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| November 17, 2005 |
REVIEW: The Truth (with Jokes)
 I should probably just admit it. I'm not an Al Franken fan. His radio show, which I tried to listen to, does nothing for me. His style is not engaging. His wit falls flatter than a warm Coca-Cola left out in the southern sun.
See that last sentence? See how badly it was written. That's kind of how I feel about Franken. That's kind of how I feel about his film work and his stand-up "routines."
But, and this is a big but, the man does something very well. He finds a way to lampoon the propoganda and fear-mongering of the right-wing punditry (and politicians) without getting so serious and depressing. He's an activist in the Jon Stewart mold, using humor and parody to show the utter ridiculousness of his political opponents.
He's no Jon Stewart, but he ain't shabby. Thankfully, he writes books. It is without a doubt true that his humor carries better on the page than in person (or over the airwaves). I don't doubt I'm in the minority here. I'm sure plenty find Al Franken to be absolutely hilarious, and that's fine. I find him to be fairly intelligent and possessed of a talent for satircal zingers, but he's not my cup of tea.
His latest book, The Truth (with Jokes) is perhaps one of his better forays onto the partisan battle field. He vivisects the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, which isn't particularly difficult but it is hard to do it with jokes, good ones in any event. Franken succeeds in doing just that.
Nevertheless, the real high points of the book are the utter absurdities it reveals to us. For example, when President Bush tried to sell his Social Security reform package, he tried to scare the bejesus out of everyone with news of an impending $11 trillion shortfall. Franken dutifully points out the lie of this figure: they stretched life expectancy out to 150 years with a retirement age of 67. Having to pay for an 83-year retirement can be expensive, but as Franken also writes, "They're never gonna get to that without stem cell research."
Frankly, if you can find it in your funnybone to vibe with Franken's humor than this book is a must read. I can't, but I did enjoy the book. What I (and all liberals) should enjoy more is that Franken will do what all the polemically-outraged pundits on the left have failed to do with a litany of books on this subject -- he'll draw an audience. People will read this who would never have picked up a book on the subject if it weren't... you guessed it, with jokes.
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