The Truth With Jokes
by Al Franken
The Truth (With Jokes) has now been released in the UK, with a suggested retail price of £17.99, or about US $33 based on current pound/dollar rates.
Do English readers really follow American politics in such detail? It seems hard to imagine.
In addition, how many in the UK have ever heard of Franken? It's hard to picture "Stuart Saves His Family" having done any better in England than in America, so this seems a fair question.
The (former Manchester) Guardian/Observer's review is typical of the socialist organ, meaning Franken's of course presented as an American hero, but this bit of caution is interjected:
Some of the subjects discussed will not necessarily resonate with British readers. But the black farce of postwar Iraq will, including the story of how a 21-year-old student at the University of Richmond suddenly found himself living in one of Saddam's palaces and spending Iraq's £13 billion budget.
If Franken is right, the corruption, mismanagement and giving of reconstruction contracts to Halliburton and other crony firms is a historic disgrace.
The author reveals Bush's America as Catch-22 come true: a bloated and hilarious self-parody dominated by power, money, war and crazies. But Franken remains a patriot: a Jewish American family man who believes in God (sort of), knows the Democrats' failings and is desperate to rescue his beloved country from the 'Werewolves of Washington'.
Al Franken's robust call to arms is immune to the charges of glibness and smugness often levelled at British liberals. His is the voice the American left has been waiting for.
That it attempts to paint Franken as a moderate is what's funniest about this review. I'm not sure even Al wants that label.
At least for his sake, he was presented as only "sort of" believing in God. That should prevent any major trouble with the left at home.
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