripts." Their occupations, and their best skills are imitating other people. Read more

Published on February 17, 2005 by T. B. Vick

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Weak Effort
I'm a conservative blogger who LOVES to laugh at liberal celebrities, but there's not much meat here. Read more

Published on January 4, 2005 by Mark Coffey

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, though the point was not always clear
The basic premise of this book is that most of those in Hollywood are way left in their politics. I think this is pretty obvious, but there is some great background in here on... Read more

Published on December 8, 2004 by Michael Erisman

2.0 out of 5 stars Many better books out there
I'm a big fan of many conservative political books, and found this one lacking in both readability and humor. Read more

Published on April 26, 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Time!
Very funny and truthful book about celebrities' passion for leftist, hypocritical behavior. While stars champion homelessness and other "poor" issues, they live like... Read more

Published on February 23, 2004 by Heidi Crabtree

1.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate and Reaching
I read this book last year and was disappointed by it. I don't like ideologues who don't look at both sides of an issue. Read more

Published on February 18, 2004 by J. Hart

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