All publicity is good publicity, as the saying goes, and Al Franken probably could not have imagined a better scenario in which to release his new book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." After all, before a certain network decided to sue Franken and his publisher, the book was languishing near the bottom of most pre-order charts. There's nothing like a lawsuit to boost publicity, however, and indeed, the week it was announced, the book instantaneously skyrocketed to the top of Amazon sales charts.
The network in question was, of course, The Fox News Channel, whose executives apparently took offense with the title of Franken's work, which parodies the channel's well-known slogan. Alleging that readers might be misled by the book's title and cover design into thinking this was a product endorsed by the network, Fox pushed the suit forward. Needless to say, the suit was dismissed as being wholly without merit, and Franken was left free to gloat as his book reigned for weeks at the top of the New York Times bestsellers list.
So, does "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" live up to the hype? Do we really need to hear another puerile politico wax endlessly about partisan issues?
Sure we do, especially if it's from someone as funny as Franken.
A former Saturday Night Live writer/performer, current comedian and sometimes talking head on the news networks, nowadays Al Franken fancies himself a political satirist. He can be grouped as part of a highly visible crop of brash media personalities that include Michael Moore, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, all of whom write books and love to loudly express their opinions on all things social and political. What distinguishes Franken from this group is that, as a satirist and comedian, he has no need to comment on people or issues in a serious or respectful way. As such, Franken delights in mocking the conservatives he loathes in manners both sophisticated and infantile.
There's ample evidence of this in the hilarious opening of the book, in which Franken methodically dissects the words and actions of his fellow media personalities, Coulter and O'Reilly. In chapters titled, "Ann Coulter: Nutcase" and "You Know Who I Don't Like? Ann Coulter," Franken points out the various lies and otherwise crazy antics of a pundit he particularly detests. The comedian also gleefully resorts to name-calling in referring to O'Reilly as a "lying, splotchy bully." For those of us following the entertaining feud between these two personalities, there's plenty of great material to be had.
Personal attacks aside, "Lies" also has real political merit. Franken is out to destroy the myth of the media's liberal bias by exposing the propaganda machines of the right -- in particular, by pointing out how and when certain conservatives lie. It's difficult to laugh, for example, during Franken's step-by-step explanations of the Bush Tax Cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act, or a later explanation of environmental follies and cover-ups. Franken may be a jokester, but he is obsessed with backing up his many points with concrete facts and evidence. This attention to detail pushes the book to a somewhat hefty 368 pages, but most of that girth is compelling enough to make it an addictive page-turner.
When Franken documents his encounters with people such as Hannity, O'Reilly and Barbara Bush, the descriptions are funny, insightful and witty. However, certain portions of the book, such as a long fictionalized Vietnam War passage, and a comic entitled "Supply Side Jesus" don't work very well and frankly are quite boring. Franken tends to write in a long-winded, meandering style that might work when setting up a joke as part of a standup routine, but can end up being a bit ponderous in a written work. These flaws seldom show up, however, and overall the book functions admirably both as a case against conservative lies and, more importantly, as a work of political humor.
Franken's book is certainly not going to heal political rifts and sway diehard conservatives, and indeed, it could be construed as simply another sign of the current ongoing polarization of political ideologies. Not surprisingly, there's very little criticism of Democrats in Franken's book, but then again, conservatives can always tune in to O'Reilly or Hannity if they want to hear that. Al might be happy to know that conservatives who read his book might be a bit more careful when listening to like-minded speakers in the future, but he'd also probably be just as happy to simply get a laugh.
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