Anyone getting really angry while reading "Dude, Where's my Country?"

[LynneSin]

I just finished the 'Whoppers' chapter which was even MORE damning then the chapter with the 7 questions he wants Bush to answer.

I'm almost afraid this book is too hardcore for the public to embrace it and yet it's the most incredibly stunning thing I've read in ages (not that other books were that bad, this just is so freaking amazing it really does just blow your mind away).

If you can only buy one book - this is the one!!

[bif]

1. Is it as good as "Liars?"

By Al Franken? And how does it compare to Moore's previous book?

[LynneSin]

3. Liars is a great book but you can't compare it to Dude

I mean Al covers a wide variety of issues including questions about the Bush regime, but his main focus is how the media is giving Bush a free pass and how the right-wing pundits distort the truth.

When you go to any major book store, you'll rarely find Franken or Moore's book in the Current Affairs/Political Science. Most bookstores classify these books as Humor and file them as such in the Humor section next to Dave Barry books. I've read "Liars" and "Stupid White Men" and both authors use a great deal of humor when discussing their subject manner (although the topic is always of a real nature).

I find it disturbing that on the back cover of "Dude, Where's My Country" is one of those newspaper reviews that says "Moore is a Comic Genius". I mean, yes Moore has a way of finding laughter in even the most dire of situations, but I'm not finding it in this book. No matter what comic twist Moore uses, this book is far from something you'd peruse in the Humor section of the bookstore.

I think the best backcover comment on the book is the last one: "Michael Moore has drawn First Blood", this is absolutely deadon true! This book goes for jugular veins. When Moore wrote the first chapter about the 7 questions he would ask Bush, he puts the footnotes right at the bottom of the page. And he wasn't using any cheesy overloaded Lexus-Nexus searches for his information. He was pulling from magazine and online searches where he would provide the exact information you would need to go out and read exactly where he got his information.

This isn't a "Humor" book - this is a full frontal attack dead-on against the illegal doings of the Bush Regime. We should get angry as we read this book and then get motivated to help get Bush out of the White House.

Mind you, I'm only half way through the book, maybe Moore lightens up some in the latter chapters!

[Caution]

2. Dude, Where's my country?

The Whoppers chapter is by far the most difficult chapter in the book. The information and questions raised about Saudi Arabia are disturbing to say the least. After this the book tones down a bit and reverts more to the normal Michael Moore style. I agree with much of what he says but there are some things I believe he is fundamentally wrong about, and his entire chapter about how to talk to your "Conservative Brother-in-Law" is pretty much awful as far as I'm concerned. I understand why he makes the suggestions that he makes but if I were to follow them I would feel morally and intellectually dishonest.

I enjoyed Franken's book more than this one but I think that is probably to be expected considering that Franken tends to use humor as his device a bit more often than Moore.

I finished up Dude, Where's my Country last night and plan on passing it around shortly. I was particularly inspired by the requests he makes of his readers. (Though to be fair, nothing new is said there that wasn't already put out by our own Will Pitt in The Greatest Sedition Is Silence: Four Years in America).

An excellent read overall IMO and if I have the time I'll write up a more comprehensive review. (Don't hold your breath for it though!)

[blueraven95]

4. Haven't Read Dude yet, but...

I was in the bookstore last night and I found it right in the entrance, absolutely impossible to miss. Also, Liars is in front of O'Reilly's book on the bestsellers list.

[Selwynn]

5. I'm skeptical...

The blind adoration giving to this man Michael Moore means that I will be reading this book with an extra skeptical eye (also because I haven't read his other books, so I have to start very skeptical and not just be spoon fed untruths or weak assumptions becasue I want to hear them.)

Usually, when I want to be blown away, its Chomsky and his ruthless meticulous micro-detalied footnotes of everything. And even then I could talk to you about key places where I disagree or have questions about Chomsky. And I've spent a fair ammount of time actively seeking out and reading critiques of Chomsky. I'll probably do the same for Moore. Then I'll try to make my own decsiion reguardless of what anyone else says based on that investigation.

I don't think ANY MAN has a monopoly on absolute truth, so I go to read this book with that kind of eye.

[AWD]

6. If you can only buy one book....

....then you must be living in George Bush's America.

Got my tix to see Michael Moore today! 20 days and counting!!!

[NightTrain]

7. I just bought it today...

...and am only partway through Chapter 1, "Seven Questions for George of Arabia."

So far, Moore hasn't said too, too much that I didn't already know. Looks like he and I get our news from a lot of the same sources! If anything, I find that reassuring.