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Fanatics & Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America
A scathing critique of the American political system looks at how America's political leaders on a state and national level have cheated and deceived voters and how political corruption has disenfranchised Americans of all political beliefs. 150,000 first printing.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
370 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2004
4 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Arianna Huffington
65 books877 followersArianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books.
In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.
She has been named to Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union.
She serves on several boards, including HuffPost’s partners in Spain, the newspaper EL PAÍS and its parent company PRISA; Onex; The Center for Public Integrity; and The Committee to Protect Journalists.
Her 14th book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder was published by Crown in March 2014 and debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.
She has been named to Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union.
She serves on several boards, including HuffPost’s partners in Spain, the newspaper EL PAÍS and its parent company PRISA; Onex; The Center for Public Integrity; and The Committee to Protect Journalists.
Her 14th book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder was published by Crown in March 2014 and debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 28, 2018
I have mixed feelings about this book, and when I first started it I wasn’t enjoying it to the point at which I almost gave up on it. I was filming an unhaul video for my BookTube channel when I happened to notice that my copy of this was signed by Huffington herself. That made me think that I might as well keep it.
It’s basically a big long book about the 2004 presidential election, outlining Huffington’s theories on what a democratic candidate would need to successfully unseat George Bush. Obviously it didn’t quite turn out that way, but it’s strange because a lot of what she says about this new leader that they need could be describing Barack Obama.
Huffington also has an interesting take on things because she’s no stranger to politics. She ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of governor of California, and she has some interesting things to say about his brand of politics — and indeed of Republican politics in general.
One of the main themes in this book is the way in which corporate America basically makes a mockery of democracy, with politics for sale to the highest bidder. Huffington clearly knows her stuff and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a dossier on her computer to this day detailing all of the sleazy, sketchy stuff that politicians get up to, not just in America but around the world.
Sure, it’s sometimes a little slow going, and I did have to read this twenty pages at a time as my bedtime book, but I am still glad that I picked it up even if it’s out of date by now and no longer really relevant. I also found Huffington’s writing style a little abrasive to begin with just because of how sarcastic she can get, but after a while I was able to overcome it.
All in all, I liked what she had to say here and if she was running for office somewhere that meant I could vote for her, I probably would. And most of the policy ideas she shared were spot on.
It’s basically a big long book about the 2004 presidential election, outlining Huffington’s theories on what a democratic candidate would need to successfully unseat George Bush. Obviously it didn’t quite turn out that way, but it’s strange because a lot of what she says about this new leader that they need could be describing Barack Obama.
Huffington also has an interesting take on things because she’s no stranger to politics. She ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of governor of California, and she has some interesting things to say about his brand of politics — and indeed of Republican politics in general.
One of the main themes in this book is the way in which corporate America basically makes a mockery of democracy, with politics for sale to the highest bidder. Huffington clearly knows her stuff and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a dossier on her computer to this day detailing all of the sleazy, sketchy stuff that politicians get up to, not just in America but around the world.
Sure, it’s sometimes a little slow going, and I did have to read this twenty pages at a time as my bedtime book, but I am still glad that I picked it up even if it’s out of date by now and no longer really relevant. I also found Huffington’s writing style a little abrasive to begin with just because of how sarcastic she can get, but after a while I was able to overcome it.
All in all, I liked what she had to say here and if she was running for office somewhere that meant I could vote for her, I probably would. And most of the policy ideas she shared were spot on.
October 27, 2008
The book is divided into four parts. The first, and least of them is called “the Fanatics.” There is not a lot here that I have not seen elsewhere. Better is Part 2, “A Bush Republican Takes California.” Needless to say this is about how Arnold mimics the Bush form of trying to appear nice while all the while targeting the weakest members of society for cutbacks. Part 3, The Fools, is about the flawed Democratic response to the Republican campaign machine. Strongest perhaps is part 4, The Other Side of the Mountain, which focuses on what might be done.
This is not a great book, and I would not recommend it to just anyone. There is not a lot here that is new except for the very detailed look at Arnold, and her own campaign experiences. The formula for the future is good. Her style is breezy, which makes this an entertaining and quick read. But she sometimes settles for very easy hits, and that gets a bit tiresome. There are also filler pages which consist of a single quote surrounded by far too much white space.
This is not a great book, and I would not recommend it to just anyone. There is not a lot here that is new except for the very detailed look at Arnold, and her own campaign experiences. The formula for the future is good. Her style is breezy, which makes this an entertaining and quick read. But she sometimes settles for very easy hits, and that gets a bit tiresome. There are also filler pages which consist of a single quote surrounded by far too much white space.
February 10, 2008
Excellent. Arianna has a great ability to give reasoned (and well-researched) arguments to support her positions.
April 19, 2022
She started out strong then faded, preaching more than reporting. However, the reporting was good.
September 16, 2007
It's been a while since I read this one, but according to my LiveJournal (which has a far better memory than I do), here's the gist of what I thought: Funny, informative, and bipartisan. Plus, I can finally say I've read something by a Republican - Well, a former Republican, anyway. (Ms. Huffington seems to have some farfetched idea that the right wing may have gone off its collective rocker just a tad - imagine that.) One hell of a slow read, though.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews