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Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News
From the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News comes a wild and informative ride behind the scenes of a news correspondent. "A must read for Americans of any party." -- Rev. Al Sharpton Political pundit Tucker Carlson cracks commentary on all things Washington with the acerbic wit and razor-sharp insight that have made him a beloved conservative commentator. An unabashed insider whose profile is unmatched, Carlson stands ready to pounce on anyone and everyone who dares enter the political fray. Whether it's the towel-snapping prowess of former presidents or the dumbfounding exploits of his predecessors, there is no sacred ground. Carlson's debut covers his beat with equal parts hilarity and insight in a jocular review that both exposes and defends the absurdity that underlies the world of politics.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2003
About the author
Tucker Carlson
22 books343 followersTucker Carlson served as the host of FOX News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight. On the 24th of April, 2023, Fox News and Carlson took separate paths. Two weeks hence, on May 10th, Tucker declared that his program would now be solely broadcasted through Twitter. Carlson features powerful analysis and spirited debates with guests and challenges political correctness and media bias. He joined the network in 2009 as a contributor. Before joining FNC, Carlson hosted Tucker on MSNBC from 2005-2008 and PBS’ Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered. He joined CNN in 2000 as its youngest anchor ever, co-hosting The Spin Room and went on to become co-host of CNN’s Crossfire until 2005. Additionally, Carlson founded and acted as editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, a political news website he launched in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 11, 2009
I've always liked Tucker. Although I completely disagree with just about every political view he may have I've always thought of him as a great guy, with a good heart and an even better sense of humor. This book will take you through the life of Tucker Carlson. Though, it'll do little more than that. I feel that through most of the book he's just bragging about how he did this and that. Or telling us things we already know. He does it with enough wit to make it all the more entertaining, though.
A good read for any political nut.
A good read for any political nut.
Read
September 13, 2023It is unnerving how Tucker Carlson turned from a goofy, but competently sane center-right journalist-cum-cable host-- one who in his work revels at pointing out the conspiratorial nuttiness of the then tame American political scene-- into a neo-Father Coghlan for our secular age. He goes from praising Larry King's apathetic advice for the cable tv host ("care, but not too much") to, now, possessing a rabid intensity, as if his monologues on Fox or X are slowing our alleged civilizational collapse with every clause or imperative. Was it the transition away from bowties? Maybe, underlying the theme of the book, is that working within the nuance-free, verbal warfare cesspool of pundit-led television is destructive on mind, body, and soul. Carlson, only a few years in the biz, could look at it all with ironic distance, but he grew too close until the whole enterprise swallowed him up. All that he lampooned, he began to believe as creed.
January 5, 2008
An amusing read inside the life of Tucker, very funny, quick read!!
January 21, 2008
This book isn't so much about national politics as the politics of cable news. It kept me laughing hysterically all the way through.
May 6, 2008
Love it!
June 16, 2008
This guy's super sharp and very funny! I want to see another book!
November 7, 2011
Laugh out loud funny it cemented my crush of Carlson and set the bar for non fiction comedy. Excellent tales of politico people and events
April 11, 2015
Nothing revolutionary, but fairly entertaining. Funny narrative.
August 24, 2021
One of the most delightful political memoirs I have ever read.
November 6, 2012
I think he used this book to spin truth w lies. Al Sharpton w boots up on the table and Dea involvement. Guy named M. Murphy hangs out w McCain and ruins political careers and Michael Murphy is remembered as Seal from Arkansas who was a hero and died and whose audio book I borrowed online and talked of doing drugs etc Not what I believe. I think the Colorado event w the Aurora incident was related to clowns to the left and jokers to the right. Greg doesn't drive the bus. Show about Hoarders? Show about Weeds. Uggg.. Tucker is a gravedigger. Thank you Willie Nelson. Spins off truth and lies abound in ths fictional book. Turned it in Nov 6 mon 2012.
February 1, 2018
Just finished the book and I am quite happy and surprised. In the book, Tucker rolls back the curtain into his role as a journalist and reveals his personality off the air. I have been a Tucker fan for a long time, and I really enjoyed the insight and personal view of his stories over the years. Overall, the book was a joy to read and I hope he releases his new book soon.
January 3, 2009
Hilarious! Tucker is somewhat of an asshole but a funny one who sheds light on various politicians and "leaders" in our nation behind camera and the media. If you want a laugh and a quick read pick this up
July 6, 2018
Pure Tucker Carlson
Tucker tells it like it is, unusual these days or more so a forgotten art. I know deep down in his heart he is waiting for the day when someone from the left, and some from the right, would actually answer his questions truthfully. So am I.
Tucker tells it like it is, unusual these days or more so a forgotten art. I know deep down in his heart he is waiting for the day when someone from the left, and some from the right, would actually answer his questions truthfully. So am I.
June 19, 2008
I must have been pretty bored to read this. It wasn't awful, but I didn't take anything lasting away from it.
November 14, 2008
good. even better b/c i have an autographed copy
January 9, 2010
Could have been good -- but Tucker Carlson pulls his punches, and writes instead a handful of inconsequential anecdotes.
March 27, 2018
I really enjoyed this book by Tucker Carlson! It was a very lighthearted, easy read of one of the most fascinating pundits on TV right now. I am looking forward to his 2018 book release.
July 3, 2018
Typical smartass Tucker in his early days st CNN. Some fun insights into the business and his life. If you are a TC fan it’s worth a read. Definitely light reading.
September 23, 2026
Originally requested via interlink after I became aware that the author was a staple on the 2000 McCain Primary tour at the same time as David Foster Wallace travelled with it as the basis of his Rolling Stone article/essay Up, Simba!. I thought, with the mind of an obsessive, that an autobiography which reportedly contained several pages on the subject of the McCain bus tour might include information about a tall freaky-deek bandana'd journalist looking at cameras and gymnasium windows and asking questions about "do you feel the interstate system functions as a metaphor for national politics in the media age". The book had been out of print long enough and was of marginal enough interest when it was in print that it wasn't really for sale or available anywhere local, so I spun up a system designed to permit great minds to solve the problems of the world and brainiacs to get the information they needed ASAP to satisfy my own personal curiosity.
"Politicians, Partizans, and Parasites" does not contain David Foster Wallace related content. It does, however, contain a description of the same period aboard the Straight Talk Express, which offers an interesting cursory overview of the same, retrospectively really very interesting, period in American Political history. It is hard not to see, with a quarter century of hindsight, McCain 2000 as a test run for what would be Donald Trump's 2016 playbook. Light on detail and irresistible to reporters, Trump could reasonably be called "McCain with a plane". He even got his own Bush to fight with and didn't fall into the trap of playing nice with his. Tucker was front and center for both campaigns.
And so far as I can tell this Tucker guy is still basically the same as he was when he wrote the book. He hits all of the same slightly irreverent themes. If you've seen a monologue or two, he hits the same beats to this day. Say what you will about demagoguery—or whatever three-dollar word critics use that completely bounces off the ears of the people actually tuning in to Tucker Time™—the man is undeniably consistent. I can't vouch for the intellectual rigors of what he has to say, and I certainly can't agree with some of his most unfeeling or conspiratorial ideas, but it's undeniable that he's had a massive impact on popular republicanism in America. Finding out he got fired for sending texts calling some lady a bitch seems pretty in line with his blasé attitude evidenced as far back as the publication of this 2003 memoir.
His transition from cable television to digital media seems to me to be truly significant. We've heard about the "death of legacy media" for some time, but for the #1 primetime host to move into the #6 podcast slot on Spotify (and #16 slot on Apple Podcasts, "dumb iPhone libs") feels like something significant enough that someone smarter than me needs to tell TV it's over.
The book is funny and light and worth a read if only for the window to another time it serves as. When I say it's funny, I mean it. It's pretty rare that I'll laugh audibly, but this book got me more than once. Below is a transcription on the subject of situations where Tuck-O absolutely could not under any circumstances permit himself to laugh on television:
In the fall of 2002, what turned out to be a pair of snipers roamed the Washington area, murdering strangers for no apparent reason.... we interviewed a retired D.C. homicide detective named Ted Williams. The day before, a middle-aged woman had been shot dead at a Home Depot in suburban Virginia. Williams made the point that her death was particularly tragic, as the woman had recently overcome breast cancer. At least that’s what he tried to say, I think. What emerged from his mouth was: “And the worst is, she’d just had breast implants.”
Suffice it to say, were I in Carlson's shoes I would not have maintained composure and therefore employment.
As I've said, the book is marginal. It's thin. It's a loosely connected series of pretty funny stories. Probably the newer biography would be better to read if you're not a nut as I.
YouTube comments say he's putting out feelers for a presidential run in 2028. I don't know if it's true, and I don't think he has my vote (then again, neither does anyone else – really), but there's something to be said for a man who speaks largely unscripted to be hitting the same notes he put down in his autobiography twenty five years, and a totally different media and political landscape, apart.
P.S.
The bowtie. What's the deal with that? Now the faux rural flannel. What's the deal? He doesn't look comfortable in any of it. This man has been being dressed by someone else for a long time.
"Politicians, Partizans, and Parasites" does not contain David Foster Wallace related content. It does, however, contain a description of the same period aboard the Straight Talk Express, which offers an interesting cursory overview of the same, retrospectively really very interesting, period in American Political history. It is hard not to see, with a quarter century of hindsight, McCain 2000 as a test run for what would be Donald Trump's 2016 playbook. Light on detail and irresistible to reporters, Trump could reasonably be called "McCain with a plane". He even got his own Bush to fight with and didn't fall into the trap of playing nice with his. Tucker was front and center for both campaigns.
And so far as I can tell this Tucker guy is still basically the same as he was when he wrote the book. He hits all of the same slightly irreverent themes. If you've seen a monologue or two, he hits the same beats to this day. Say what you will about demagoguery—or whatever three-dollar word critics use that completely bounces off the ears of the people actually tuning in to Tucker Time™—the man is undeniably consistent. I can't vouch for the intellectual rigors of what he has to say, and I certainly can't agree with some of his most unfeeling or conspiratorial ideas, but it's undeniable that he's had a massive impact on popular republicanism in America. Finding out he got fired for sending texts calling some lady a bitch seems pretty in line with his blasé attitude evidenced as far back as the publication of this 2003 memoir.
His transition from cable television to digital media seems to me to be truly significant. We've heard about the "death of legacy media" for some time, but for the #1 primetime host to move into the #6 podcast slot on Spotify (and #16 slot on Apple Podcasts, "dumb iPhone libs") feels like something significant enough that someone smarter than me needs to tell TV it's over.
The book is funny and light and worth a read if only for the window to another time it serves as. When I say it's funny, I mean it. It's pretty rare that I'll laugh audibly, but this book got me more than once. Below is a transcription on the subject of situations where Tuck-O absolutely could not under any circumstances permit himself to laugh on television:
In the fall of 2002, what turned out to be a pair of snipers roamed the Washington area, murdering strangers for no apparent reason.... we interviewed a retired D.C. homicide detective named Ted Williams. The day before, a middle-aged woman had been shot dead at a Home Depot in suburban Virginia. Williams made the point that her death was particularly tragic, as the woman had recently overcome breast cancer. At least that’s what he tried to say, I think. What emerged from his mouth was: “And the worst is, she’d just had breast implants.”
Suffice it to say, were I in Carlson's shoes I would not have maintained composure and therefore employment.
As I've said, the book is marginal. It's thin. It's a loosely connected series of pretty funny stories. Probably the newer biography would be better to read if you're not a nut as I.
YouTube comments say he's putting out feelers for a presidential run in 2028. I don't know if it's true, and I don't think he has my vote (then again, neither does anyone else – really), but there's something to be said for a man who speaks largely unscripted to be hitting the same notes he put down in his autobiography twenty five years, and a totally different media and political landscape, apart.
P.S.
The bowtie. What's the deal with that? Now the faux rural flannel. What's the deal? He doesn't look comfortable in any of it. This man has been being dressed by someone else for a long time.
November 27, 2020
I've occasionally watched Mr. Carlson on Fox News and, while I don't always agree with his opinions, he expresses them well and seems a pretty likeable guy. This book did nothing to change my opinion. He doesn't seem full of himself. It's a really interesting and fun read. I found myself laughing out loud a lot. He writes well. It doesn't take nearly the time it took for me to read it as I had very little time to spend reading. I was sorry when the book was done.
May 18, 2021
If you didn't already love Tucker, you will after you read this. It is always insightful, sometimes hysterical. This is an older book but still it is written and delivered in a way that only Tucker can do. It is an interesting read about his life up to that point, and there is probably far more to his life than you would guess. Highly recommend. Quick, easy, fun read.
March 31, 2020
A necessary read in our time.
June 27, 2021
This book is hysterical!
Buy this book for shits and giggles as well as Tucker’s other books; very entertaining and thought provoking whether you agree politically or not.
Buy this book for shits and giggles as well as Tucker’s other books; very entertaining and thought provoking whether you agree politically or not.
September 1, 2021
Enjoyable
Really enjoyed reading this book. Have found my new favorite writer. Looking forward to all future books. Thanks for the enjoyable laughs and great stories.
Really enjoyed reading this book. Have found my new favorite writer. Looking forward to all future books. Thanks for the enjoyable laughs and great stories.
July 30, 2023
Excellent. Tucker's talent shines through.
December 28, 2021
This is a fun book where Tucker Carlson describes his early years in cable TV where he had a lot of encounters with people in politics. Some of the stories are pretty crazy.
November 28, 2020
Whatever you think of Carlson (I've never watched his show), he's fun to read. Here he just sort of flits from one topic to the next (so much so that you wonder if he wrote this book in a day or two), but I enjoyed these sprints. Tucker has an earthiness about him that is refreshing, like someone who can laugh at the excesses of his industry and not take himself too seriously.
January 6, 2025
It’s fascinating to see how Carlson went from being a moderate right-leaning traditional Republican to possssing his current stances. Regardless, I enjoyed this one thoroughly. A bit long winded at times and sometimes stories mentioned seemed to carry no relevance to the narrative’s coherency besides bragging rights but I loved the tone overall and I like the way this guy writes. Casual, witty, comical, and to the point. Love him or hate him as a person, he’s kinda hilarious objectively and he knows it. Sad the audiobook was “only available on CD” given its long after its initial 2003 release, but I know he’d narrate this book in a manner that would bring his words to life.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews