Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

By: Al Franken

Narrated by: Al Franken

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Al Franken, "one of our savviest satirists" ( People), takes on the issues, the politicians, and the pundits in one of the most anticipated books of the year.

Once again, the author of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations trains his subversive wit directly on the contemporary political scene, leaving the powers-that-be in tatters and his audience in hysterics. Al Franken thrives on being in the opposition, and now that the Republican party controls both the Oval Office and Congress, the gloves are off and the satire is fast and furious.

Franken's specialty is using his targets' own words to make comedic and political points. Finding logical inconsistencies, factual errors, and doublespeak wherever he looks, Franken takes on and destroys the myth of liberal bias in the media, hoists the Bush White House on its own rhetorical petard, and punctures the mean-spirited sanctimony of such media darlings as Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and host of post-Limbaugh talk-radio gasbags. Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always uproarious, Lies is sure to raise hackles and spark hilarity inside the Beltway and from sea to shining sea.

Listen to Al Franken talk about Lies on Fresh Air from September 3, 2003.

©2003 AL Franken (P)2003 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• Grammy Award Winner, Best Spoken Word Album, 2003

"In the kicking, spitting spirit of all-star political discourse, Al Franken gives as good as he gets." (New York Times)
"Riotous...provocative reading for everyone.... Franken's sardonic critique of our culture of political disinformation is serious business." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
"Memo to Fox: Hire Al Franken." (Business Week)

Communistic trash!

This book promotes class warfare and encourages people to be victims ... and all in cutter language.

Strike Two For Al Frankin's Career

At the zenith of Al Frankin's appeal he was a mediocre comedian. Currently he is taking a stab at political left-wing activism as well as the current administration, and failing miserably at both. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the third strike so he'll be out of there. This was a perfect example of why celebrities should leave politics to the politicians instead of humiliating themselves.

Buy only if you dislike conservatives

Funny... yes to a liberal. Political... very. Thought provoking...no. Polemical.... definitely. Fair and unbiased...not on your life. I used to be a liberal. Now, I'm not. Take for what it's worth. It will reinforce your dislike of conservatives if you are already biased.

My Time and the Half Wit Authors that Waste It.

A moderately un-funny and highly factually skewed work of semi-fiction. Other reviewers here cite Franken's "Havard Researchers," or "Harvard Graduate Students," which is to say that he enlisted the assistance of a bunch of spoiled college kids, whose thinking undoubtedly, ran along the same lines as his, before they ever began their "research." And, as anybody who works with "facts" and figures could tell you, information and numbers can be massaged to support just about anything you want them to support. Something that has been overlooked by most of the 5-star reviewers here is that Franken has been "called" on several of his supposed facts and assertions, and his response has been, "well, I'm a comedian, this is a satire and should be taken as such." Evidentially, some of the reviewers here don't take it that way, instead viewing it as the gospel according to Al. In summary, most, if not all of the reviewers here who rated this "book" highly, already had his/ her mind made up before he/ she ever strapped on the headphones and, to them, the REAL facts don't matter, unless those facts go to support his/ her already formulated opinion. I just think that it's a little sad that the best the left can do for a Messiah figure is a cut-rate, semi-washed-up comedian. But, if you're (far)left leaning, and in need of a little moral support, go ahead and read it - what can it hurt. Oh, and you have my sympathy.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

The most painful bunch of BS I have ever had the misfortune to hear! Anyone who buys this bunk is sadly misinformed. Al picked the wrong bunch of students to do his research for him.

Losers and the losers that listen to them...

If you read Coulter, Limbaugh, Franken, you should take a long hard look at yourself as these books are at best modestly entertaining, highly biased toward small-fact based sound-bites, and ultimately devoid of opportunities to educate yourself about complex, important, and interesting issues the world faces.

Tell me another

If you're looking for testable claims of lies told by the right, you'll have to dig deep. I gave up after a few chapters full of total B.S. Franken mocks the right in every way he can, but I couldn't find any legitimate and objective claim of a lie. The closest was his skewed statistics to try to support the claim that Bush gives tax cuts to the rich more than the poor. (Any idiot can see that any tax cut will most benefit (1) those who pay the most, and (2) those with the ability to find the most tax breaks.) Franken starts the book off by going over the top claiming that God told him to write the book. I suppose this is so that if anyone points out all the lies he makes in the book he can say "it's only humor: you should have been able to see that from the first chapter" But (of what I read) the humor is not funny, and is not true. (If there is some truth there, you'd expect him to make it easy to find. But just read the back of the book, where you'd expect his best shots, for an example of what I'm saying: all mockery and B.S., no testable claims of lies told by the right.)

Lost interest

This did not hold my interest personally. I should have seen it coming but it is very one sided and just seems like a soapbox rant to me. I listed to about half of it and might listen to it again and give it a second try but more than likely will not.

The left bookend

Al is the left book end to match someone like Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage on the right. The difference is that his far out (far left) rhetoric is even more outlandish and bombastic than either Limbaugh or Savage (many, particularly on the left, didn't think that was even possible!)! I'm sure(?) this is intentional and in keeping with his roots and gifts in comedy, he does still make me laugh. My advice to Al is to go back to what he knows for sure, and leave the political commentary to those who are more impartial & balanced than he is...like Limbaugh!

BRILLIANT

A book about liars? BRILLIANT!