Adventures in a TV Nation [Paperback]

I must say I identify with many of Moore's rants. He's got it quite right in many aspects; fortunately for everybody, he's got the means to get his own back at owners of car alarm makers (whose products drive us mad at night for no reason at all), KKK boneheads, Newt Gringrich, etc. He's had wonderful ideas and he has succeeded at implementing them in the funniest and unpredictable ways, such as employing Crackers, the Corporate Crime Fighting Super Chicken. No wise crack humour, this is much more serious than you and I could imagine.

One of the highlights of the book is the various attempts by NBC, then Fox, to censor many pieces. Some went to air without any compromise, some went to air with serious compromise (such as when Moore was made to put Cuba in second place after Canada in a "health systems" Olympiad, the US coming third; although it is widely known that Cuba has probably the best healthcare system in the world, Americans don't seem able to take on such "horrible" truth and would rather bury their heads in the sand than admit it. And if that's despite the 30 year long stupid embargo imposed by the Evil Empire, imagine what'd happen if Cuba had all the medical goods they need), and some didn't go to air at all, such as the story on the scandalous Savings and Loans fraudsters... For a nation that prides itself on political openness and freedom, I must say I don't see openness nor freedom, only stalinist-style repression of ideas. As always, opposites attract.

Another highlight is how TV Nation contributed with $5000 for a lobbyist... well, to lobby, for a TV Nation national day, approved by Congress. My golly, it worked! It's August 16th if you want to know. You'd never think how far $5000 would take you in the Congress, now you do. Why does no one question this in the US? If if is absolutely scandalous that anyone with $5000 can do this, immagine what they can do with a few million dollars and then you can see how defence contracts get approved, environment protection and health and safety laws forgotten to favour big corporations, or even how the United States of Amnesia can go to war with a largely defenceless country like Iraq. Surely they've never heard the maxim: "pick someone of your own size to fight".

Since this series, Michael Moore has gone on to write other books in the same vein, namely "Downsize this" and "Stupid White Men (and other sorry excuses for the state of the nation)". He recently directed a wonderful documentary, "Bowling Columbine", which went on to receive the Palme D'Or at Cannes (unheard of for a documentary) and even the Oscar for Best Documentary. Amazing, that to happen in the US, but then people are a bit more liberal in California, so we like to think.

This book comes as a bit of a disappointment though. Because it wasn't written by Moore himself, his bile, witnessable by his uppercase statements followed by many exclamation marks, isn't anywhere but in the introduction. Still, Kathleen Glynn's style, his co-producer of TV Nation, though not as exhuberant, is perfectly at ease with the subject and delivered a hugely entertaining book that acts not only as a denouncement of many of USA's facets of life but also as a TV series tie-in, with information on each of the episodes and such. A must for everyone who watched this and want to revive their memories...

This hilarious book looks at the life and death of TV Nation from the inside by its creator michael moore and producer kathleen glynn. Moore is probably most recently known for his documentary film Bowling for Columbine and his book Stupid White Men. Page after page TV Nation is amazing to read both how this show got on the air in the first place and how it brought such amazing stories to the tube again and again.

Read this book to remember that we don't have to all stand by and watch the corporate world take advantage of us, remember that the little guy has a voice, and remember that no one likes having a camera in their face. TV Nation took television where it had never been before, and this book documents the struggle and feat of pulling it off.