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Summary
Summary
Al Franken's landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right , was praised as a "bitterly funny assault" ( zThe New York Times ) that rang "with the moral clarity of an angel's trumpet" ( The Associated Press ). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all of us.
In these pages, Al reveals the alarming story of how:
Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of "fear, smear, and queers," and then claimed a nonexistent mandate.
"Casino Jack" Abramoff, the Republicans' nearest and dearest friend, made millions of dollars off of the unspeakable misery of the poor and the powerless. And, also, Native Americans.
The administration successfully implemented its strategy to destroy America's credibility and goodwill around the world.
Complete with new material for this paperback edition, The Truth (with jokes) is more than just entertaining, intelligent, and insightful. It is at once prescient in its analysis of right-wing mendacity and incompetence, and inspiring in its vision of a better tomorrow for all Americans (except Jack Abramoff).
Author Notes
Al Franken was born in 1951 and grew up in Minnesota. He got his start in show business in high school, when he began performing stand-up comedy. He attended Harvard University, but his comic talent went unrecognized by the school's famous Harvard Lampoon, which rejected him. Undaunted, Franken continued to do stand-up with a friend from high school, Tom Davis.
Franken and Davis became celebrities when Lorne Michaels discovered their act and hired them for his new show, Saturday Night Live. In addition to doing the stand-up, Franken wrote many funny skits, including Chevy Chase's famous Gerald Ford bits, and created memorable characters like Stuart Smalley.
Franken's ability to write comedy translated into a best-selling success with his political satire, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. The book has sold almost one million copies. His other books include The Truth (with jokes), and Al Franken, Giant of the Senate.
Franken was elected to the U. S. Senate representing Minnesota in 2009.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Franken is George W. Bush's worst nightmare: a savvy liberal political satirist and Harvard fellow with a massive readership. Franken and his tireless team of fact-checkers are able to spread The Truth to people who might never pick up books by Eric Alterman (What Liberal Media?), David Brock (Blinded by the Right), Joe Conason (Big Lies), Ron Suskind (The Price of Loyalty) or Richard A. Clarke (Against All Enemies). Debunking the lies and allegations spread by "the right-wing blogosphere, radiosphere and asshole-on-TV-osphere," Franken details how the Bush team won the 2004 election through "smears, fears and queers." Believing that the Bush regime's plan was to "divide Americans to conquer them," Franken has created a reference manual that refutes propaganda issued by an administration he believes "shouldn't be running a small town hardware store much less the world's only remaining superpower." While Franken writes with a razor-sharp wit, his intention is deadly serious: to expose how hypocrisy, bigotry, ineptitude, unchecked corruption and partisan politics have resulted in war, debt and a divided nation. Franken considers the political motives behind the Terri Schiavo case and the distortions behind Bush's campaign to privatize Social Security. Along the way he takes on the Swiftboaters, Bush's fake "mandate," Tom DeLay, Iraq and Karl Rove. Like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, Franken has the ability to entertain, illuminate and motivate. (Oct. 25) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Is Franken getting more surreal, or is it our government? Building on his last book (Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), the author takes us on a comic tour of our nation's current political status, or it would be comic if so much of it wasn't showing up in the news. From the tactics used by the Republican Party to retain control of the government to the latest on Congressman Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Franken and his research team deliver a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of our current administration. A 2004 Grammy winner, Franken shows how our leaders have turned an $80 billion surplus on January 23, 2001, into a national deficit of more than $2 trillion, and how that $11 trillion shortfall the Social Security Trust Fund is teetering under won't occur until the year infinity. Franken's performance is stellar; he is certainly not afraid to point out that the emperor has no clothes. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
I present The Truth not just to shock you, not just to make you laugh and cry alternatingly, or maybe even at the same time, not just to set the record straight--but to rouse you, to prepare you for battles ahead. The only vaccine powerful enough to inoculate you from lies is the truth. Al Franken's landmark bestseller, Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them...a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, was praised as a bitterly funny assault (The New York Times) that rang with the moral clarity of an angel's trumpet (Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all Americans. Because after Lies, comes The Truth... In these pages, Al reveals the alarming story of how: Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of fear, smear, and queers, and then claimed a nonexistent mandate Republicans decided that Terri Schiavo would make a great political issue Conservatives sought to undermine Social Security by using a strategy borrowed from...Vladimir Lenin Tom DeLay is just an absolute horror show Excerpted from The Truth: With Jokes by Al Franken All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
