Bill O'Reilly is mad as hell - and he's not going to let you take it anymore. In his most powerful and personal book yet, this media powerhouse and unstoppable truth-teller takes on those individuals and institutions in American life who are failing in their duties - big-time. In his inimitable style, mixing wit, pugnacity, and plain common sense, O'Reilly kicks butt and takes (and also names) names, from crooked corporate weasels to venal politicians to lazy and/or politically correct bureaucrats to sexually predatory priests and the Church hierarchy that protects them to a media establishment rife with political bias and economically hooked on violence and smut. At the same time that he calls the famous and powerful to account, he dares to get personal, questioning just how much our closest friends, families, and lovers do look out for us, and delivering a powerful message about personal responsibility and self-reliance in an uncertain world. He forces us to ask just how much genuine altruism is left in a society that thrives on self-indulgence and ruthless competition.Who's Looking Out for You? is a book that boldly confronts our worst fears and biggest problems in a post-9/11, post-corporate-meltdown world. Its sage, candid advice on regaining control and trust in these troubled times will resonate with the millions of readers and viewers who have come to believe in Bill O'Reilly as the man who speaks for them.
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LOLDavid, February 17, 2006
Reviewer: LOLDavid
from Los Angeles, California
In “Who’s Looking Out For You?” Bill O’Reilly has some great advice: limit your mistakes, stay away from toxic people, have a little fun, and stay away from the corrupt politicians and celebrities who aren’t looking out for you.
This sort of in-depth advice is surrounded with biographical stories of O’Reilly pumping up his own OUTRAGEOUS persona and telling tabloid tales of his fights with celebs and politicians alike. Most of O’Reilly’s rhetoric comes from his ability to state the obvious with profundity. Every statement in the book seems like it's in italics and ends with an exclamation point.
His defense of the Iraq War is basically 70% of America believed in it so SHUT UP! And all the shots he takes at Bill Clinton could easily be directed at President Bush, but Bush is looking out for you and therefore basically free of criticism. And of course O’Reilly is looking out for you, digging up stories of the disintegration of family, with sexual and violent deviance pervading throughout the book. He tells you to discipline yourself and stay away from gangster rap and it’s nothing Dr. Laura Schlesinger hasn’t told you. O’Reilly’s professional-wrestling manner of speaking is fun for a while, but it becomes dull and obnoxious very quickly.
Donald, February 17, 2006
Reviewer: Donald
This Text Refers to the Hard Cover Edition:
The major theme of this work is that you had better take responsibility for your own life . . . because no one other than your family and you will . . . unless you develop a few friends along the way who want to help you.
If you already understand and accept that point, you will wonder why you should read the book. Well, you shouldn't. The book isn't aimed at you.
The book is aimed at those who believe that the powers that be (government officials, your religious leaders, corporation CEOs, celebrities, protestors, the media, leaders of minority groups and the legal system) are primarily looking out for you and that all will be well because of their care. Mr. O'Reilly uses lots of individual examples based on experiences from his reporting to show that not to be the case. If you have read either of Mr. O'Reilly's other books or watched his television show, you will be familiar with most of the examples.
I was somewhat unpersuaded by evidence drawn almost exclusively from the worst behavior of "responsible" people and organizations. Of course, there are bad apples. And of course, no one is perfect. And the larger the organization, the bigger mess it will probably make of what it is doing. But the world also has a lot of decent people who will go the extra mile to help . . . much as Mr. O'Reilly does with his reporting on outrageous situations. I suspect that most people would agree with Mr. O'Reilly's point if it were couched in more of a "question authority" perspective.
Of more interest to most readers will be the sections of the book where Mr. O'Reilly talks about his father (who trusted no one, and let that distrust get in the way of accomplishing his potential), his own youthful and career experiences, and his mea culpas for the mistakes in judgment he made along the way. If the whole book had had that autobiographical focus, this would have been a four or five star book.
As a book for helping the average person be more successful, the book would have been improved by shifting its focus a little more from hammering the usual suspects to providing detailed advice for fulfilling the key principles in the book. Also, his subject is usually treated by professionals like Dr. Phil, so you shouldn't put your hopes too high for Mr. O'Reilly's advice for self-realization.
Here are the key points from the early chapters: Beware of toxic people (people who are bad apples and are willing to hurt you); realize that your family will help you (but may not know how) no matter what you do; and you will greatly benefit from timely help from loyal friends whom you are willing to help as well.
In the tenth chapter, he raises the key points for you to act on:
1. Rely on honest self-examination because most people won't tell you what you are doing wrong.
2. Cut down on your mistakes.
3. Forgive yourself when you do make a mistake.
4. Work on your health (especially avoid smoking, heavy drinking, and drugs) by watching your weight, keeping clean, going to the dentist and act on the lessons of good nutrition and exercise.
5. Be willing to take independent action to get what you want . . . as long as it is an appropriate end to pursue.
6. Be tolerant of others.
7. Engage in becoming friends with people you respect.
8. Have spontaneous fun.
The points are not developed in much detail. You'll have to work out the details mostly for yourself.
The writing comes across as relatively unpolished and often seems like a transcription of thoughts poured out onto a tape recording rather than as formal prose. As a result, the book did not work nearly as well as The No Spin Zone to get his points across. In fact, by refocusing on many of the same individuals, the book comes across as a little redundant.
As a side point, Mr. O'Reilly clearly dislikes being characterized as a conservative, and spends time explaining his views to counter that perception. Based on what he said here and in the other two books, I would describe him instead as an outspoken advocate of his personal principles. I found myself disagreeing with few of those principles (the primary exception in our mutual agreements is his view that the U.S. doesn't need to consider what any other country thinks if any foreign citizens is involved in terrorist attacks on any American). If Mr. O'Reilly is thought by some to be a conservative, it is only because he believes that character counts . . . rather because he thinks we should move back into the 19th century (which he doesn't think).
As a final observation, Mr. O'Reilly seems willing to listen to opposing views . . . which is a fine quality in a journalist. He is also quick to acknowledge his own errors (such as believing too readily in the huge amounts of weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's arsenal). Although not always graceful in his way of expressing himself, we are fortunate to have Mr. Reilly out there trying to unearth injustices so that they can be corrected. I hope he finds a lot of them . . . because they do exist . . . and need to be corrected. I also hope that more people with informed opinions who disagree with him will appear on his show. We can all learn more when that happens.
Donald Mitchell
http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/
- Published:
2003
- LearnOutLoud.com Product ID:
W003036
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