When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden by Bill Maher

When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden:
What the Government Should be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism
by Bill Maher

From Publishers Weekly
Anybody who has seen Maher's canceled show Politically Incorrect knows that his driving animus is the long shadow cast by the Greatest Generation during WWII, and that the war on terror has provided him with ample opportunity to elaborate on our inability to measure up-one such opportunity being this entertaining, heavily illustrated and graphically kinetic volume. Nonpartisan to a fault, Maher has a knack for leavening difficult issues with an expertly executed punch line. The government has "abdicated the role of helping citizens make connections in time of war," he says; in reaction, Maher includes dozens of WWII-style posters that he feels the government "should be making and plastering everywhere." It's no challenge to poke holes in his militant outlook, but books like this don't succeed by covering all the bases. There isn't a position Maher isn't willing to oversimplify drastically, but his logic is often compelling, as when he rails against our low taxes, our low rate of foreign aid or our addiction to oil. And he can't stand the token gesture, a prime example being our insufficiently revamped airport security. But it's easy to confuse Maher's urgency with outright alarmism, typified by the mushroom clouds he invokes, and he neglects to connect his rants about, say, the war on drugs to his argument. Maher's palpable sincerity, however, is refreshing in an age dominated by irony and cynicism.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-At first glance, the format of this volume might fool readers into thinking that they are looking at a comedic picture book. The cover, a take-off on a World War II U.S. propaganda poster, shows Maher driving along with a ghostly Osama bin Laden. The book tells readers that to waste gasoline (read oil) by driving alone in an SUV is to help the enemy. The author feels that not enough has been done to prevent further catastrophic terrorist attacks and contends that the government involved the public during World War II by making the best use of propaganda. He argues that Americans have been led to believe that the current war can best be fought if we go about business as usual, pay less in taxes, and continue to buy consumer goods, even if they tie us to regimes in the Middle East known to be financing terror. This book is filled with controversial and perhaps politically incorrect statements, and each essay is likely to provoke a good argument; posters designed for this title illustrate the author's thesis. For example, one depicts SUVs ("Selfish Use Vehicles") adorned with American flags and shows his impatience with people who, after September 11, turned their vehicles into "traveling country fairs." Teens should be taken with this opportunity to validate their opinions or to reevaluate their life choices. The sexually explicit and irreverent language will be familiar to most high school students.

Product Description:
"Bill Maher has inherited the mantle of Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift and he wears it with aplomb. If he were living in any other time or in one of many other countries, he would truly be in danger of being put to death for his legendary ability to say the unthinkable and say it better (and before) anyone else. When You Ride Alone You Ride with bin Laden is destined to be the most talked about book of the year" - Larry King
Political provacateur Bill Maher tells it like it is in a useful and hilarious guide for the many Americans who want to do more here at home to help in the war effort, but are at a loss as to how.

33 dynamic new posters and several classics from our government's archive, accompanied by text from one of our leading pundits and cutting-edge comedians make this the perfect book for this time in our nation's history, the zeitgeist of one-year-past-9/11 America. This will help Americans make the connection between what we can do and how it will help our troops to victory.

Says Maher, "Traveling the country, I find that people want to do more here at home, but are at a loss as to what. Even when the government issues a Terrorism Advisory,it's maddeningly vague - 'Terrorist alert today! Code Burnt Orange!'

'And what?' I always want to ask. "Bring a sweater?'"

"I've met funny guys but none as smart. I've met smart guys but none as funny. Bill Maher has single-handely raised the quality of political debate in America and with When You Ride Alone You Ride with bin Laden he will make the ultimate statement of his remarkable career. This is a most important - and most necessary - book."

mfg cntr

Nachtrag:

hier das Originalbild des Covers...

www.stud.ntnu.no/~johanknu/galleries/stooopid/Page92.html