"Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced View of the Right" was the New York Times #1 Non-Fiction Bestseller the day after it was published for good reason: Although Fox News' frivolous lawsuit attempting to prevent Franken from using the words "Fair and Balanced" in the book's title (O Tempora! O Mores!) didn't make it far in court, it generated the kind of pre-release publicity that brought the book to MY attention (I never thought I'd say that, but thanks Fox!). Yet the book's popularity has a simpler explanation; this is simply an exceptional book!

Published several years ago with a revised and updated paperback version released recently, Al Franken's "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" established the author as the kind of witty, knowledgeable political analyst who quickly drew the attention of friend and foe alike. Subsequent books were less successful--until "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them"--suggesting perhaps that Al Franken is at his best when his book's topic hits close to home. And make no mistake, this book shows Franken at his very, very best!

Without resorting to the occasionally nutty comments that irreparably hurt the credibility of activist Michael Moore's books, Al Franken succeds in being poignant, passionate, yet convincing in every point he makes, without mincing words or sacrificing humor in the process. It's not often you get to learn a lot from something genuinely funny--that's what makes this book hard to beat!

Featured on the book's cover, right behind the title, are Franken's Lying Liars--Ann Coulter, George W. Bush, Bill O'Reilly, and Dick Cheney--but that doesn't mean that the likes of New Gingrich, Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, old favorite Rush Limbaugh, and others are not given honorable mentions throughout the book: Al Franken takes on the "compassionate conservatives" on issues like stealing the Republican Nomination and the White House, lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, manipulating the creation of the Department of Homeland Security for political gain, creating tax cuts that turned the largest surplus into the largest deficit in American history, perfecting the sport of Clinton-blaming, and many other issues--documenting page by page, using direct quotes by political commentators and government officials alike, lie after blatant lie that largely escaped public scrutiny. It is the flawless documentation, in fact, that makes the book so compelling--and were it not for Franken's sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor, the lies he exposes would be enough to drive a reader to despair. Instead, they drive the reader to remember to vote in the next election!