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Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage
As the American electorate worked itself into an unnaturally contentious fever pitch in 2016, stand-up comic and political pundit Stephen Kruiser found himself more relaxed than ever before. He at first worried that he might be concussed. As the feeling wore on well into the first several months of the Trump presidency he knew something was amiss. Something good. This is a reflection on a political journey he hadn't planned and didn't even know he was taking at the time. It's a weird journey, but one that ended up with a really enjoyable destination.
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 31, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 7, 2018
Interesting perspective
As a recovering political new junkie, was interested in Kruiser’s take. Some nice writing, but typos were distracting. Hire an editor.
As a recovering political new junkie, was interested in Kruiser’s take. Some nice writing, but typos were distracting. Hire an editor.
January 2, 2021
Perceptive, introspective journal of a crazy political year
First, for the TL;DR types: YES, you should read this book about the 2016 campaign now. In 2020. The writing is crisp, the story flows quickly, the jokes range from good to beer-snorting-out-your-nose funny. And it will help you understand what we’re dealing with now.
My review: I first read this in 2019 and appreciated his take. After a few months of reading the author’s Morning Briefing daily newsletter I decided to re-read it to compare it to the bizarre political season we just endured.
The first sentence made me smile. For a book on Zen acceptance, the first line is an absolutist statement - the man hates asparagus. Just an example of his many passions.
The meat of the book is a journey through his reactions to the 2016 campaign...how he went from a passionate, but decidedly not extremist Cruz supporter (he would have supported Rubio if he’d been the nominee!) to one who finally checked out of the G.O.P. and became a Libertarian simply due to Gary Johnson’s stance on taxes. (A view I applaud.)
Chapter 15 has the most relevance to today ... his look at why the media reacted the way it did and does to Trump. Titled “The Virtue Lotion Massage” - this chapter and Chapter 16 pull together exactly why he became so chill about the whole process.
Another evergreen section: his thoughts on Twitter. President Trump really was made for that medium and vice versa.
In the last chapter he has one eerily prescient sentence:
“I am almost certain that the endgame the progressives have in mind involves a whole hell of a lot of civil unrest.”
That could have been written in 2020.
I wonder how he will handle the upcoming Biden administration.
First, for the TL;DR types: YES, you should read this book about the 2016 campaign now. In 2020. The writing is crisp, the story flows quickly, the jokes range from good to beer-snorting-out-your-nose funny. And it will help you understand what we’re dealing with now.
My review: I first read this in 2019 and appreciated his take. After a few months of reading the author’s Morning Briefing daily newsletter I decided to re-read it to compare it to the bizarre political season we just endured.
The first sentence made me smile. For a book on Zen acceptance, the first line is an absolutist statement - the man hates asparagus. Just an example of his many passions.
The meat of the book is a journey through his reactions to the 2016 campaign...how he went from a passionate, but decidedly not extremist Cruz supporter (he would have supported Rubio if he’d been the nominee!) to one who finally checked out of the G.O.P. and became a Libertarian simply due to Gary Johnson’s stance on taxes. (A view I applaud.)
Chapter 15 has the most relevance to today ... his look at why the media reacted the way it did and does to Trump. Titled “The Virtue Lotion Massage” - this chapter and Chapter 16 pull together exactly why he became so chill about the whole process.
Another evergreen section: his thoughts on Twitter. President Trump really was made for that medium and vice versa.
In the last chapter he has one eerily prescient sentence:
“I am almost certain that the endgame the progressives have in mind involves a whole hell of a lot of civil unrest.”
That could have been written in 2020.
I wonder how he will handle the upcoming Biden administration.
December 23, 2019
Great description of political acceptance
I really wanted to make this av4.5 star review, but Amazon doesn't do that.
First, the half star off: a little better editing, lots of either missing words in a sentence or transposing "it" and "is" for some reason.
Now the good: this is one of the most on point descriptions a lot of us who are conservative by nature yet mildly or more disgusted by the Republican establishment. I've always been more on the libertarian side of conservatism, but the Libertarian party doesn't do it for me. Mr. Kruiser's journey is much like how I felt but for me started in the late 90s. His descriptions of being able to sit back and laugh at both side's ridiculousness, and do it with humor, while still staying engaged in politics resonates. If you can laugh at yourself, you should be able to enjoy this book.
I really wanted to make this av4.5 star review, but Amazon doesn't do that.
First, the half star off: a little better editing, lots of either missing words in a sentence or transposing "it" and "is" for some reason.
Now the good: this is one of the most on point descriptions a lot of us who are conservative by nature yet mildly or more disgusted by the Republican establishment. I've always been more on the libertarian side of conservatism, but the Libertarian party doesn't do it for me. Mr. Kruiser's journey is much like how I felt but for me started in the late 90s. His descriptions of being able to sit back and laugh at both side's ridiculousness, and do it with humor, while still staying engaged in politics resonates. If you can laugh at yourself, you should be able to enjoy this book.
April 14, 2023
Hysterically funny, provocative, absurd, witty, and wonderful. For me, this is as good as it gets.
El Loco
El Loco
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews