The No-Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America

?[O?Reilly] is the Real McCoy. He?s the best reporter I?ve seen in years . . . He is smart, well-read, has good values . . . and he is fearless in picking targets.? ?Newsday?This explosive anchor can be articulate, bombastic, scornful, witty, iconoclastic, passionate, persuasive, and sarcastic? ?Publishers Weekly?[O?Reilly?s] brand of hard-nosed, regular-guy TV talk is here to stay.? ?Newsweek ?[The No Spin Zone] vibrates with O?Reilly?s gruff Irish wit and elbows-on-the-bar social criticism.? ?Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionFrom the Trade Paperback edition. -- ReviewO'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. "Library Journal" -- Library Journal, sometime in fall of 2001