New Book Critical of Michael Moore

Bibliofuture writes “Using a title that is a take-off on Al Franken’s Book, “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot”, authors Hardy and Clarke have written a book entitled, “Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man.” The book currently sits at number 22 on the Amazon.com Top 100 books. The book was released July 29th and currently over 450 people have written reviews of the book at Amazon. There is an interview with the authors here and you can read the hundreds of other reviews from both sides of the aisle at Amazon.com beneath the listing for the book.”

August 5, 2004 by Uncategorized 22

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22 Responses

  1. leeb says:
    August 5, 2004 at 6:14 am

    This sells?
    I can’t believe a book like this sells at all, a book that personally attacks Michael Moore. The fact that such a book is written must mean that Michael Moore is actually telling the truth. That’s why they are so worked up about him. He has hit a raw nerve. Why are some people so critical of Michael Moore? We need more people like him who is critical of the government, especially when the government is not doing a good job. On the other hand, Michael Moore is doing quite a good job at what he is doing. People are critical of Ralph Nader too, and the major parties demonize him, because he exposes them. Same kind of stuff going on here.

    Reply
  2. GrumpyOldMan says:
    August 5, 2004 at 7:31 am

    Re:This sells?
    Typical winger humor and logic:
    Ha ha ha, he’s fat.
    Ha ha ha, she’s ugly.
    Ha ha ha, she talks like a furriner and might be a commyniss or a terra-iss.
    How one gets a book out of this I dunno.

    Reply
  3. Bibliofuture says:
    August 5, 2004 at 8:59 am

    Book
    The title of the book may not be the best. But it is a joke title, a takeoff on a Franken book title.

    The book analyzes Moore’s books and movies and shows errors in facts and flat out manipulation. For example, “They also illustrate how Moore manipulated statistics in his books Dude, Where’s My Country and Stupid White Men to fit his theories, making some truly outrageous claims in the process.” — From the Amazon.com editorial review.

    Librarians should be interested in information literacy. If Moore is bending the facts and using editing tricks to manipulate information people should know about it.

    Reply
  4. VALIS says:
    August 5, 2004 at 2:29 pm

    Re:This sells?
    I can’t believe how debased political discourse has become in the US. From both sides – the Al Franken book that this one parodies and some of Moore’s work on the one side, Coulter and others on the rightwing side. What happened to debating the issues?

    Q. Do Amazon actually write their editorial reviews, or do they just pull them together from the publisher’s blurb? For a ‘review’ that sounded awfully non-critical (I just ran a comparison by looking at their reviews of Moore’s books, they’re similarly soft, so I wouldn’t put too much credence in what thy have to say, after all, they’re trying to sell books – bad reviews don’t tend to do that).

    Reply
  5. Fang-Face says:
    August 5, 2004 at 4:23 pm

    Re:Book

    If Moore is bending the facts and using editing tricks to manipulate information people should know about it.

    How is it that when elected parasites and the lackey corporate press bend the facts and use editing tricks to manipulate information no one is allowed to comment on it? Doing so gets you branded as unAmerican, unpatriotic, “he hates America”, anti-capitalist, etc. . . .

    Reply
  6. GregS* says:
    August 5, 2004 at 6:44 pm

    This sells?
    [To imitate a similar method used recently in comments]

    I can’t believe a book like this sells at all, a book that personally attacks Rush Limbaugh. The fact that such a book is written must mean that Rush Limbaugh is actually telling the truth. That’s why they are so worked up about him. He has hit a raw nerve. Why are some people so critical of Rush Limbaugh? We need more people like him who is critical of the government, especially when the government is not doing a good job. On the other hand, Rush Limbaugh is doing quite a good job at what he is doing. People are critical of Ross Perot too, and the major parties demonize him, because he exposes them. Same kind of stuff going on here.

    Reply
  7. GregS* says:
    August 5, 2004 at 6:57 pm

    A Challenge Re:Book
    Bending facts to argue against what you consider are bent facts does not a good debate make. Neither does using terms like ‘elected parasites’ or ‘lackey corporate press’.

    Here’s a challenge to everyone here: If you want to criticize something you also have to offer an alternative. You don’t have to give a big speech on everything you believe but simply say what you believe on that issue and what you think a better alternative would be.

    If you feel that opens you up to criticism that you don’t want to get involved with or you feel like you will be ganged up on then try this, if you don’t want to get into a debate on a comment simply put at the end: [No reply to this reply please, reply on your own] or [NRP/ROYO]

    We’re adults enough to honor that aren’t we?

    Reply
  8. Bibliofuture says:
    August 5, 2004 at 9:30 pm

    Re:This sells?
    How one gets a book out of this I dunno.

    A book is often more than it’s title. They get a book out of it by “picking apart Moore’s books and movies to illustrate how he is consistently manipulative, dishonest, and, at times, simply absurd.” (Text in quotes is from a book review)

    Reply
  9. Bibliofuture says:
    August 5, 2004 at 9:49 pm

    Should libraries buy this book?
    Should libraries buy this book?

    Some might argue “no” because the title “Michael Moore is a big fat stupid white man” seems to be mean spirited.

    At least 1600 libraries did not agree with that logic when they purchased “Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot and other observations” by Franken. According to WorldCat 1600 libraries have that title. Currently 270 libraries have the Michael Moore title. The Moore book just came out so there needs to be some time before the numbers can be compared.

    I have no beef with the Franken book, I am just curious to see how the numbers shake out. If your collection development policy allowed a book like “Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot and other observations” it should allow “Michael Moore is a big fat stupid white man.”

    I am interested in whether libraries will go for balance or bias.

    Reply
  10. Bibliofuture says:
    August 5, 2004 at 11:10 pm

    Re:Book
    How is it that when elected parasites and the lackey corporate press bend the facts and use editing tricks to manipulate information no one is allowed to comment on it?

    Cany you give a concrete example to backup the statement listed above?

    Reply
  11. exlibriscat says:
    August 5, 2004 at 11:51 pm

    Re:Should libraries buy this book?
    I don’t see why they wouldn’t go for balance. Really, it all depends on the demand from users, and how much weight the collection development people give to user demand.

    Reply
  12. Fang-Face says:
    August 6, 2004 at 3:25 am

    Re:Book

    Cany you give a concrete example to backup the statement listed above?

    George Bush and Fox “News”.

    Reply
  13. Brian says:
    August 6, 2004 at 3:47 am

    Re:Should libraries buy this book?
    I’m not sure that comparing holdings of this book with Franken’s is a good measure of “balance.” Franken’s book was apparently on PW’s bestseller list for close to 6 months, MMIABFSWM dropped off the list after 2 weeks (though it might go back on). And Franken was already a known humorous author when the Limbaugh book came out. And Franken’s book is damn funny. (I bought a personal copy of RLIABFI when the first couple pages made me laugh out loud.) Despite MMIABFSWM’s funny-but-derivative title and cover illustration and the publisher’s claim that the book is “laced with irreverent wit,” this excerpt doesn’t come off as a laff riot, and there are indications that Hardy and Clarke aren’t very good writers.

    Still, I’m ordering the book for my library, because of the potential election-year interest and because a couple of the contributors are good writers.

    Reply
  14. Bibliofuture says:
    August 6, 2004 at 5:42 am

    Re:Book
    Ok Fang you are going to have to help me here. What are you asking? You asked for concrete examples of “George Bush and Fox “News””. ?????
    What kind of answer are you looking for??????

    You posted this statement, “How is it that when elected parasites and the lackey corporate press bend the facts and use editing tricks to manipulate information no one is allowed to comment on it? I was asking if you had examples of this happening. I never mentioned Fox News or George Bush. Then you respond with your bizarre post. What gives????

    Reply
  15. Turner says:
    August 6, 2004 at 7:27 am

    Re:Book
    I could be wrong but it seems perfectly clear to me that what Mr. Face is saying is George bush is an “elected parasite” and Fox News is “the lackey corporate press that bends facts and uses editing tricks to mapnipulate information”….

    I’m confident tht Mr. Face will clarifie any ambiguity.

    Reply
  16. Turner says:
    August 6, 2004 at 7:56 am

    Re:Book
    It is a funny title . I laughed when I saw it.

    In simplistic terms Moores 911 is “being mean” to G Bush while “being funny” (Comedy is a major feature in Moores work)…

    Is “Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man …”mean to Moore” and “also funny” or is it just “mean” to Moore…it’s an important point…anybody can be mean but being mean and funny …well that is a different horse.

    How do libraries catelogue these works..comedy ?
    tragedy? Political writing ? Fiction?

    is there a consensus? …hhmmnn

    thats a good question.

    Reply
  17. Bibliofuture says:
    August 6, 2004 at 9:33 am

    Re:Book
    no one is allowed to comment on it?

    Ok, I see that part of the example but he is commneting on it and he seems to imply that commenting is not allowed. Were is the example of “commenting not allowed”??

    Reply
  18. Turner says:
    August 6, 2004 at 10:35 am

    Re:Book
    OK…I see…yes he is commenting on it and it appears the comment is allowed. Evidently he is incorrect.

    Reply
  19. Bibliofuture says:
    August 6, 2004 at 6:48 pm

    Book is at number 9
    The book is currently in the Top Ten Bestselling Books at Amazon.

    Amazon will tell you what a rank a book is in. I wish they had a feature that would show you the rank of the book over time. That way you could get a chart like this but it would show the rank of the book.

    Reply
  20. tomeboy says:
    August 6, 2004 at 6:52 pm

    Absolutely!
    Should libraries buy this book?

    I like this question because it addresses the “other” form of censorship, selection bias.

    Any librarian worth their salt, that has already purchased the “liberal”, Franken, Ivins stuff has a professional responsibility to purchase this title as well.

    Collection colleagues failing to do so are as culpable of censorship as any knee-jerk reactionary parent or preacher.

    Reply
  21. leeb says:
    August 7, 2004 at 4:14 am

    Re:Book
    I agree. Politicians and big business stretch the facts and manipulate information to suit their agenda all the time. But when Michael Moore does it, it is suddenly “bad”, and he gets persecuted. Michael Moore is exercising his freedom of expression/speech. The attention he gets means he gets more publicity and sells more books. So his opponents are doing Michael Moore a favor.

    Reply
  22. Bibliofuture says:
    August 17, 2004 at 1:02 am

    Book has fallen to 21 (8/16/2004)
    Book has fallen to 21 (8/16/2004)

    Reply

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