Trump Is F*cking Crazy:

by Keith Olbermann

Witty, acerbic, hard-hitting, and timely, Keith Olbermann's Donald Trump commentaries come adapted from his hit GQ series The Resistance.
 
Since Donald Trump's presidential nomination, Keith Olbermann has emerged as one of the web's most popular anti-Trump screedists—each installment of his GQ web series The Resistance receives nearly four million views, and his fiercely progressive monologues have garnered a new generation of fans and followers. In TRUMP IS F*CKING CRAZY, Olbermann takes our Commander in Chief and his politics apart with journalistic acuity and his classic in-your-face humor. With more than 50 individual essays adapted from his GQ commentaries, including new up-to-the-minute material, TRUMP IS F*CKING CRAZY is essential reading for concerned citizens who—like Olbermann—refuse to normalize or accept our new political reality.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Essays, The United States Of America, Journalism, Audiobook

449 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 2017

About the author

Keith Olbermann is an American news anchor, commentator, and radio sportscaster. He currently hosts Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, an hour-long nightly newscast of five selected stories with commentary by Olbermann and guests. Starting with the 2007 NFL season, Olbermann also serves as co-host of NBC's Football Night in America with Bob Costas.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been watching Keith Olbermann on YouTube since he began his near-daily commentary on Trump, “The Closer” — now “The Resistance” — in September 2016. I was glad to hear Olbermann’s voice again, indignant, literate and darkly funny. It had been a long time, and thank you to the editor and the folks at GQ for giving Olbermann a platform for the modern streaming viewership.

When Olbermann began advertising Trump is Fucking Crazy at the end of his “Resistance” videos, I wondered if reading the scripts of the videos would be as powerful as hearing his voice: sarcastic and withering, doubting and questioning (and definitely insulted by the raft of Republicans towing Trump’s canoe up this River of Doubt). Would his tone survive print?

Reader, I am happy to tell you it does.

Now this may be a by-product of the fact that as a FAN, I have subscribed on YouTube to the stream from GQ so I don’t miss Olbermann, rushing home each evening to see if another video has posted. The days there isn’t a new rant from Olbermann, I’ll admit it: I sheet cake. Or layer cake. Or sometimes, I eclair. But I can hear Olbermann’s voice as clear as day while reading Trump is Fucking Crazy, and I think that anyone who has watched him on TV over the past 30+ years will hear him loud and clear, too. 

The indignant Olbermann has pulled together fellow-travelers who find themselves questioning reality on a daily basis: This is our country? THIS GUY is our President? Olbermann helps to concentrate the myriad, scattered indignities into a cohesive, undigestible bolus for us to upchuck and toss back at the presidency that is actively doing us wrong. Olbermann is the emetic cure for the foul, bacterial Trump that has been jammed down the throats of reasonable and intelligent people. 

Thank you Keith, for keeping us regular until we can shit this ersatz-President and his goons out of office.

Resist. Peace.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filthy liberal smut. And I loved it. Not appropriate to send to your conservative friends— they won’t think it’s nice. Because, well, it’s not nice. But in between the gratuitous (but perhaps warranted) swearing and the thinks-he’s-funnier-than-he-is jokes (though he’s decently funny), there are some stark truths here.

Ultimately, I felt dirty reading this (as I said in an update, liberal politics gossip is my version of romance novels— total smut) but it made me hopeful. If bulldogs... I mean, people... like Olbermann are out there keeping this level of careful track of tr*mp’s lies, foibles, and atrocities, we just might make it.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you know you are totally absolutely batshit crazy? You LUV your loverboy Trump. Trump IS F*king crazy. And if you support him, good grief, he'll f*** anything that moves so call the White House. Olbermann closes with four reason why Trump will shortly not be President. Reasonable reasons. Collusion is legal, btw, but money-laundering is not. Consorting with the enemy IS Treason. Meeting with the enemy in order to convince the enemy to destroy America is treason. Trump has sold America, every citizen, out, cause he and his loverboy Putin want to rule the world. This is a must read for all Americans who want to understand what's happening. As for you white evangelical' Christians' who love Trump cause he loves your vote, shame, for shame on you. Maybe you can get porn stars to **** you to on the way to your inner circle of hell.

[jess ~has abandoned GR~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy cannoli, this is just a giant ranting echo chamber of anger.

Those who agree with Keith Olbermann's assessment of Donald Trump will not find any new material. Those who disagree with him and have a positive view of Trump will disagree with him even MORE, and will become more solidified in their support of Trump in defiance. This book serves to please those in the echo chamber, reinforce pro-Trump and anti-media beliefs in Trump supporters, and will not change anyone's opinion on anything.

Essentially, this is just angry rant preaching to the choir, and the outrage is becoming exhausting.

Hard pass.

received via Netgalley

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 5 out of 5]

RESIST! REMOVE! ... peace.

There is one line that sums up a lot when it comes to Trump that Olbermann says at one point: "He cannot leave it alone." That sums up a lot.

ive loved Keith's videos on GQ on YouTube and so I loved this book. if you've seen his monologues (similar to what he used to do on his MSNBC show in full Murrow-in-Meltdown mode) you know where you stand on him. Thank goodness.

[skillwithaquill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A justifiably loud, angry, acerbic look at absolutely abominable 2016 election and the disgraceful first year of T***p's administration.

In short: Fuck Trump, Buy this book.

[Karalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough read. The chronological order of the chapters starting from before the election was essentially a horrifying trip down memory lane, with comments like “surely this is the end of Trump” and “there’s no way this man will actually win” so yeah...depressing as hell.

Also, Keith is the king of ellipses. I’m actually curious to know just how many times “...” showed up in this book.

Overall, if you are a trump-hating liberal like I am, you’ll love it.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the YouTube videos, bought this to pass on the love.

As a book, not the best. Ends up being a massive polemic against Trump and feels awfully repetitive.

Loved the YouTube videos and sad that there will be no more. Really feed my anger at The Presidency.

Very Zeitgeist.

[Lauren Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way to go Keith! THANK YOU for this book! I'm a purpose-driven Millennial who, during the Obama Administration, could not have been more excited to see a culture of diversity, innovation, systems thinking, and a commitment to the collective best interest and redistribution of extreme wealth from the very richest to the very neediest... it's seriously so refreshing to FINALLY hear someone on the left using passionate, fact-based argumentation to acknowledge just HOW f*cking crazy and insane the events surrounding this administration really are (rather than drawing false equivalencies to appear unbiased, like so many other reporters continue to do with complete disregard for morality or ethics)!! The Resistance – and this book – are exactly the type of reporting we need!! Keep up the great work!!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written by one of my favorite political journalists. Reading this a little over a year after the election, I found it to be an interesting showing of how painfully obvious the issues of both pre-election and post are to those not on the far right.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

From September 2016 to June 2017 Keith covers all the crazy of the deranged Orange being in the White House. In the way only Keith can - he calls out the lies and the lunacy. If you watch the news and scream and wish the reporters would say what you know is true - you will love this as much as I did.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you hate Trump, you will love this book!

[Peter Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Screedist" isn't a word; did you mean "writer"?
I do think "refusing to accept reality" is accurate. Certainly this book will be of great interest to those in the grand echo-chamber of reality denial.

[Sharon Bodnar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book—even though 5 more months passed since it ended with even more reasons to dump Trump. This man can WRITE!

[J.T.K. Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Keith Olbermann, his insights and his language skills, but this book has been very hard on my blood pressure. His words are too true and we are in a mess in this country.

[Helen Marquis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first, I agree with Olbermann's overarching sentiment here. So please don't mistake my slightly "meh" score for me being a fan of the Cheeto in Chief. Far far far from it. So why am I not giving this book 5 stars?
I deducted a point each for my 2 biggest gripes with this book....
(1) Olbermann doesn't present exactly the most balanced view of things. He doesn't like Trump, but I guess you could figure that out from the title. However he then makes excuses for some of the dirtier sides of the Democratic Party. You can't gun for one candidate and be an apologist for equally egregious behaviour from your side.
(2) Olbermann is preaching to the echo chamber. Nobody is going to be swayed by his thoughts. Perhaps with a more moderate approach he could win over some wavering swing voters, but he is so apoplectic that the message gets lost behind the facade of just another angry man shouting at an even angrier man.
So what's left? I ended up feeling like I was just watching Olbermann go through therapy. Spewing bile and venting his spleen, page after page. Some of it is very funny, but after a while it ends up feeling like the Trump presidency itself - lots of frankly exhausting pointless angry toxic shouting.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olbermann's screed about our former obnoxious leader was written about the time the orange-one became the head of our government. I had started this audiobook while the man was in office, but it was due at the library before I finished it. I am now in a clean-up-your-reading-category mode, and it was available, so, I finally finished it.
Olbermann is apoplectic and unabashedly opposed to the prevaricating and lying commander-in-cheat that I would think his blood pressure is higher than the price of prime rib.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should have been published before the election. I am not sure if it would have made a difference, but it was a very great read. The chronological order of the the essays written for GQ in one book is great. Some of the things written about in this book I remember, some I did not. Good analogy of things Trump has done. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

[Chris Petruccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like I said when I started the book, I know this is about as echo chamber as books can possibly get. But honestly there is an incredible catharsis to listening to Keith Olbermann rail on against Trump (I listened to the audiobook, obviously). Basically a collection of readings from the Closer/Resistance youtube series, but no less enjoyable unless you are a Trump voter, to which you won't find this book enjoyable at all.

Resist.
Remove.
Peace.

[Susen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is laugh out loud funny, but the facts are sobering.
As someone who has lived in NY for 38 years, I have watched the idiocy, the lawlessness, the recklessness, the violations, the bankruptcies and lawsuits that are Trump go on and on.
Keith hits the Mango Mussolini High, Hard and Fast.

I am an audiobook listener and this was read by the author.
Awesome job, Keith!

A must read, but it's better if you listen to the audio!

#RESIST

[Jen from Quebec :0) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I will continually "pop in and out of", and revisit constantly. If the content weren't so depressing, I'd almost label this one under 'humorous', due to the writing style of Olbermann. (Instead, I *did* list it under 'Horror'). I own the audio-book version, which for THIS particular book is almost ESSENTIAL, really. Keith Olbermann's emotions are dialed up to 11 the entire time, as he literally screams the facts and opinions gathered in his research to his readers. Despite being a work on current US politics, his writing, (loud) tone and amazing use of expletives make it NSFW! I had to turn this one down quite often, for fear of shattering my ears, but am STILL glad to own it via Audible as the author's emotions are palpable and add to the significance of the writing. A book that CANNOT be ignored. --Jen from Quebec :0)

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not a joke and it's really not funny but this book does make me laugh. It's the kind of laughter you feel when something is just so over the top crazy and there's nothing else to do but laugh. It's how you feel when you say out loud "Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?" and someone else says "No, you're not the only one. I think so too."

Reading this book is exactly like watching video of his show The Resistance. Since I used to watch it, I could easily imagine his voice as I was reading, so that enhanced my appreciation of the book. If you never watched the show, I'm not sure you would enjoy the book as much. But if you think Trump is crazy, you will at least find you are not alone.

Send this book to anyone living in Trump country who feels alone and isolated.

[Sarah]

This is... not great. I agree politically with Olbermann but this just felt like a book long rant. It’s made up of articles written from last September on, with the original dates mentioned, and I can see how, at the time they were written, these rants would be more relevant. Now that the election can’t be changed, it feels like these rants are just yelling into the void. It’s like reading hundreds of pages of an angry Facebook page.

[Brett Bydairk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of his commentaries from his GQ Web series The Resistance from Sep 12 2016 to Jun 27 2017. Full of his usual bombast and vitriol, these are a fun, infuriating, and fascinating look at the Trump campaign from nomination to after his installation and his many mis-speakings, tweets, and outright lies, crimes and misdemeanors.

[Darlene Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needless to say, this title grabbed me as soon as I saw it. This was an interesting book - no really new info, although there were things I'd forgotten about. It's a good read, but kind of hard to finish because when all these things are actually gathered, part of you can't believe it's all really happened. Still, it was worth the time.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's so depressing that our country elected this buffoon.

[Lorraine M. Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched Keith's youtube feed when he spoke of Trump regularly and was disappointed when he ended it. I totally understand why he did so given how fatiguing it must have been to keep track of such idiocy on a daily basis.

So first, I want to thank Mr. Keith Olbermann for his courageous and tireless defense of the American Constitution and the American people

So I finally got the book. The best thing about this book is that Keith's commentary are IN THE MOMENT and not a look backwards/reflection on what happened since Trump took office. There were so many awful things done that I had forgotten.

Granted some people, such as Flynn, Manaforte, maybe Stone will be serving time in prison--not enough in my mind. It would be great if ALL of them (not just Manaforte) had to make financial restitution as well.

I keep going back to Olbermann's twitter feed/ youtube channel hoping that he will take the mantel up again but alas....

[Angela]

So here’s the deal. I didn’t actually finish this book - and I tried. But the issue here is that what is quite compelling when Olbermann is talking to a viewer doesn’t necessarily translate so well to a book. The point of view changes frequently, first it’s a narrative, then it’s a direct address, frequently as if the reader is Trump, though he also deviates to address apparent Trump supporters at a few times. Neither of the above are audiences that will ever read this book.

The other main issue is that if you do not have a good grip on what events were at the given time of an entry, you get lost quickly. Sometimes reference points are actually mentioned, but it’s not frequent. Again, this is likely due to the translation from a tv style show to a book, and maybe it was rushed, but it isn’t an easy read because of this.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a "sentimental" look back at the 2016 presidential election and Trump White House from September, 2016, through June 2017 via the author's commentaries written at the time. While it is obvious that the author is not a Trump fan, this does not mean everyone should not read it. There is a lot of information here that we need to be reminded about, because with the Trump presidency, there are often too many things going on at once to pay attention to them all, even the most important one. This is a president who rules by chaos, often in an attempt to deflect attention to some real issues. I enjoyed this stroll down memory lane and eagerly watch the continuing Mueller investigation because this is one of the most exciting and terrifying political times in our nation.

[Cory Saksenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compilation of most if not all of Keith's essays dealing with Trump. Please not he yells a lot. I enjoyed it but keep thing that the people who should be listening are the people who voted for Trump, and they never will.