Interview with Trevor Noah for those of you still on dial-up. 
Franken’s just got me good and proper with his ‘Laughs at Dentist’ line.
My favorite Graham story is that during some campaign (probably mid-2000s) he was asked if he knew the price of a stamp, loaf of bread, gallon of milk, etc. He reportedly said something like, “I’m a bachelor. I don’t know how much eggs cost, but I do know that a number three combo at Chik-Fil-A with a large Dr. Pepper cost $7.49.”
I haven’t read an Al Franken book in a while, and look forward to reading this one. On a side note, those of you near Chicago might be interested in Franken’s upcoming appearance at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest.
http://printersrowlitfest.org/participant/1984.html
I’ve posted this before here at SDMB, but here it is again in case you missed it. Franken draws a map of the U.S., state by state.
[quote=“bobot, post:65, topic:787804”]
I’ve posted this before here at SDMB, but here it is again in case you missed it. Franken draws a map of the U.S., state by state.
[/QUOTE]I can do that. I’m not sure mine would be quite as well-formed as his though.
[quote=“bobot, post:65, topic:787804”]
I’ve posted this before here at SDMB, but here it is again in case you missed it. Franken draws a map of the U.S., state by state.
[/QUOTE]Very interesting, but I was even more entertained by a link from that page that shows Franken eviscerating Bill O’Reilly to his face:
Yeah, that’s a great idea. None of this talk about foreign policy bullshit. All I want to hear about is pigs from Iowa and corn from Kansas! Oh, and how 'bout them Idaho spuds!?!?
[quote=“TonySinclair, post:67, topic:787804”]
Very interesting, but I was even more entertained by a link from that page that shows Franken eviscerating Bill O’Reilly to his face:
[/QUOTE]Damn, that was something else! The angry tension radiating from O’Reilly was almost visible.
Just finished reading it. I think the most surprising revelation for me was Franken’s feelings about Obama. He clearly is not a big fan.
I got the impression that Franken thought Obama was (mostly) a very good president, but the lack of support in 2008 really stung him personally.
I’m only halfway through but he explains in the book why he decided to be very State centric in his governing style: during his campaign he was accused of being a carpetbagger even though he was raised in the state and also he and his staff had a fear that people would assume that he became senator to feed his own ego since he came from show business. He wanted to make it very clear he was in it for the people of his state from the start.
Plus, and this is just me now, it’s not wrong to focus on your state as a Senator. Yes the laws you vote on effect the Nation as a whole but at the end of the day you represent your state in the body you work in so that should be your priority.
I haven’t finished it yet but I would agree with this.
Previously, I wrote
to which a reply was:
which I thought was great! So I got my book signed by Senator Franken, and I told him people are asking him to write “more books”. He chuckled and said that this is the last one for a while. I’m disappointed!
It’s really a great book, and I’m proud to have him as a senator.
It’s more a matter of what isn’t there. Franken was elected to the Senate in 2008; the same year that Obama was elected President. But it’s notable how little Obama gets mentioned in a book that’s about Franken’s political career. And on the occasions when he does mention Obama, it’s often to mention something Obama didn’t do. The overall impression I got is that Franken didn’t want to bad mouth a President from his own party so he mostly avoided saying anything.
Another thing I noticed about the new book is that Franken never mentions Why Not Me? even when he’s discussing his writing career and talks about his other works.
Mother told me that.
Based on the recommendations and descriptions here, I got the audio book and have been listening to it on my commute the past two weeks and just finished.
Franken seems pretty cool. I really appreciated that he himself read the book because I think it allowed his personality to come through more than just plain text or another reader would have. I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Franken is very engaging and earnest. The stories he tells are right on point, seem genuine, and with the right amount of levity.
In the early parts of the book where he’s talking about his rise as a writer, and later his foray into the radio show, book writing, advocacy, etc. I thought were great. The insights into his thought process and motivations were captivating. Later in the book when it came to particular issues, though I disagreed pretty staunchly, I respected why he came to them. Given his penchant for being a wonk, I thought he didn’t always attack the best arguments from his opposition. Those times were much less persuasive than when he was talking about things that he knew more about like his own state issues.
I really liked the descriptions of his interactions with other senators. Those were probably the highlights for me. The parts about addiction and how it had impacted people in his life were the most moving. I was really looking forward to the chapter bagging on Cruz, but it was actually kind of a let down. The insults were great, but I was anticipating them being more backed up with inside the beltway substance. Instead they were more of the ‘this guy is an asshole’ variety.
Anyways, good recommendation for this book. Makes me want to pick up another one of his books.
From what I know, that’s exactly what the inside-the-beltway reality is. No one likes him because of his repulsive personality, just like his college roommate said. With him, it really is personal.
Maybe he doesn’t want to fuel more speculation about a run for the White House. Too bad - I read that, and it was funny as hell.
Regards,
Shodan
Are we doing spoilers in this thread?
I really liked that he gave credit for help winning his run for Senator in 2008 to the ads he did with his 4th grade teacher and his wife. The explanation of “staff error” was cool too. Another time one of his aides called him an asshole when he was being one and didn’t realize it, afterwards he gathered his staff together and told them he wanted them to tell him when he was being an asshole.