The No Spin Zone

September 24, 2001
The audience of Fox's top-rated cable news talk show The O'Reilly Factor
and of the bestselling book by the same name know that this explosive anchor can be articulate, bombastic, scornful, witty, iconoclastic, passionate, persuasive and sarcastic ("Can you feel Gary Condit's pain?"). When conducting interviews, O'Reilly, a two-time Emmy winner with 25 years reporting experience, delivers tough questions and corrosive counterpoints. In the No-Spin Zone (originally conceived for his TV show), "lies are rejected and equivocations are mocked." "All I ask is for powerful people to respond honestly to the questions, and if they can't, explain why," says O'Reilly. Here he excerpts past interviews with various memorable opponents—James Carville (on Bill Clinton), Dr. Laura (on working mothers), former surgeon general Dr. Joycelyn Elders (on sex education), Puff Daddy (on rap), Susan Sarandon (on police brutality), Al Sharpton (on boycotts)—and insightfully introduces each, mulling over the issue or providing background. To cover TV sleaze and violence, he splices interviews (Steve Allen, Howdy Doody's Buffalo Bob) into his own terse text. The same treatment is applied to the death penalty (George W. Bush, Bianca Jagger), taxes (Mario Cuomo, GAO head David Walker) and other issues. He saves the best for last—Dan Rather on news stories the media overlooks, prefaced by O'Reilly's own memories of becoming "a 'dead man walking' at CBS News." (On-sale: Oct. 16)Forecast:O'Reilly's TV ratings continue to rise, and the show's "No-Spin Zone" title will grab book buyers. With simultaneous CD and large-print editions, and an e-book due in November, total sales should be astronomical.

June 1, 2001
O'Reilly tries to top his best-selling The O'Reilly Factor with more acerbic bons mots on life in America.

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2001
O'Reilly, journalist and host of the increasingly popular The O'Reilly Factor television show, is back again his second book in a year's time to champion "truth, common sense, and decency," values he thinks have been largely abandoned in America. Enraged by this situation, he takes on with a heavy dose of polemic a wide variety of issues (from the death penalty to taxes) and personalities (John McCain to Susan Sarandon) in an attempt to find the truth amidst the constant "spinning" of the media. The disagreement between O'Reilly and his guests (interviews from the show are excerpted throughout) makes for lively reading, but he devotes only a chapter to each issue he examines, making the discussions somewhat rudimentary. In addition, his sanctimonious tone can be tiresome, and at times he's just plain wrong (e.g., the appallingly high rate of incarceration in America flies in the face of his repeated assertion that criminal behavior often goes unpunished). Still he offers many solid arguments, adheres to his convictions and passionate opinions, and makes a commendable effort to give voice to multiple viewpoints. For all libraries, as demand will surely be high. Heath Madom, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2001
Most political best-sellers constitute "singing to the choir": authors wax eloquent on controversial subjects and are lionized by readers who agree with every word. (Few have read, for example, Rush Limbaugh's books " and" Al Franken's " Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, "Fat Idiot.) Having topped best-seller lists with " The O'Reilly Factor" (1999), Fox News commentator O'Reilly is back with "sixteen turbocharged chapters about the most intense issues of the day." In each chapter, O'Reilly states his position, sets up a brief snippet from an interview with a celebrity "opponent," and then supplies the final word. (Would a debate coach recognize these rules?) O'Reilly covers the rights of pederasts with Floyd Abrams; sex education with Dr. Joycelyn Elders; violent, sleazy TV with Steve Allen; rap music with Puffy Combs, police brutality with Susan Sarandon; civil rights activism with Al Sharpton; Bill Clinton with James Carville; capital punishment with George W. Bush; taxes with Mario Cuomo and bureaucrat David Walker; drug culture with John McCain, Barry McCaffrey, and Hollywood director Ted Demme; and network news' flaws with Dan Rather. The remaining four address O'Reilly's claimed expose of Jesse Jackson's financial peccadilloes; Hillary Clinton's reluctance to enter O'Reilly's "no-spin zone"; feedback, both positive and negative, from viewers; and O'Reilly's exhortation to readers to construct their own no-spin zones. How big is your library's O'Reilly choir?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)