Al Franken, Giant of the Senate

By: Al Franken

Narrated by: Al Franken

From the best-selling author - the story of an award-winning comedian who decided to run for office and then discovered why award-winning comedians tend not to do that.

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast. In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Al Franken (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Al Franken fans, rejoice! Franken narrates his latest book in a voice that captures both of his key public personas: current U.S. senator and former humorist. This is a balance that cannot be underestimated, as Franken clarifies at the onset that the Senate requires a level of decorum that most former comedians would find excruciating." ( AudioFile)

Insightful look at Democratic politics

What made the experience of listening to Al Franken, Giant of the Senate the most enjoyable?

I was born and raised in Minnesota so the references to places in the state were interesting. I moved to Nevada in 1983 and didn't know about the process he went through to become a US Senator.

What did you like best about this story?

Mr. Franken is obviously very intelligent and a hard working Senator for the people of Minnesota. I appreciate how much he cares about the people he represents and I wish my NV State Senators worked that hard. We do have a new Democratic Senator this year and I'm sure Catherine Cortez Masto will work as hard as Mr. Franken has.

Have you listened to any of Al Franken’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was never very involved in politics when I was working. Now that I am retired I can devote more time to politics and I did volunteer for Hillary Clinton and Masto. Mr. Franken's book is a very interesting look at how Federal Government works or doesn't work sometimes!

Great listening!

The best audiobook I've ever listened to. Very funny, Franken has always been articulate and hilarious in his books, I'm happy I had the chance to finally hear one of them with his cadence.

Good content, entertaining to boot!

Didn't know a lot about Al before listening, heard book referenced in a podcast so downloaded. Interesting, funny, well read and thought provoking. About all you can ask for in a book!

Did find it to be not overly balanced, but I suppose that's to be expected and was also a-ok with me. As someone who leans right of center generally, learning the perspective of others in a well done book is always a good way to try and balance oneself, well for me anyway...

I hope our own Senators take their jobs as seriously and as passionately as Al seems to.

Hope for the future, with a little humor.

The book is made so much better by being read by Franken himself. Everyone interested in the actual workings of the Senate, or needs a pep talk about the post-Trump United States should listen to this book, especially the last two chapters.

An excellent political autobiography

Al Franken grew up a Jewish kid in suburban Minnesota, went to Harvard, and became a comedian. That's vastly oversimplified, and he tells the story much more entertainingly as well as much more completely.

His career as a comedian, though, including being one of the original writers, and eventually a performer, on Saturday Night Live. It was never a timid show, though they also tried to avoid leaning too much to either side politically. They were entertainers, not political pundits.

Franken, though, had very definite political views, and this book is, mainly, about how he moved from comedy to politics, became a Senator, and what he's done since.

Franken is smart, funny, and irreverent, with a talent for biting satire. The humor and satire he mostly doesn't get to use in Senate, but they're deployed judiciously here. His intelligence, knowledge, and willingness to both work hard, and to pay attention to his hardworking staff, mean that he has a lot to say that's worth listening to. As a political liberal, he and I share values that are deeply important to me.

His account of working in the Senate, and working with Senators of both parties, is fascinating and educational. You can learn a lot from reading his book, whether or not those liberal values I mentioned are values you share.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

Engaging, very funny & instructive, Senator Franken clearly is

Not knowing a great deal about Senator Franken, prior to listening to this book, I have become an overnight convert. My only disappointment is that I refer to him as "Senator Franken" rather than "President Franken". He is the kind of individual who exemplifies the best in politics. Oh, that the rest of the country should be so lucky to be represented by this particular giant!

Excellent!

My husband I listened to this book on a series of car trips, and we agreed that it was one of the most engaging and insightful books we've heard. Senator Franken is a great narrator!

Franken Awesome

The book is funny, but more than that, it is educational and inspiring. I specially appreciated the details of his life as a senator. Al Franken is the perfect person to be a US senator. He’s smart, honest, earnest, confident, caring and funny. The fact that he barely scraped a win on his first run as a senator says as much about our ineptitude as voters in judging character as Donald Trump being president.
His book and recent events lead me to think that any good politicians we have recently elected have been a fluke. We are currently mesmerized by ideologues and cynical profiteers. It might be scarier than that. Such poor judgement of leadership qualities might be our default as a species.
Al Franken’s ultimate point is that none of us are above the dirty, mostly unappreciated work of being a responsible human being and citizen. We must do as much as we can, and then some more. Despite their flaws, people deserve it, our planet requires it.

Franken 2020-Smart and Funny

I saw Sen. Franken on Ac360 and he told the story of Ted Cruz and I loathe Ted Cruz so I bought this book to see what life in the senate was like. Al is the type of Senator that has fun but tells it like it is. We need more Al Frankens in Washington. Funny book and inspiring!

I Laughed! I Cried! Stupendous! The Best Words!

This book helped me to wake, not only from PIS, political induced stupor, but caused me to do something so shocking I almost didn't recognize my voice! Laughter! Remember laughter? It was only a few short months ago when there were things to actually joke about.

If Al Franken, who must confront Ted Cruz on a regular basis, can still laugh, we must all rise to the challenge. A voice of reason in a Senate suffering from PSTS, post traumatic Trump syndrome, Al Franken is enough to make me relocate to Minnesota.