Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance

by Alexander Zaitchik

Who is this guy and why are people listening? Forget Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity—Glenn Beck is the Right’s new media darling and the unofficial leader of the conservative grassroots. Lampooned by the Left and Lionized by the far Right, his bluster-and-tears brand of political commentary has commandeered attention on both sides of the aisle. Glenn Beck has emerged over the last decade as a unique and bizarre conservative icon for the new century. He encourages his listeners to embrace a cynical paranoia that slides easily into a fantasyland filled with enemies that do not exist and solutions that are incoherent, at best. Since the election of President Barack Obama, Beck’s bombastic, conspiratorial, and often viciously personal approach to political combat has made him one of the most controversial figures in the history of American broadcasting. In Common Nonsense , investigative reporter Alexander Zaitchik explores Beck's strange brew of ratings lust, boundless ego, conspiratorial hard-right politics, and gimmicky morning-radio entertainment chops. Beck, a perverse and high-impact media spectacle, has emerged as a leader in a conservative protest movement that raises troubling questions about the future of American politics.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 29, 2010

Reviews

[Ellen Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not buy "Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance". I'm already so exhausted and depressed by the fact that hate-filled liars like Beck have taken over our country, working its demise (with others) as easily as he works his followers, that the last thing I would do is buy a book about one of these nasty people.

However, one of the book clubs to which I belong accidentally sent me this book. I was expecting another book from this club and opened the package, thinking it contained the book I had ordered. After I recovered from the shock of seeing Beck's malevolent face staring at me from the cover, I decided that maybe there was a reason I needed to read the book.

Amazingly, it was a fascinating, if not stomach-churning read. I've always felt like Beck is one afflicted with serious mental issues and after reading the story of how he became who he is and how he mistreated people all along the way, including family, wives, and friends, I'm now convinced that Beck is a very dangerously sick man. All the more scary that he has the influence that he has.

Warning: Don't read after having eaten.

[Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Beck professes love of the little guy but openly worships the superrich while inveighing against programs and institutions that help the average American. He is obsessed with the federal deficit and issues constant pleas to think of "our children," but he supports massive tax cuts, greater military spending, and remains dumb to non-debt-related measures of the intergenerational balance sheet. He claims to live and let live but moralizes about drugs and sex. He sees a burning Apocalypse in everything from Mexican drug cartels to civil liberties lawsuits but denies the reality of man-made climate change. He claims to cherish the freedoms, values, and institutions that are enshrined by the Constitution, yet defends torture, legal "black holes" like Guantanamo, and illegal wiretapping."
-from the Introduction

In Common Nonsense, Alexander Zaitchik provides a biography of Glenn Beck starting with his childhood and going all the way to the present. It seems Beck's lies extend even into his own biography since Beck's often repeated story that his mother committed suicide when he was thirteen contradicts newspaper accounts and government records which indicate that she drowned in a boating accident when he was fifteen. Beck also claims that Bob Hope had used his material, when in reality Bob Hope rejected Beck's jokes.

Beck began his career as a Top 40 Morning Zoo DJ. One of his most tasteless "pranks" involved calling up the wife of a rival DJ on air and ridiculing her for having a miscarriage. Former coworkers at the various radio stations he worked at almost universally hated Beck. To say he was difficult to get along with is an understatement. For example, Beck enjoyed taking people out to eat at a nice restaurant and firing them publicly in order to cause the maximum amount of humiliation.

The pot-smoking, cocaine-sniffing Beck eventually converted to Mormonism and moved to Tampa, but his emotional bipolarity continued. At times, he would raise money for victims of tragedy, at other times he would turn them into a cheap joke including a skit he did making fun of Terry Schiavo. Beck didn't get involved in politics until the year 2000. Beck was about to be fired due to low ratings when the biggest news story of the year, the 2000 Presidential Election recount, fell into his lap. Due to media consolidation, he just happened to be the only daily talk-show host on Tampa's biggest news and talk station. However, he required another bump to go national.

On September 10, 2001, Beck spent the show doing imitation black voices mocking Jesse Jackson, Johnnie Cochran, and African Americans in general. There was also a skit in which he pretended to claim responsibility for the murder of James Byrd, an African American who was chained to the bumper of a pick up truck by white supremacists and dragged down the road until his body was torn to pieces. He also mentioned an upcoming stunt in which he would dive into the shark tank at the Tampa aquarium.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 was a turning point for Beck's career. Beck's show went national. He stopped doing humorous skits, and he started crying on air. Beck's ability to cry on cue seems to be derived from Mormon culture in which every month at fast and testimony meetings, Mormons get up in front of the rest of the congregation to bear their testimonies, which usually results in tears.

9/11 didn't change everything, however. The racism remained. Beck referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "scumbags". At some point in his career, Beck has been condemned by Asians, Hispanics, Arabs, Jews, gays, and blacks. His misogyny and fat jokes also continued. He began embracing Republican talking points and comparing Al Gore to Hitler.

After Obama was elected, Beck became even more unhinged. Beck equated totalitarianism not with secret renditions and torture, but with letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Thankfully, Beck learned from history that right wing extremism leads to things like the Oklahoma City bombing, because he repeatedly urges the readers of his book Common Sense not to kill anybody. It's interesting to note that the man who wrote a book titled Arguing with Idiots, refuses to ever allow someone with a different viewpoint than him onto his show.

After accusing the President of being racist against white people, Beck found his advertisers leaving him in droves. Over 80 advertisers pulled their spots from his show, and today, not one nationally recognized brand is left.

Zaitchik tells us about Beck's heroes, the ultra conservative Mormon conspiracy theorist Cleon Skousen and the racist Ezra Taft Benson who wrote the forward to a book titled Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives which featured the severed bloody head of an African American on the cover.

Zaitchik ends with a discussion of the 9.12 Project and the true origins of the Tea Party. Supposedly, the Tea Party is a grassroots movement which began in response to a rant made by CNBC correspondent Rick Santelli condemning the government's plan to help home owners stave off foreclosure. Within hours, a ring of websites linked to corporate think-tanks FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity came online. However, the astroturf movement called the Tea Party was quickly hijacked by Glenn Beck.

I've always been confused by Beck's success, now I know it's largely due to dumb luck. The next time a conservative family member insists you read one of Beck's books, kindly suggest that they read this one.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll state up front that I'm not a fan of Glenn Beck, so this book was preaching to the choir. Common Nonsense spotlights a lot of the reasons I don't care for Beck:

1. He's divisive and polarizing. I think it's terrible how polarized politics have become. I have relatives that can't do more than discuss the weather anymore because political topics have become so toxic.

2. He's mean-spirited. Attacking people's political views is fair game. Beck, however, gets personal. He's regularly made fun of Rosie O'Donnell's weight and he likes to call Hillary Clinton the B-word and says she should never have left the kitchen. Nice.

3. At best, he distorts the facts. Often, he just plain lies.

4. His comments fuel the crazies. He knows it, too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to repeat over and over again that "violence is not the answer" in his books. And he may not be a white supremacist, but the skinheads love him.

5. He's a Mormon like me. But not like me. We Mormons have some pretty strict written and unwritten rules, but Beck seems to get a pass. Why don't we Mormons seem to care that he sells a t-shirt on his website that says, "Drill through the @$$ for cheaper gas"? If I talked like that, my Mom would wash my mouth out with soap. And if I talked nasty about people like Beck does, I think she'd turn me over her knee.

Alas, for all that I agree with author Alexander Zaitchik, I can't whole-heartedly endorse this book. It's clear that the author despises Beck (just read the introduction), and sometimes he can't resist fighting fire with fire, by which I mean he sometimes resorts to personal attacks and snooty comments. I get it, it's hard not to when you're writing about a blowhard like Beck (see, there I went), but I think it diminishes the impact of the book somewhat. And in the end, it's not a fun book to read. I don't enjoy reading about Beck's antics anymore than I enjoy hearing them.

[Seán · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fat man streaked with glycerine tears, he will lead thee into Zion!

Big ups to Zaitchik, another stellar New York Press alum, for this timely bio. Zaitchik's short investigation into the career of America's latest remedial-ed pop intellectual lays out in careful detail the contrived and unintentional fallacies, gob-smacking incoherence, and out-and-proud racism that make up Glenn Beck's ideology/marketing plan.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

With elegant writing and wit worthy of the comedy central satirists, Zaitchik delivers the bitch slap that Glenn Beck so richly deserves.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is Beck’s skill in distracting—the job of every rodeo clown—that makes him so valuable to conservative causes."

For those of us who have marveled at the astonishing success of Glenn Beck, the willfully ignorant and bombastic purveyor of cultural hostility and right-wing hysteria, here is the book that explains it all.

In Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, Alexander Zaitchik documents the rise of this remarkably talented and completely unprincipled phenomenon from his childhood in an idyllic little town in northern Washington State to lachrymose leader of anti-government, anti-social extremists.

The beginning of Beck's career, when he was just 16, coincided with the beginning of the radio phenomenon known as "morning zoo," which featured glib, chatty disk jockeys who specialized—increasingly, as the years went on—in provocative language and outrageous stunts. In this milieu, Beck's peculiar talents allowed him to create the lucrative niche he occupies today as pitchman for extremist conservative causes—an evil entertainer whose role is to distract American voters from inconvenient truths about issues from social injustice to the abject failure of trickle-down economics.

Rational, readable, and revealing, this book may be essential to understanding the mindset of the reactionary right, which is not only impeding progress but striving mightily to "take America back" to an imaginary, idealized 18th century.

[Bro_Pair أعرف · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, this is not the book you're expecting. I know, you're looking at the cover, you're reading the title, you think it's gonna be just another pile of mushy HuffPo liberal palaver, slapped between two covers and dumped at Barnes & Noble's loading dock, to be foisted upon aging Boomers for $27.95. Wrong, not so. This is a serious book; Zaitchik's approach is serious. Zaitchik is *not* one of the Serious People Beltway types pop stiffies for, and never will be; he worked too hard, learned too much, and it shows. Leave it to a subhuman intellect like Rachel Maddow, a screeching megalomaniac like Keith Olbermann, or a defanged assuager like Jon Stewart to get Glenn Beck wrong. But Zaitchik - he's an investigative journalist who, presented with the hideous specter of Beck, puts in the hours. The premise of the book is twofold: Beck is a loathsome protofascist (not surprising; all the other liberal talking heads believe this) and a remarkable person. Zaitchik never excuses Beck, indeed, pointedly jabs at his sundry, disgusting moral failings - but he does explain him better than anyone else who's tried. The fact is Glenn Beck is only popular, only a force, because Americans made him one. If the book has a flaw, it's that it stops short of fully elucidating this rancid truth.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zaitchik's book has a lot of interesting background and insight on Beck's role in the media and the conservative movement, but most of the best stuff from the book was already made available on Salon.com. Those pieces are expanded in the book and Zaitchik adds some solid perspective on a lot of what Beck is doing with his media empire, but I found myself disappointed with the chapters about his efforts after he joined Fox News. Perhaps its because I've paid a lot of attention to Beck in that time period, but they didn't seem as solid as the actual reporting Zaitchik did on Beck's rise through the world of Top 40 radio and his research on Cleon Skousen. It's definitely worth reading if you're curious about the Beck phenomena, but it's hard to escape feeling like it could have been so much more.

[Rob Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provided some interesting insight unto a delusional point of view. I agree with another review that I was left wanting toward the end. I was disappointed when the author included some basic "name calling" comments that cheapened his arguments. His points about Beck's stability and mental perspective were made without those comments. I would have rated this book higher minus them. I am glad I read this book in that I have a better frame of reference for Beck's comments and behavior.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read many of the facts elsewhere, but still appreciated Zaitchik's well-laid-out exposure of Beck's lack of depth in areas where he claims great "insight" (to his fans). Really needs to have a revised edition in light of the Giffords shooting in Arizona, though I suppose waiting for Beck's eventual meltdown makes sense.

[Chris Faraone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps you've also had the pleasure of explaining to relatives why they should stop watching Glenn Beck (or at least avoid parroting the Fox News method actor in public). Maybe, like me, you've coughed up spaghetti when your uncle claimed that Beck is "just telling it like it is." If such conversations are Sunday-dinner staples, or if you work in finance among intellectual Neanderthals whose every cold opinion stems from pure greed, then Alex Zaitchik's Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance is your Art of War (as well as great train reading material if you like getting ice-grilled by sexually rejected male Baby Boomers sporting fanny packs and Seinfeld clodhoppers).

There's a worthwhile argument that Zaitchik — prolific and talented veteran of The eXile and the New York Press, frequent contributor to Salon and AlterNet, and drinking buddy of mine — could have imagined loftier ways to spend this past year than crisscrossing America to interview characters from Beck's tenure as a semi-successful, inebriated, and unhinged Top 40 radio jock. After all, Zaitchik — a consummate muckraker — once traveled to remote northwest Ireland to profile political prisoners for The Nation. But his mission is warranted in that Common Nonsense effectively and in detail confirms what thinking folks already knew but may have had difficulty explaining to relatives: Beck, equal parts Mormon and moron, is a towering ignoramus and a shameless bigot.

The early chapters, in which Zaitchik traces Beck's morning-zoo career, play out like the Howard Stern autobiography (and complementary film) Private Parts. In these sections, even the author can hardly contain his admiration for his subject's lasting determination through failure after failure. This same note of awe appears to creep into the voices of past friends and foes, who shared stories about Beck gluing shut a competing station's front door during sweeps week, verbally abusing overweight jocks on competing frequencies, and one time vandalizing all the cars outside an adversary music director's wedding ceremony, "slapping bumper stickers on anything with a fender." As Zaitchik clearly shows, the guy is a sick sort of competitive animal. A former colleague recalls how Beck took his animosity toward rival jock Bruce Kelly to astonishing depths of cruelty: "A couple days after Kelly's wife, Terry, had a miscarriage, Beck called her live on the air and says, 'We hear you had a miscarriage' ... When Terry said yes, Beck proceeded to joke about how Bruce apparently can't do anything right — he can't even have a baby." (As karma would have it, Beck's first daughter was soon after born with cerebral palsy.)

Despite mild yet cautious applause of Beck's relentless nature, Zaitchik, armed with mighty rhetorical gusto, hardly skips opportunities to harpoon his white whale, as he does in explaining the conservative's latest incarnation: "With the election of Barack Obama, Beck was confronted with a Democratic administration for the first time since he had become a politically sentient adult. It is partly because he possesses a child's understanding of U.S. history and Democratic coalition politics that to him, everything seems so shocking and new. This is why his rants about the 'tree of radicalism' have the same feel as a freshman-year bong session devoted to the possibility that the universe is really just an atom, and within each atom another entire universe."


From my write-up in the Boston Phoenix. More here: http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/105...

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember the last time I discovered a new book while browsing the library shelf for something else. I usually stick to my list when I go to the library, but this book looked so interesting, and I felt so pleased with myself for considering something new, that I decided to check it out and read it.

Life would be so much sweeter if we could dismiss demagogues like Glenn Beck. Unfortunately, bigots and blowhards like him have always been an ugly fact of life, and we owe it to ourselves to face that reality and try to understand it.

Generally, I don't want to rely on someone's detractors to tell me what he believes, on the conviction that it's best to let people speak for themselves. In the case of this Beck character, however, I'm more than willing to make an exception. Reading Zaitchik's book has given me more insight into the "mind" of Beck (if one can be so charitable as to call it that) and what makes it tick than one could gain from months of watching his television program. According to Zaitckik, Beck is one of these characters who will do anything for publicity, even relishing negative publicity. The less respect educated people have for him, the happier he is. He doesn't think like a rational person. Most critically, Zaitchik reveals the source of Beck's ideology: a crackpot named Willard Cleon Skousen, who receives extensive coverage in the book.

Not being a television watcher, all I knew about Beck is what I learned from watching Comedy Central clips on line, so this book taught me something about the underside of our country and its denizens that I hadn't know. Zaitchik has done an impressive amount of research and has an engaging style. His sharp wit helps mitigate the pain of reading about such ugliness. He follows Beck's hijinks, play by play, from the beginning of his career in top 40 radio through 2009 and the beginning of Obama administration. Although I felt like I needed to take a shower after reading about the subject, I didn't experience the kind of discomfort or revulsion some readers have reported. That anti-intellectualism runs rampant in the U.S. and that many people can't even tell the difference between socialism and fascism is nothing new to me. Frightening? Yes. Disturbing? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely. News? No.

Unfortunately, the book, written about a year ago, already seems out of date. Imagine if Zaitchik could have anticipated such event as the Giffords shooting in his analysis! One would like to hope that within another year, the Beck craze will have fizzled and blown out. However, if it continues to have any more impact on popular opinion, Zaicthik's book will be an important chronicle of a most critical chapter in the collapse of American civilization.

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on Audible.com

Where does Common Nonsense rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Well, this is one of the first nonfiction audiobooks I've listened to, and by virtue of its subject it was not a boring one. It may not have been an impartial book, but it was by no means boring, either.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Common Nonsense?
My familiarity with Glenn Beck's broadcasts come primarily from YouTube snippets of his more vehement rants and outbursts. I always got the sense the guy was disingenuous, what with the crocodile tears and all that silliness, so it was quite interesting to learn of his affinity for Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast.It was also interesting to get a bit of a behind-the-scenes on some of his more memorable on-air spectacles.

Which character – as performed by Tom Dheere – was your favorite?
I suppose I should take a star away for Tom's reticence in portraying the racist supporters of Glenn Beck with more cartoonish zeal. The letters of support for Beck by these woefully ignorant and hate-filled "patriots" practically screamed for parody. But Tom Dheere took the high road, and did so through the entirety of his narration.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I'm not an extremist, so my reaction was even-tempered, which is more than can be said for many of the detractors of this book. While Zaitchik's own commentary is tinged with ridicule of his subject, the research and pacing are very well done. And being reminded of Glenn Beck's Vaudevillian approach to journalism and activism definitely offered frequent chuckles. On the other hand, the notion so many adore this huckster is nearly enough to weep for the nation.

Any additional comments?
If you love Glenn Beck and consider yourself one of the "true" Americans, you're going to find nothing but rage fuel in this book. If you're genuinely curious about what drives one of America's most notorious pundits, this is a pretty good place to start.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest, when I first picked up this book I thought it would be the typical yellow journalist attack book telling us how Glenn Beck is the most evil vile person in the world that will destroy civilization itself if someone doesn't stop him. Aka over dramatic and often dishonest hate book. Fortunately it wasn't. The book basically goes over Glenn Beck's life from the start of his radio career until his rise to fame today, how he completely changed, and where he gets his ideals from. It wasn't a completely fair assessment of him, I didn't expect it to be and don't really care cause I don't like him, but it wasn't utterly one sided (like say, something Glenn Beck would write). The best part was it showing the roots of the things he preaches today (John Birth Society, conspiracy theorist, anti intellectual, stuff) and how its basically nonsense. What I didn't like was how it somewhat implied Mormons are all a bunch of fundamentalist rednecks, because stereotypes like that are never good, and usually not true. Ultimately though it was moderately informative (much more than I expected) and pretty entertaining (though that might just be for me). I am now convinced that Beck is not some evil genius manipulative person, but largely just plain stupid and actually believes most this stuff.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer on the dangerous legacy and false origin myths of Glenn Beck, who has gone from forgettable shock jock to hate-baiting talking head in a record amount of time. Having said that, Zaitchik seemed to skimp a little on the 'beginning' of Glenn Beck's life - more emphasis is put on his time at Fox News that in his early days in talk radio. It won't be converting any of the faithful followers of Saint Beck (as in 'wreck') but it is still a jolly good/disturbing read for those who can clearly see Beck as the extremist fearmonger as he is. There is a regrettable lack of photos, though; it would have been worth it to see pictures of Beck's tragic 80's ponytail.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say thatI have been more disturbed by a book in a long time. A true snakeoil salesman, Beck has poisoned the national conversation with lies, inflammatory remarks, and enough faux-crying to make soap operas seem like Tennessee Williams. He says that he supports the Constitution but where was he when Bush ruled out habeaus corpus or decided to start wire tapping American citizens. You can't pick and choose and Beck, being the fraud that he is does just that. Zaitchik must have needed to bathe in bleach after having to live with Beck's story for so long. An interesting and thoroughly nauseating look at one of the biggest bullshit artists in American history.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Write a review...This is fun reading if you liked DFW's essay in Consider the Lobster, (the title of which I do not know since it is not in the Kindle ed. For shame.). It is just another expose on how crazily stupid Americans can be, in the context of talk radio & TV. These kinds of books are compelling in an unsatisfying way, like a train wreck.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Portrait of a frightening man. Another talking head who's willing to say or do anything for attention - and manages to stir up the masses, who never bother to check the veracity of his comments, in his wake.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is confirmation that Glenn Beck is a lunatic, if you need that. It was pretty interesting and it's always nice to have facts (no matter how biased and slanted) to justify my opinion :-)

[Deanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title tells it all. For most people, if you don't care for Beck, you will appreciate the material and if you do like him, you won't read this book. For me, the author proved his case.

[Smiley McGrouchpants Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was puzzled, about why Glenn Beck showed up on the cover of Forbes and crowed that we was the Stephen Colbert equivalent, though no-one could tell ("I could give a flying crap about the political process ... we're in the entertainment business!"). This is, apparently, what he means by naming his company "Mercury Theater Arts": Not just "I'm a genius, too!" — of the Kubrick, da Vinci, Shakespeare, Einstein, etc., clinging variety — but he can pull of wholesale War of the Worlds schemes, except deliberately and on purpose, without "feeling bad" about it, since he mea culpa-ed it (and hence, the Forbes appearance).

All of which is insane, and clearly one lobe of the brain not talking to the other while the other prattles on. (At least, in terms of a moral compass, that is ... )

This book is very illuminative. It covers Glenn Beck's early "Morning Zoo" days — when he didn't give a "flying crap" about anything — to his more recent appearances, when ... you guessed it, he didn't give a "flying crap" about anything either. He's gone from making fun of fellow DJ's based on their physical disabilities and weight (and only giving apologies grudgingly and publicly, when it was clear there was no other way to go about it), to making fun of people caring about Obama starting a Socialist paradise (not true: he, like most right-wingers, means a Stalinist totalitarianship, anway ... ) and taking away their guns. Which got people very upset. Gun sales soared, as did ammunition — and I mean soared — during Obama's administration, and then planed off when he was replaced by anybody, anybody at all, and the proverbial shops almost all had to shutter up their doors in their place, the gold rush was over. (Meantime: that's a lot of stuff out there, and "everything looks like a nail with a hammer in your hand ... ")

But: Not to get too worried, but Glenn Beck's crying! He's crying like a little baby! (As Kurt Cobain once opined: "The finest day / that I ever had / was when I learned / to cry on command ... " ) So it's all good.

He's a sensitive guy.

Not.

(You have to remember: People up on those bleachers and before those lights being broadcast to us are, to transfer a quote F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "not like you and me." He's a nutcase, and his indifference and growth as a sociopathic being is charted in this book — for everyone who ever fretted and worried about Rush Limbaugh, almost viscerally, at the radio-wave vibrations of negativity his spoken words were putting into people, in bars and coffee shops and places near you. Sarah Vowell recounts this, as does Pete-who-I-was-in-a-band-with. We all remember how nerve-wracking it was, and Glenn Beck's his more obvious follow-suiter, even so than Ann Coutler, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity: He's still out there, his "star having waned" or not, because public execution's illegal in America 'cept for cold-blooded murder — and black folks going "oopsie!" in the case files — and, let us admit it, even Mötley Crüe gets a biopic, these days: Famous is Famous Forever. And not everyone's Jack Nicholson ... or even Phyllis Diller, or George Burns!)

The guy's not nice.

(Hang Thomas Frank[*] from the highest lamppost for not see this coming ... or being unaware of Archie Bunker, Vietnam, or FOX News ... or muddying the waters on purpose!)
------------------
[*] By proxy, of course. There's pinatas, stores' got scads of 'em, don't let 'em sell out on you! Also for Quentin Tarantino, Dave Eggers, Aaron Sorkin, and other doltish malcontents who know better than me and you, but don't know better by much ... enough to count, by now ... it sure looks different! Get 'em while they last! — ed.

[Terry Earley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neither the author nor the subject of this book is very sympathetic. It was tough to slog through to the end.

Glenn Beck is a shallow minded showman who has done nearly irreparable harm to our public discourse. Zaitchik does not spare any insult in making his own opinion of Beck clear. This style of name calling is likely due to where these essays were originally published.

Both tend to paint with too broad a brush. I was particularly offended that Zaitchik, after pointing out that Beck's artificial, public tearing up is common to Mormons, who, he contends are so shallow in their thinking that a mere emotional display of conviction proves them disingenuous. Because of his feelings for Beck (most are justified), he concludes without much deep investigation, that Mormons in general must also all be shallow, emotionally driven boobs. Because I have direct experience with Mormon culture and doctrine, it made me wonder if some of his other research and conclusions were also too easily drawn.

Zaitchik needs to mine the depths of Mormon intellectual resources. For that, I would turn him and readers to Hugh Nibley, Truman Madsen, John Widtsoe, James Talmadge, and the works of Richard L Bushman to name only a few modern examples.

In defense of simple, dedicated people, I would recommend the April LDS general Conference address of Elder Jeffrey Holland, himself an intellectual heavyweight, "Because of Your Faith" at:
http://lds.org/conference/talk/displa...

The problem comes not from believing or advocating a particular religion or philosophy, but in being so narrow minded that you let others do your thinking for you, as many of Beck's follows seem to do. Independent thought and personal answers to prayers have been a hallmark of Mormon culture from its beginnings.

[Matilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting from a descriptive standpoint, though not much in the way of analysis. It's definitely for people who are already appalled by Beck, Palin and the Tea Party movement and is not going to change any pro-Beck sentiment. The author has no problem frequently referring to Beck as a chucklehead in many clever and colorfully worded statements that were quite amusing. There were so many cringe-inducing moments when describing the mindset and slogans of his followers that I often had to set the book down and walk away. The author's voice was at times bit prominent for my taste. He is obviously quite intelligent but he seems to want to make sure the reader stays aware of that. Though I suppose the urge to do so is probably strong when you're immersed in recording that level of idiocy. I was also a bit put off by his referring to a 37 year old woman as "middle-aged" but a 36 year old man as a "young activist". I don't thing the description is accurate in either case. It's a minor quibble and not to say that I was offended so much as it was disruptive to the reading because it took me out of the flow of the narrative to instead consider the author's perspective. In any case, I do recommend it. It's entertaining, informative, disturbing and well worth reading.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it about a quarter of the way through this polemic before I started kicking myself for spending the money on it.

It is not that I have any great love for Glenn Beck, I do not, but after the first quarter, I couldn't imagine spending anymore time listening to ho awful he really is, deep down, on the inside.

The Beck on display is a bully turned wannabe academic. Cutting his chops in fm radio, and in many ways contributing directly to the "morning zoo" craze that gave us Howard Stern and Bob & Tom, appears to have left Beck looking for approval on a different plane, wanting to be taken seriously, he moved to talk radio.

Beck's ride through life has been fairly rough, but nowhere interesting enough (IMO) to pack a 300 page book.

Unless you love polemics and really hate Glenn Beck, avoid this one.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the first five chapters of this book, but it confirmed what I already knew about Beck, and that is his lack of concern for the truth He doesn't care about this country, and the freedoms we have, nor does he provide any useful solutions for the problems the US faces. He's only interested in presenting a right-wing extremist agenda that benefits the powerful and wealthy of which he is one. In many ways he's just like O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Savage. In fact he may be the most dishonest one of the bunch.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hate. If I could fully express my hate for it I would. Do I love Glenn Beck? No. Do I hate him? No. I'm impartial to him but I really hated this book. I didn't feel it was fair to Beck at all. He has said on his show that he used to come from a rough past and found God and changed his whole life. I believe his intentions are good for this country and that he truly loves America and wants the best for this country. I regret wasting my money on this horribly written book.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A disturbing look into a disturbed man's past to what he is today. I'm sure that the author has found particular delight with Glenn Beck's kcik off of Fox News. It really scares me that someone that is so clearly out of his mind can gain such a following when it is so obvious that the things he says are so wrong. Especially when the few people that spoke for him, were white supremacists.

[Arnold Osborn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started to read as I am not opposed to alternate opinions to mine.

But, this book was just tripe... nothing of any value.
Not even presented in a way that could hold my interest.
Don't get me wrong I have read persons who are 180% out of sync with the Beck way of thinking but this one is just not worth my time.

[Brad Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCELLENT BOOK...that is...unless you buy into the Glenn Beck crap. All politics aside, this man is such a transparent farce that it sickens me how many people actually believe him. But hey, there's always crazies out there for the masses to follow.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. This book explains why when listening to Glenn Beck I thought either he is a complete moron or he is acting. Come to find out, he is acting and it is an old act, but now it would seem he actually believes the crazy things he says, which makes him sound like a moron.