Mike Moore

Gillie

Was on holiday in Spain last week and I got Mike Moore's Stupid White Men.
Thought it was absolutly brill!
Anyone else read it?

I just bought the follow up "Dude. Where's my Country".
Hoping its just as good.

Comments?

zAbbo

heh I was in Corfu last summer, and read Stupid White Men, good entertaining book, Dude wheres my country is also in the same vein.

Have you seen Roger & Me, or Bowling for Coulumbine, both good docu`s

Dont be put off by the inevitable replies stating that his work is ****e which will follow in this thread.

Gillie

Thanks for the warning B!
I don't see how ppl can call something factual sh1te.
Seen BFC. Moving stuff.

Moore really is funny as hell.

uberwolf

If you've read Chomsky or even Palast you'll appreciate that Moore is slightly further down the literary scale. And thats what everyone who will slate him will say. However it is just that which makes him so important, his work is more accesible, if slightly less objective and he probably informs more people because of it. So Moore deserves respect and attention.

seamus

His books can be entertaining, and BFC was great, but there are times when his writing style annoys me. The odd time it reads like an angry boards rant, or some petty point-scoring. Most of the time it's good stuff.

In fairness, he does admit to not being a great writer or even very smart, so little foibles can be overlooked.

Bannor

I used to like his stuff but now I think he has found a lucrative niche in the market and is milking it for all that he can.

Gillie

Originally posted by Bannor
I used to like his stuff but now I think he has found a lucrative niche in the market and is milking it for all that he can.

Maybe so but by all accounts he had to overcome his own publishers to release it coz of 9/11 and all that.
I won't begrudge him his money considering his subject matter is so good.

Brerrabbit

If you've read Chomsky or even Palast you'll appreciate that Moore is slightly further down the literary scale. And thats what everyone who will slate him will say. However it is just that which makes him so important, his work is more accesible, if slightly less objective and he probably informs more people because of it. So Moore deserves respect and attention.

By Uberwolf

Er... Exactly what I was going to say, well not exactly I'd probably have put more brackets and smily faces in there (I [ILike smily faces and brackets - I also liek italics ).

I think that Palast is pretty accessible too, his writing style is more accomplished than Moores but it's always pretty clear and forthwright. (Nothing against Moore of course; if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have found out about Palast's stuff).

On an aside, I remember reading somewhere that Moore was a bit disengenuous with Bowling For Columbine. I'll try to find the Link, but maybe someone else knows of it; it was mainly to do with misleading editing and composite quotes from several different speeches.

Bannor

Originally posted by Gilly2003
Maybe so but by all accounts he had to overcome his own publishers to release it coz of 9/11 and all that.
I won't begrudge him his money considering his subject matter is so good.

The problems with publishers were due to libel laws in the UK. I don't begrudge him making money but when money becomes the motivation then the facts tend to get distorted/misrepresented in order to make a better selling book/movie.

Brerrabbit, here's a link to a site you were talking about: Truth about Bowling for Columbine

zAbbo

Originally posted by Bannor
Brerrabbit, here's a link to a site you were talking about: Truth about Bowling for Columbine

And Moores side of the story : http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/wackoattacko/

Brerrabbit

Thanks for the links, Baz and Bannor.

hmmm.. I did think that the "Truth about Bowling..." web site was mainly concerned with the NRA/ Gun side of things and in Moores "Whaco attacko" thingy he says

"Trust me, no film company would ever release a film like this without putting it through the most vigorous vetting process possible" which would seem to be a very valid point; I presume the NRA (Or Heston) for example, would have sued in a heartbeat if they had been misquoted (Although I'm not really up on Libel laws).

Both sites present reams of text pretty much in direct opposition to each other and both claim to be completely factual (Thats the internet I suppose ) I'll have to plough (or read - might be better ) through both and check their validity as soon as I get the chance; too tired at the moment.
It seems that theres a lot of links and speech transcripts to be read before we can get to the bottom of this.

Thanks again for the sites guys.

Gillie

Originally posted by Bannor
The problems with publishers were due to libel laws in the UK. I don't begrudge him making money but when money becomes the motivation then the facts tend to get distorted/misrepresented in order to make a better selling book/movie.

Brerrabbit, here's a link to a site you were talking about: Truth about Bowling for Columbine

Your dead right about that.

McGinty

I read it 'Stupid White Men', and yes I enjoyed it, it helped open my eyes, and whilst he may be a little high on his own publicity, (who of us wouldn't) his heart and motives are in the right place.