Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free

Zusatztext “A raucous rant against the armies of the right. . . . Pierce is at his scathing! insightful best.” — The Boston Globe   “A lively and! dare I say! intelligent study of the ongoing assault on gray matter.” —Stephen Amidon! The New York Observer   “[A] witty and pointed indictment of our nation’s disturbing ability to vilify smart people and elevate chowderheads to positions of power and influence.” — The Salt Lake Tribune “For a good (if painful) laugh about creationism and other bits of American lunacy! try Charles Pierce’s Idiot America . It’s a funny! sly version of an argument made recently by Al Gore in The Assault on Reason ! and by the brilliant Susan Jacoby in The Age of American Unreason .” —John A. Farrell! USNews.com   “There is only one Charles Pierce! and while that may be a good thing! it is also a damn good thing we have his unique combination of gonzo! erudition! fearlessness! and eloquence to help us make sense of a senseless world. I stand in awe! and appreciation.” —Eric Alterman! author Why We’re Liberals and When Presidents Lie   “Pierce penetrates! and the world feels less idiotic already.” —Roy Blount Jr.! author of Alphabet Juice and Long Time Leaving   “Charles Pierce takes us on a brilliant and hilarious tour of the back roads of American idiotocracy through history—skewering Atlantis-seekers! evolution deniers! jackasses! nincompoops! and right-wing know-it-alls with his trademark sledgehammer wit. Reading Pierce’s Idiot America ! I laughed myself stupid.” —Amy Dickinson! author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville   “Engaging. . . . Pierce delivers a rapier-sharp rant on how the America of Franklin and Edison! Fulton and Ford has devolved into America the Uninformed.” — Publishers Weekly   “There’s a guy down at the end of the bar who’s furiously angry! hilariously funny! and has an Irish poet’s talent for language. He’s been traveling the country! and he’s been alternately appalled and moved by what he’s found there! and! lucky you! he wants to tell you all about it. Listen.” —Peter Sagal! author of The Book of Vice and host of NPR’s Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me Informationen zum Autor Charles P. Pierce is a staff writer for the Boston Globe Magazine , a contributing writer for Esquire , and a frequent contributor to American Prospect and Slate . His work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine , the Los Angeles Times Magazine , The Nation , The Atlantic , and the Chicago Tribune , among other publications, and he is a regular on NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and Only a Game .   Visit the author's wbsite at www.charlespierce.net. Klappentext Originally published in a slightly different form in hardcover: New York: Doubleday! 2009. Leseprobe The Prince of Cranks Ralph Ketchum sits on the porch of his little house tucked away on a dirt lane that runs down toward a lake, pouring soda for his guest and listening to the thrum of the rain on his roof. He has been talking to a visitor about the great subject of his academic life–James Madison, the diminutive hypochondriac from Virginia who, in 1787, overthrew the U.S. government and did so simply by being smarter than everyone else. American popular history seems at this point to have de­volved into a Founding Father of the Month Club, with several huge books on Alexander Hamilton selling briskly, an almost limitless fascination with Thomas Jefferson, a steady stream of folks spelunking through George Washington’s psyche, and an HBO project starring the Academy Award winner Paul Giamatti as that impossible old blatherskite John Adams. But Madison, it seems, has been abandoned by Þlmmakers and by the writers of lushly footn...

Report

A raucous rant against the armies of the right. . . . Pierce is at his scathing, insightful best.
The Boston Globe
 
A lively and, dare I say, intelligent study of the ongoing assault on gray matter.
Stephen Amidon, The New York Observer
 
[A] witty and pointed indictment of our nation s disturbing ability to vilify smart people and elevate chowderheads to positions of power and influence.
The Salt Lake Tribune

For a good (if painful) laugh about creationism and other bits of American lunacy, try Charles Pierce s Idiot America. It s a funny, sly version of an argument made recently by Al Gore in The Assault on Reason, and by the brilliant Susan Jacoby in The Age of American Unreason.
John A. Farrell, USNews.com
 
There is only one Charles Pierce, and while that may be a good thing, it is also a damn good thing we have his unique combination of gonzo, erudition, fearlessness, and eloquence to help us make sense of a senseless world. I stand in awe, and appreciation.
Eric Alterman, author Why We re Liberals and When Presidents Lie
 
Pierce penetrates, and the world feels less idiotic already.
Roy Blount Jr., author of Alphabet Juice and Long Time Leaving
 
Charles Pierce takes us on a brilliant and hilarious tour of the back roads of American idiotocracy through history skewering Atlantis-seekers, evolution deniers, jackasses, nincompoops, and right-wing know-it-alls with his trademark sledgehammer wit. Reading Pierce s Idiot America, I laughed myself stupid.
Amy Dickinson, author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville
 
Engaging. . . . Pierce delivers a rapier-sharp rant on how the America of Franklin and Edison, Fulton and Ford has devolved into America the Uninformed.
Publishers Weekly
 
There s a guy down at the end of the bar who s furiously angry, hilariously funny, and has an Irish poet s talent for language. He s been traveling the country, and he s been alternately appalled and moved by what he s found there, and, lucky you, he wants to tell you all about it. Listen.
Peter Sagal, author of The Book of Vice and host of NPR s Wait, Wait, Don t Tell Me

Product details

• Authors: Charles P Pierce, Charles P. Pierce
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 04.05.2010
• EAN: 9780767926157
• ISBN: 978-0-7679-2615-7
• No. of pages: 307
• Dimensions: 130 mm x 204 mm x 17 mm
• Series: Anchor Books
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Contemporary history (1945 to 1989); Non-fiction book