Book Review: Dumbocracy

In a nation where politics rule and extremists run rampant through our neighborhood streets, one man dares to stand up against the insanity to voice his opinions loud and in all profanity. Get ready for the outrageous ranting about feminists to the raving doctrines of religious zealots in Marty Beckerman’s newest slanderous novel “Dumbocracy: Adventures with the Loony Left, the Rabid Right and Other American Idiots.”

Spending four years on the frontlines of the hottest American debates interviewing the grunt workers from both the political left and right, Beckerman has created a hilarious and scathing commentary bashing the “True Believer mentality.” The book explores American and foreign policies when it comes to abortion, gay rights, sex, drugs and all those other things considered poisons on society. Packed with interviews from both sides, Beckerman exposes the hypocrisies lying at the heart of their arguments and gives his candid opinions, no matter how offensive, saucy or chock-full of vulgarities.

The first sentence in the introduction sums up what a reader should expect from this book: “Opinions are like genitals: if you force others to swallow yours, something is seriously wrong with you.” The insults, criticisms, “snarky” footnote comments and all around bashing are refreshing.

Making fun of extremists and the government is nothing new — “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” do this five days a week. Even cartoons such as “South Park” are constantly ripping on anti-sex/violence/drugs/fun movements.

It’s refreshing to get the same quality entertainment from a book. Each chapter highlights specific arguments between the left and right from abortion, to foreign policy, to the insanity of a puritanical government that cares nothing for free will and the right to pursue happiness (however each person defines the phrase).

The titles for each section are hilarious enough by themselves. Beckerman’s satirical ravings bring tears to the eyes and pain to the diaphragm from all the subsequent laughter.
The most difficult thing to accomplish with such a book is to actually get people to read and take the opinions written down on the page into consideration. Beckerman does this easily with his style of writing: openly critique with clever one-liners and let the crazies dig their own holes with their words, and throw in a few well placed profanities for some flavor. Magnifique!
He also throws stats around left and right (no pun intended), using nifty little factoids to spice things up and laugh in the faces of those he criticizes.

This is a must read for anyone, whether a feminist or god-fearing zealot, pornographic supporter or anti-fun campaigner. Go out today, purchase a copy, laugh a lot and enjoy a wonderful novel bashing the insanity of today’s society.
5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: The Other Queen

Romance, intrigue, and politics can all be found in Philippa Gregory’s newest historical fiction novel, “The Other Queen.”

Moving away from the Tudor royal court, Gregory takes her readers into the countryside of England to the home of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. It is here that Mary Stuart, also known as Mary, Queen of Scots, resides as a “guest” after she seeks sanctuary from her own country. In reality, she is a prisoner, treated with comfort and care until her execution day. But she finds no love or sympathy in the Earl’s wife, Bess of Hardwick, who is a staunch royalist. Determined to see Mary hung, Bess will stop at nothing to bring her down and gain back the love of her husband.

Also wrapped up in the political intrigue are William Cecil, the right hand man of Queen Elizabeth, and Thomas Howard, cousin to the Queen and the Duke of Norfolk, as well as many more prominent figures in 16th century England.

As always, Gregory does a beautiful job of painting a picture of England while under the rule of the Tudors. Unlike her other novels of this era, Gregory switches gears, focusing on a Queen whose reputation as “a vain woman, a sinful woman, an idolatrous Papist woman” clouds the truth of who she really was. Gregory attempts to open her readers’ minds by showing the true character of Mary, giving her audience her vision of a strong woman faced with difficulty choices trying to keep her head.

This is what Gregory does best in her writing; she chooses women, strong women in their own right, and extrapolates from her research their characters, their personalities. Talbot’s wife, Bess, is a woman who had at least three marriages before landing an Earl and all three times she married to her advantage. Her business-like nature, conniving and cunning are the attributes that kept her alive and well, but it’s easy to forget her vulnerability and the vulnerability of Mary as well.

Though Gregory is a great writer, her stories are pretty much predictable. The trickiest thing about being a historical fiction author is that they cannot change history. Certain events must occur, some characters are doomed to disaster and the “good guy” does not always triumph.

The reader knows how the story will end, but the joy of reading a historical novel is not to reach the culmination of events. One reads this genre to understand more about the people in history, to see how their minds worked and their personalities through the eyes of the author.

So even if Gregory’s stories can be predicted and her writing style never changes, she can still weave together a beautiful piece of fiction to be enjoyed by almost anyone, men and women alike.
4 out of 5 stars