Tony confesses at the beginning he sold out, but then takes us along for a great ride. I was interested because I had seen the show, I could tell he wasn't that serious, but was enjoying the opportunity. He has the New York blunt, rye attitude, yet allows us to see the human side of his mistakes and highlights them with his humor.

His style may well offend if you are too sensitive sensibilities. Though he reminds me of many career cooks I have known.

If you loved the show, it will make you look at it in a whole new light. If you enjoy food and traveling to different cultures it's a book for you. If you enjoy a good read, buy it and watch Tony's quest for the Perfect 'Free' Meal.

I just finished Bombastic Transcripts, so if you have bothered to read this at all you're probably wondering so what did this monkeyboy think? Good question, honestly I am still pondering it mulling it over in my head and probably will for a bit. It is a quick read, it's an interesting read, but fundamentally it's not a light read. It takes a little time for digestion and pondering... I suspect I will read it again in the next month or two and reconsider, hell maybe throw this whole review out.

So here's my advice go buy the book, RageBoy needs the cash. If you like Tom Robbins, Hunter S Thompson, and the Gonzo style read away, you'll enjoy it. Perhaps you will find some stuff to digest, even without ingesting any substances on the Schedule I drug list.

If you didn't like Cluetrain Manifesto, Gonzo Marketing, or any Gonzo writing buy the book anyways, for the reasons stated above. Then hide the book in your bookshelf and wait until a really dark night, one in which your soul is screaming for mercy while the night rages in a Category 5 Hurricane and your only fresh reading material is a copy of Reader's Digest you have flipped through already 15 times. Your mind goes hungry, for something unanswered and unknown, and you will recall this book hiding in some dark corner of the bookshelf covered in dust and a three month old edition of Fast Company magazine. You will pull it off the shelf and find yourself drawn to the words expressed inside and the walls of illusion come crashing down inside your mind. Either that or you'll take a gun and pull a Hemmingway. Doesn't much matter to me, if you survive reading it you might even find yourself signing up for Entropy Gradient Reversals, but let me warn you the shotgun is alot quicker and painless, but it's not nearly as much fun.

In recent months, across the web I have seen this book in people's reading mentioned on various blogs. I decided I would like to read this book for myself. I had every reason to like what this book would tell me, I eat fast food infrequently, don't like what it is doing to America, it's culture, or our health. All that being said while I think this book has interesting and useful information, but one must read it with health skepticism.

I am an aspiring author, but as I study my craft I read the words repeated over and over again "Let the story tell itself". My impression of Fast Food Nation is that Mr. Schlosser had a very set opinion approaching this work and looked for answers that matched his thesis. He uses facts and studies very effectively to represent these viewpoints. When facts are unavailable he uses an anecdotes to suffice and leaving the implication that his one story is the norm. Lastly when this method fails him he uses someone else's opinion and leaves it to give the impression of the overall state of the industry.

There are numerous examples of this approach, but I will briefly cover a few. On page 118 he uses the words of a Bert Moulton to implies collusion and price-fixing throughout the potato growing industry without any direct evidence. On 174 he blames supervisors for widespread sales of amphetamines to meat packing plants. In describing and E. coli out break he describes on page 208 that no direct source of the outbreak can be traced, he states that the meat came from a specific plant that was dirty according to federal inspectors so therefore it was the source.

His political viewpoint is accented throughout the book. He repeatedly uses terms such as "right-wing", "conservative", and "republican" in a negative context, but is careful not to include them in the index to show how wide spread his bias is in the text. This shows through to the additional section where he discusses the changes since the original book. Specifically he goes after the Wall Street Journals editorial staff as right wing without mention of the reviewers name or what was wrong with the review. It isn't until page 277 that he confesses that he was light on the role of the Clinton administrations record and ties to the Tyson family. After a bare three sentences he turns to attack the current administration.

Finally, the charge of American cultural imperialism rings hollow. He notes on page 244 of various acts against McDonald's by Dutch anarchists. McDonald's uses an orderly system for distribution, a natural target for an anarchist regardless of culture. He mentions that one McDonalds was blown up in Cali, Columbia in 1997, I just wonder how many other buildings were blowup in Cali that year? On Page 250 he mentions Plauen only having McDonalds the only store open in the town square on Unification day in Germany. I'll confess to have never been to Plauen, but if he knew anything of German culture he might know that all businesses close in Germany except restaurants. He continues in last few pages of the chapter implying blame for the high unemployment in East Germany on McDonalds and other Western institutions, I am sorry this doesn't wash. The Wall fell in Eastern Germany to an economic system whose end had come. Afterwards it has been a difficult adjustment period for those people, trying to get over the chains of Communism and it cheapens those people's struggles, sacrifices, and dreams to use it as a cheap plot device to drive a personal opinion.

This book has some positive characteristics, I agree with it's statements about the danger of genetically altered food. I enjoyed when he talked about the good actors in the industry and feel they deserved a full chapter, rather than a few paragraphs. This would have been a better book if he had let the story tell itself, rather then use it as a personal opportunity to push his political agenda. If he had then I think Fast Food Nation would have been great book instead of just an Upton Sinclair knockoff.

I love Breakfast at Tiffany's but this album is so much more it's shame for those who listen to it and judge it by this song. Halo, I Can't Wait, Song to Make Love are great, but the whole album is solid effort. I held off Home to end because it's perhaps one of my favorite songs of all time, mellow but uplifting, the perfect on the road song when away from friends and family. I still play this album at least once a week and I have had it for 4 years.

okay so I went overboard, but that is the point of the book, others have said it, but it's very true, if you love Cluetrain Manifesto, you'll love this book. Yeah the internet is the hope of commerce but HOW, you might ask...well Locke explains. I am sure someone sooner or later will complain it's not complete there is no easy to follow guide, but I think the book makes it clear as possible considering we are going into uncharted seas, hang on for a hellova ride.

I don't think they intended wrong, but this book isn't really about the being a successful ecommerce merchant. It's about being a corporate voiced merchant without listening to your customers. I was extremely disappointed in the copy I got, luckily it was free.

You want to be online and really participate, go buy Cluetrain or Gonzo Marketing. Then hire a good webperson to help you make it happen.

I loved 'The Bear Comes Home'. The story is incredible and larger than life (pun intended). Captured Jazz and the life of this amazing creature, and as someone who had never visited New York City before reading the book, it gave me an understanding to the City before I went there. I could get more into the music, but I know very little, it did teach me where to go looking for some incredible Jazz and I have bought some great material based on the background at the end of the book.

Well worth purchasing!

Loved The Police, Listened to Dream of the Blue Blue Turtles and I have been a fan of Sting ever since. He doesn't seem as dark as in the 80's, but Evolution has been fun to watch. Desert Rose is different, perhaps a bit pop, but a great listen. Ghost Story, Brand New Day, After the Rain has Fallen are probably the other strongest tracks. Want an Earth shattering new album, look elsewhere, but good music and an album to listen straight through and you have found a winner.

Loved The Police, Listened to Dream of the Blue Blue Turtles and I have been a fan of Sting ever since. He doesn't seem as dark as in the 80's, but Evolution has been fun to watch. Desert Rose is different, perhaps a bit pop, but a great listen. Ghost Story, Brand New Day, After the Rain has Fallen are probably the other strongest tracks. Want an Earth shattering new album, look elsewhere, but good music and an album to listen straight through and you have found a winner.

If you like Tom Peters you'll find nothing new, but I liked this book. I am reading on the 'project 50' now, what I like is the small size. If your on the go you can easily take this book along, either on the metro, or on a cross country flight. A good reminder to leave it out on your desk to keep a fresh outlook on the daily drudge or rather to prevent it from becoming a drudge.