I just finished Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. It is one of the funniest books I have ever read. There were a number of points in the book where I had to stop reading and burry my face in my pillow fearing that my laughter would wake someone up. I think my favourite chapter though would have to be the one titled Ann Coulter: Nutcase, and let me show you why:
[I]n Coulter's case, 'nutcase' is more than justified. I should know. You see, Ann and I are friends.
I personally wasn't aware of that myself until I read it in the New York Observer. They did a profile of Coulter when her bile-filled, relentlessly ugly best-seller Slander topped The New York Times list. And for some reason-I guess to establish her bona fides as just a lovable gal about town-she told the writer from the Observer that she was "friendly with" Al Franken.
I found that odd. I have met Ann Coulter once. At a Saturday Night Live party. When she introduced herself to me, I made what in retrospect was a terrible mistake. Instead of saying, 'Ann Coulter! You're a horrible person. Ooooh, I just hate you!' or something along those lines-instead, I was cordial.
I'm not sure if there's a limit to how much you can quote from a book, but from what I gather Franken doesn't seem like the kind of person who would mind in a case like this.
Maybe I'm extremely biased because I'm painted red. Or even more likely, because when I read the book I read it in the voice of my friend who kept quoting it until I bought it, along with one of Franken's other book Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.
The book itself was fun to read. For me, it's like the Bowling For Columbine of books. I'm not sure if Franken would like the comparison, but he's a jewish comedian. I'm sure he has extremely thick skin and can deal with it. Unlike Fahrenheit 9/11, which was a good movie reiterating a lot of facts I already knew, Lies touched on a whole range of American politics that I had never read/seen/heard about. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations will do the same for me, even if I'm rading them in reverse order.
Actually, I'd like to share one more little snippet from the book that I find extremely amusing and should solidify my reasoning and logic when I label this as A Book That Eug Would Love. At the end of the chapter titled Vast Lagoons of Pig Feces which commented on the sorry state of American Enivormental Protection, Franken wrote:
Perhaps there is someone reading this who is saying, "Give me a break, Al. I don't care about pigs, or pig shit, or family farms, or mountaintops, or this pfiest-a-mahoosey, or the environment.' To you, I have this to say: You were not legitimately elected president, sir.
But I respect the office you hold, and I'm honored that you're reading my book.
Political satires rule.
