- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Rodale Books (July 26 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1594862958
- ISBN-13: 978-1594862953
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #243,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The new rules TV host Maher establishes for "a self-obsessed, success-by-any-means, get-mine culture" make a convincing case for Maher's claim that everyone but him is crazy. Zingers about fads like low-carb dieting and flat-screen televisions ("Congratulations-you just paid $10,000 to watch Hogan's Heroes") poke fun at appearance-obsessed, megalomaniacal American consumers, and his takes on current news stories such as Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride from Georgia, and the popular television shows Desperate Housewives and Growing Up Gotti ("You don't get a TV show because Grandpa killed people") are clever jabs at the media and the entertainment industry. But Maher is at his best when he addresses controversial political issues by making a serious point without sacrificing the wisecracks. He slips a cheeky remark about George Bush's past into his discussion of brutal conditions in prisons, and points out that the No Child Left Behind law has created "pushouts": poor-performing students who Maher says schools put in "phony categories like 'transferred' or 'enrolled in GED' or 'dating Demi Moore'" in order to meet requirements to receive federal funding. Though Maher's rules are sometimes just whiny (he complains about room service personnel not knowing what kind of soup is available) and he repeats a few tired jokes (variations of "you want to spend your millions on a worthless cause, try donating it to the Democrats" appear several times), his views on the state of contemporary political and social culture are bound to cause a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Fans of Maher's HBO show, Real Time, are familiar with the hysterically funny segment New Rules, in which the host suggests caustic corrective measures for some of the most egregious stupidities to emerge from popular and political culture. Maher's new rule on Bob Dylan? "Bob Dylan must stop denying he was the voice of a generation. Bob, that's not something you get to decide. It's fate and you were it. If your generation could actually choose a voice, don't you think they'd have picked one better than yours?" On Queen Elizabeth and William Rehnquist: "Just because you have a job for life doesn't mean you have to do it for life. For everything there is a season . . . a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to pack it in." Inevitably, since this is a compilation of bits used on the show, some items seem a little stale (the 2004 election), and all suffer from the fact that they were meant to be heard with Maher's distinctive, dismissive inflections ringing in one's ears. Yet, despite the limitations, this is still funnier than most humor books out there. Even the subject headings add additional yuks. A New Rule on thieving monkeys, for example, lands in a category called "Felonious Monks." Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining, thought-provoking book, but don't take it too seriously!,
By Betty L. Dravis "BETTY DRAVIS, author/reviewer" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer (Hardcover)
Bill Maher has his own political ideas and some are pretty far out, but he's more right than wrong. He's great at humor and satire, but I prefer to see him on the stage or TV, speaking his mind, rather than in written format. He's much more effective in person, and he can really be funny ... when he's not busy getting your goat.I like him, though, and I reallllllllllly like his Amazon Interviews of best-selling authors. That's a wonderful format: short, timely, and interesting. I hope to be interviewed by him one day. All that said, I still recommend this book. An entertaining, at times enlightening, book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
MY TYPE OF GUY!!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer (Paperback)
It's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep and started this book. I'm writing a review although I'm only half-way through (it's a quick read) mainly because I've been laughing out loud. That's my Bill, totally not PC, that's why I like him so much. I agree with just about everything he says and he's so GOOD at saying it. I see him on T.V. when he's interviewed, but don't get HBO unfortunately so don't see his show (that might have to change). This is the first book I've read of his, but definitely want to read more. He's quick, so witty, so knowledgeable and I'm on his side politically, so I feel a kindred spirit with him. I sometimes think who I'd like to spend an evening having dinner with.....he's one of them. Others include President Bill Clinton and the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Whether you agree with their politics or not, to me they would SO interesting and articulate about everything.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (196 customer reviews) 68 of 76 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Rules, Rules!,
By Edwin C. Pauzer - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Bill Maher, ascerbic comedian, claims that we all lived by rules, even if the rules were just "Stay off the grass," or "Don't Feed the Ducks." So, new rules becomes his signature before each witticism. For example, according to Maher, the best way for terrorism to be defeated is to ensure that the terrorists all receive plenty of sex. He suggests, "New rule: We need to mobilize two divisions of skanks,... a brigade of girls who just can't say no--all under the command of Colonel Ann Coulter, who'll be dressed in her Ilsa, She-Wolf of the S.S. uniform. Girls, there's a cure for terrorism and your...it."Such comedic salvos are pithy, creative, and irreverent. Maher's language is often salty, and everyone and everything is grist for his mill. Although decidedly anti-Bush, he takes potshots at democrats alike, and most importantly, at himself. "... Something is very wrong when the only one fired over terrorism is me." (Too many times people turned their attention toward me to find out why I suddenly laughed out loud). It would help the reader to have already heard Maher's voice and delivery. It might give each joke more impact. Nevertheless, this man's star is on the rise, and so is his book. "New Rules," rules! 17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Re-run, Re-wind, Re-play,
By D. Ertel Jr. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer (Hardcover)
I love Real Time with Bill Maher, especially the New Rules segment. (HBO and Tivo Rule). This book was very good, but I had previously heard almost all of the material. I was expecting some additional materials or some insight beyond the show script. Having said that, it was fun to re-live the rules and I could almost hear Maher's voice as I read them. A personal favorite rule is - "The people who were most in favor of the war in Iraq must go there and fight it."
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Guts and Honesty,
By greenpete - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer (Hardcover)
I read about half this book in the bookstore and couldn't put it down. It's hilarious, and hits the mark! Maher verbalizes a lot of what many of us feel, but which some of us are too intimidated to discuss during these ultra-patriot days in America (Congressional singalongs to "God Bless America: ok, we get it, you're with us... now get back to work!").Although Maher obviously leans to the left and isn't afraid to take shots at Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and Co., neither does he spare the Democrats (he gives France kudos for standing up to the Bush administration, "which is more than the Democrats in Congress are doing"). Guts and honesty. Two virtues sorely lacking in this country today. Thanks Bill, for not being afraid to tell it like it is and remaining "politically incorrect." |
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