Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations

By: Al Franken

Narrated by: Al Franken

Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

Fed up with the Republican Right? Then you'll love Al Franken's scathingly hilarious look at America's largest talk show host and his conservative cronies. Hear this Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live writer's thoughts on exploding Medicare costs ("Why not shoot the elderly into space?"), feminism ("Limbaugh was railing about how feminists believe that all heterosexual sex is rape. The thing is, though, I know a lot of women, almost all of whom consider themselves feminists, and I know of only one who holds this belief. And we've been married nearly twenty years"), and Rush Limbaugh's fact-checker, the man with "the easiest job in America." Funny yet uncompromisingly fair, Franken tackles the issues - and the politicians - in ways few have dared.

©1996 by Al Franken, Inc. (P)1996 Dove Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

• Grammy Award Winner, Best Spoken Word Comedy Album, 1996

"[Al Franken is] the man responsible for some of the most brilliant political satire of our time." (New York Post )

The main reason for Rush Limbaugh's weight loss

Anybody who ever watched Rush's disturbing t.v. show had to have seen this book coming. Rush caters to those Americans who are too lazy to think for themselves, and would prefer to be spoon fed "truths". The show was run like an info-mercial, with canned applause coming from the neatly dressed sheeplike audience.

"Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" is about exposing the sillyness of Rush, but it is mostly about the willingness of the conservatives in our government to overlook their own short-comings while exposing the short-comings of those they don't agree with. Al Franken doesn't try to defend democrats, he simply tries to show the absurd hypocracy of many of the conservative republicans.

In closing, I bought this book in print for myself and I loved it so much that I bought it for my mom. My mom loved it, and what my mom says goes.

Give us the rest of it

The only drawback is that it is abridged. I just finished listening to "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," and, hungry for more, I thought I'd revisit Franken's other major expose of right-wing mendacity. Now that Lies and the Lying Liars is a best-seller, the publishers ought to get Franken to read the rest of this one for the audio version. I need to listen to something fun on the subway.

No Foundation

Not funny, warm, lighthearted or even joking. Franken just seems angry. Never deals with the truths of what Rush Limbaugh represents, presents and the amazing accuracy or RL's predictions in the political arena. Rush, on the other hand, is a very nice person, very sharp, funny, irreverant and timely.

Wonderful!

Franken's take on Swift's A Modest Proposal (the bit about getting Medicare costs down) had me laughing out loud - satire at its best. The audio presentation is first quality and a pleasure to listen to.

My favorite audiobook

I've listened to this book four times already. Franken's mission seems to be knocking hypocrites off their high horses. He even takes shots at himself. But the main thing is, he's funny and has great delivery. If you don't like intellectual humor or don't believe in personal freedom AND the common good, however, don't bother...you'll be disappointed.

Hilarious, insightful

Al Franken's work may make some people angry, but it's among the funniest political commentary out there, and it's also intelligent and based on more than the bombastic rantings he so deftly harpoons.

Harsh

I thought this would be a good spirited romp through the political landscape, but I was very very wrong. I agree with some of the other reviewers that say Franken is a really angry person. It was kind of like listening to someone belittle their ex-girlfriend(boyfriend). I'm sure we've all been on the receiving end of one of these tirades. First, Franken enumerates what is wrong with a person politically (which is sometimes mildly amusing). Then, when the ammunition runs low, he descends to really low jabs at things like their appearance or their mannerisms. If it was only occasional, it would be bearable (sp?), but there are entire segments where you must suffer his attempts to be brutally vendictive and humorous at the same time.
I give this two stars because it is politically charged, and I don't think people have that high of standards when listening to books by people they agree with politically.

Against my better judgement

I tried to listen to this book but found that the first 30 minutes was just too bad. I am a conservative but I am willing to listen to logical discourse from all sides and make my own decisions. I heard nothing that was of value. I guess the title really tells it all. The title sounds like and old school yard insult you used to levy on your enemys when you were a kid. I would say that the book itself is on the same level.

Worthless

This book contains little about Limbaugh. Mostly just a bunch of Al's rants and conversations that he had with rural conservatives that he met. Very little material to walk away with.

Superb book with terse title

Those who gave this less than 4 * likely did not read it. Great insights and humor wrapped around good research.