• Idiot America

  • How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free
  • By: Charles P. Pierce
  • Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
  • Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (662 ratings)

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Idiot America  By  cover art

Idiot America

By: Charles P. Pierce
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's summary

The culture wars are over and the idiots have won. This is a veteran journalist’s caustically funny, righteously angry lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States.

The three Great Premises of Idiot America: · Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units; anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough; "fact" is that which enough people believe. And "truth" is determined by how fervently they believe it.

Charles Pierce has led a career-long quest to separate the smart from the pap, and now it’s time to try and salvage the Land of the Enlightened, buried somewhere in this new Home of the Uninformed. With his razor-sharp wit and erudite reasoning, Pierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States and how a country founded on intellectual curiosity has deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to vote for an American Idol contestant than a presidential candidate.

With Idiot America, Pierce’s thunderous denunciation is also a secret call to action, as he hopes that, somehow, being intelligent will stop being a stigma and that pinheads will once again be pitied, not celebrated.

©2009 Charles P. Pierce (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A raucous rant against the armies of the right…. Pierce is at his scathing, insightful best.” ( Boston Globe)

What listeners say about Idiot America

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Clever phraseology, boring narrative

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not. The title promises more than is delivered. The author's attempts at crafting a lens by which "Idiot America" has evolved and responds is clouded by irrelevant rants devoid of any argument deconstruction, and a chronology that wantonly skips back and forth over the last 200 years like your mother's big band records.

Would you ever listen to anything by Charles P. Pierce again?

No

Which scene was your favorite?

Did not have one.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It's non-fiction - this is a stupid question. Maybe Idiot America is alive and well.

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great Concept poorly Executed

A bunch of disconnected, un-ordered gibberish, never making a solid point, at least not in the first three hours, at which point I turned off the book. The author writes as if he is in love with the sound of his own pen. He jumps all over the place never really making a point. Desperately needed an editor, author sound like he is love the sound of his own writing. Given the book summary I expected at lot more, I expected to laugh as he points out various points that are too obvious and far too true about how media has warped our opinions and brainwashed the masses. I didn’t expect to be enlighten, just entertained and maybe given a few points of view of that I had not thought of, like discussing state of politics with a good friend with whom you share many views, but now all. Instead I felt like I was listening to a lecture by a arrogant professor that is in love with his own voice and loves to show off his intelligence.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

In God We Trust..All Others Pay Cash.

I had a good time with "Idiot America," partly because Charles P. Pierce seemed quite prescient in foretelling the absurdity of Trump's America.
The candidate who came up short in the popular vote became president (again). Trump got as many votes as he did by appealing to Idiot America, which somehow saw in him a "peer" ("He's just like us!") and "Christian" ("I'll nominate judges who will overrule Roe v. Wade right away!") despite being an amoral billionaire who cheated on all three of his wives, not to mention the US Treasury's general fund of rightfully owed tax payments.
Given the further rise of Idiot American in the 2016 primaries and election and the liberation of the Religious White, adamant it's perfectly appropriate to refuse to arrange flowers for gay customers, and white nationalism, Pierce owes us a sequel.
Pierce and Bronson Pinchot (Balki of "Perfect Strangers") are a perfect match, with the author's sarcasm and wry humor paired with the narrator's timing and dramatic skills.
Two thumbs up!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Plague of the Brain donors

I hope Mr. Pierce writes more stuff along this line. Damn he's funny. He skewers idiots so deserving. God knows America has a lot of material to work with. Maybe a new edition of this book with extra chapters to sum up Trump and his sycophants. I enjoyed this book immensely. It was "Huge", the "best".

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Full of biased rant

I consider myself a liberal, but the way the author expresses his clearly biased opinion turns me off, with every little shot he takes at political figures from the other side. If you enjoy that sort of poo slinging, this might be a fun book; but I suspect for most of us, even the most liberal minded, this is beneath us.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must listen.

A passionate defense of the enlightenment values of our founding fathers. Pierce hammers the damage the elevation of cranks has done to our ability to make informed decisions. However unlike other books on the subject Pierce's work engages this topic with a mixture of humor and seriousness that is very enthralling. The narration is very well done. I highly recommend this book.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Very One Sided

The author sounds just like conservative who complains about liberals....except he's a liberal who complains about conservatives. Whether his arguments were reasonable or not can be argued about amongst different groups. For me, he knocks conservative perspectives without accurately explaining them which is what offends me. I dont see any humor in this. Will be requesting a refund. - Jami

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Interesting info, but slap-in-the-face rude

This book sounded very interesting, I thought it would be dealing with the decline of science education in America.
However really the book seemed to be a rant, and the basic premise is that anyone who believes in any sort of higher power must be complete and total idiot. This is less well researched social critique and more diarrhea of the mouth rant.

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    5 out of 5 stars

All you need to understand Trump supporters

reveals how the dumbing down of the American electorate was accomplished. This tracks how expertise was replaced by talking heads.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Every zealot should read this book book.

The author points out the obvious flawed justification for a number of cultural phenomenon. Should be required reading (or listening) before being allowed to vote in the next presidential primary.

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