“Some of the smartest commentary about what’s happening in America is coming from a comedian—this comedian being Bill Maher. If you want to understand what’s wrong with this country, it turns out that one of the best informed and most thought-provoking analysts is this very funny pothead.
The book was inspired by the “editorial” Bill delivers at the end of each episode of Real Time. These editorials are direct-to-camera sermons about culture, politics, and what’s happening in the world. To put this book together, Maher reviewed more than a decade of his editorials, rewriting, reimagining, and updating them, and adding new material to speak exactly to the moment we’re in. Free speech, cops, drugs, race, religion, the generations, cancel culture, the parties, the media, show biz, romance, health—Maher covers it all. The result is a hugely entertaining work of commentary about American culture in the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and H. L. Mencken.”
One of the reasons that I watch Bill Maher’s HBO show is because he drags both sides of the political aisle. Yes, he is harder on Republicans than on Democrats, but he’s not afraid to go after either side if they do something irrevocably stupid. I do try to read books that showcase the points of view of both sides, just so I understand what the heck is going on in this country, but more often than not, books are nakedly partisan, so I appreciate reading one that isn’t.
The columns in this book, patterned after his “New Rule” segment on his show, talk about a broad range of subjects dealing with political issues, cultural issues, and general world issues. They’re arranged in chapters by their subject matter–for example, the chapter on the media covers Facebook, clickbait headlines, news algorithms, and phone usage. None of the essays go very deeply into the subjects they’re covering, but they’re not meant to. They are opinion pieces and make no bones about it.
While I wouldn’t say Maher’s aim with these essays is to educate, my belief is that his main goal is just to get the reader thinking. He’s not trying to persuade you to his point of view–and I will freely admit, there are things that I don’t agree with him on–but just to illustrate the issue in a way that maybe is different from what you’ve seen before. And that’s what I value most about this book: I don’t always agree with him, but he does make me think. In this day and age, that’s something we should prize.
By the same token, I feel like occasionally Maher comes off as too pithy, or too snarky and jaded. Some of that is likely the fact that tone doesn’t come across well in print, as I usually enjoy the same thing in his TV show. Just do keep that in mind as you read.
Overall, this book was pretty good. My minor critiques aside, I appreciate being made to examine my own views. It’s not just what we believe, but why, that we should interrogate on occasion. This book might just be the one to help readers to do that.
