The Mind of an Amazon Republican

Cafe Society
1

Browsing through Amazon, I stumbled upon a review by Newt Gingrich. Yes, that Newt Gingrich. I thought it odd at first. “He didn’t write that. He had a staffer do it to promote his agenda.” Then I noticed the tag line - “Top 1000 Reviewer”. Currently # 679. "Hmmm, he must have written it himself. I don’t think Amazon would allow a misrepresentation like that.

What intrigued me is that the review was actually fairly good, by Amazon standards. He makes his political points, but does not beat you over the head with them like many reviewers I have read there, liberal and conservative.

So I clicked the link and started reading his other reviews - what would the former Speaker of the House read? An avid reader of espionage and political thrillers. No suprise there. Several books on his side of the political fence. Which I admire actually. If you support a certain position, reading up on it is generally a good thing. (I can think of certain politician who has probably never read anything beyong Louis L’amour novels). An admirer of Stephen Ambrose’s histories.

Mr. Gingrich is also big Robert Parker fan apparently. That kind of suprised me. Never would have thought that was his cup of tea.

I find his reviews especially fascinating since they are fairly candid thoughts, unfiltered by the media. Which is an uncommon thing these days, (the blogosphere is changing that), and was exceedingly rare during his heyday. He was definitely protrayed as much more rabid than he appears here.

I always admired his political skill, though there is much I disagreed with in how he used it. Getting a peek into the mind of a Republican, especially this one is very intriguing.

Here is his profile also. That definitely looks like standard PR material. Fair enough.

Has anyone else ever found a ‘suprise’ reviewer, or one that they respect on Amazon and the like?

2

I used to catch Newt’s televised classes on cable. He is pretty bright and a pretty good lecturer.

3

I remember him being asked about this in an interview a few years back when someone on the net discovered it.

He said he liked books and liked giving his opinion. This was the perfect combination.

4

Did he review Bill or Hillary Clinton’s books?

5

. . . Why did I think this thread was going to be about Ann Coulter . . .

6

I have stumbled across them yet if he has, but he gave three stars to Bush At War by Bob Woodward. Wonder if he lost a bet? :stuck_out_tongue:

[Nelson]Hah, hah, made you look.[/Nelson] :smiley:

7

Well, this person isn’t nearly as famous as Newt Gingrich, but a couple years back I read a book by UC Berkeley professor John McWhorter. While reading the book, I happened to be looking at something else on Amazon, and was surprised to notice his name on one of the reviewsreviews. Kinda interesting; he writes mostly about linguistics and race relations, but most of his reviews seem to be for TV shows and broadway musicals…

A few years back there was a “scandal” when it was revealed that a lot of authors were anonymously giving good reviews to their own books. Now that all the names have to be revealed, I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple other well-known people show up.

8

Amazon encourages reviewers to use their real names, but does not require it.