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Sh*tshow!: The Country's Collapsing... and the Ratings Are Great - Political Satire Book for US Readers | Perfect for Political Commentary & Humor Lovers
Sh*tshow!: The Country's Collapsing... and the Ratings Are Great - Political Satire Book for US Readers | Perfect for Political Commentary & Humor Lovers

Sh*tshow!: The Country's Collapsing... and the Ratings Are Great - Political Satire Book for US Readers | Perfect for Political Commentary & Humor Lovers

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Description

A daring, firsthand, and utterly-unscripted account of crisis in America, from Ferguson to Flint to Cliven Bundy's ranch to Donald Trump's unstoppable campaign for President--at every turn, Pulitzer-prize winner and bestselling author of Detroit: An American Autopsy, Charlie LeDuff was thereIn the Fall of 2013, long before any sane person had seriously considered the possibility of a Trump presidency, Charlie LeDuff sat in the office of then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, and made a simple but prophetic claim: The whole country is bankrupt and on high boil. It’s a shitshow out there. No one in the bubbles of Washington, DC., New York, or Los Angles was talking about it--least of all the media. LeDuff wanted to go to the heart of the country to report what was really going on. Ailes baulked. Could the hard-living and straight-shooting LeDuff be controlled? But, then, perhaps on a whim, he agreed. And so LeDuff set out to record a TV series called, "The Americans," and, along the way, ended up bearing witness to the ever-quickening unraveling of The American Dream.For three years, LeDuff travelled the width and breadth of the country with his team of production irregulars, ending up on the Mexican border crossing the Rio Grande on a yellow rubber kayak alongside undocumented immigrants; in the middle of Ferguson as the city burned; and watching the children of Flint get sick from undrinkable water. Racial, political, social, and economic tensions were escalating by the day. The inexorable effects of technological change and globalization were being felt more and more acutely, at the same time as wages stagnated and the price of housing, education, and healthcare went through the roof. The American people felt defeated and abandoned by their politicians, and those politicians seemed incapable of rising to the occasion. The old way of life was slipping away, replaced only by social media, part-time work, and opioid addiction.Sh*tshow! is that true, tragic, and distinctively American story, told from the parts of the country hurting the most. A soul-baring, irreverent, and iconoclastic writer, LeDuff speaks the language of everyday Americans, and is unafraid of getting his hands dirty. He scrambles the tired-old political, social, and racial categories, taking no sides--or prisoners. Old-school, gonzo-style reporting, this is both a necessary confrontation with the darkest parts of the American psyche and a desperately-needed reminder of the country's best instincts.

Reviews

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- Verified Buyer
This is definitely not a "feel good" book. Nor was it supposed to be. It's another winner from investigative reporter Charlie LeDuff. Like his earlier books, it showcases his talent for getting inside people's heads and behind the fluffy side of current news. A number of messages shine through this book - there are people that are hurting in this country, politicians are largely jerks (okay, no news there...), and media is content to portray most every issue with as little real info and as much entertainment value (e.g. the title) as possible. Charlie does this through many different detailed vignettes, covering things like Ferguson, Detroit corruption, North Dakota oil fields, the last round of presidential debates, the Flint water crisis, border issues and much much more. He's always been a controversial guy in the Detroit area - love him or hate him.One of my favorite quotes of this book, in reference to one of the 2016 presidential debates: "The print press was off in the side tent watching on the Jumbotron, banging away on their keyboards, rocking to and fro like a bunch of rhesus monkeys attempting to augur the sequence that releases the banana chip, compiling the best zingers of the night." From crooked politicians to failing policy, Charlie exposes a lot of ugliness and stupidity.Now, some may read this book and find a bias towards the negative. But Mr. LeDuff simply cuts through a lot of b.s. and puts us in the minds of the people he represents. I found the book extremely compelling - read it in 2 nights (thanks for the lack of sleep, Charlie!). Whether or not you agree with his portrayals and conclusions, you have to admire the writing quality, investigative skills and "people insights" that this book delivers. I couldn't be happier with my purchase of this book.