I've only just started this book, and am still in the introduction, and I just know it's gonna be good!
This book will be starting its travels in Germany with Herrundmeyer as soon as I've finished reading it, then continuing around the world. Other stops so far are (current/latest stop in bold)
linguistkris (also Germany)
gnissorckoob - Miami
MarthaMinx - North Carolina
JPandJo Boston
Talkland - England
Special-K Australia
luckaye Australia
gumshoe007 Canada/Spain
AngelKitty US
goldengirl58 Australia
Lady-Mondegreen UK
kali297 US

If you want your name added to the list, please PM.
You need to be prepared to post anywhere!

Entertaining, funny, but also very frightening.
If half of what the author says is true (and he does quote his sources at the end of the book) then there are a lot of problems out there created by ignorance or sheer greed. I wonder how many people read this book and think "I must do something about this" and how many feel the situation is so bad they need to ignore it so it will go away. Michael Moore seems to pass a lot of responsibility for things onto ordinary people who simply let the politicians get on with things without checking up on them. The book has a lot about American politics, but in general says a lot about politics and people everywhere.
I did like his solution to the irish problem!
This book is going out to herrundmeyer tomorrow.

Received this today and will start ASAP to keep the ray moving. Thanks for setting up this bookring; I've wanted to read it for quite a while, and now I got it! TBR.

A funny, but nonetheless shocking, account of the state of the USA. Moore is courageous to openly criticise those many faults of society and of the governing body. And it is astonishing that this very book is a bestseller, but nothing much has changed so far...
Check out Michael Moore's homepage for additional information, also on his Academy Award-winning film "Bowling for Columbine".

I found a section on reading in the book which I want to share:

"There are forty-four million Americans who cannot read and write above a fourth-grade level - in other words, who are functional illiterates.
How did I learn this statistic? Well, I read it. And now you've read it. So we've already eaten into the mere 99 hours a year an average American adult spends reading a book - compared with 1,460 hours watching television."
Now, I wouldn't have thought that, but all those BookCrossers around are not the "average American adults" after all...

Released on Monday, May 12, 2003 at mailed to a fellow bookcrosser in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany.

This book is continuing its journey to linguistkris. Enjoy!

That was fast! Maybe the state of German mail isn't quite so desolate as I thought (esp. after Muffin77s recent experience).
When I attended a conference in Munich a few weeks back, my friend Steffi was reading "Stupid White Men" and would always share the best bits with me in between the lectures... so I may kind of have an idea of what I'm in for. I was looking forward to this, so I'll probably just leave everything aside I was reading up to now and quickly gobble this down! *greed*

I've just finished this and it was pretty much like I expected. Funny, but making light of the dead serious topic.

Released on Monday, May 26, 2003 at Bookray in Fellow BookCrosser, Postal Release Germany.

On its way to Florida!

I'm so pleased to receive this all the way from Deutschland. I saw the documentary "Bowling for Columbine" last month, so I'm ready for more Michael Moore. Will journal more after I read.

Smack! Thanks, Michael Moore, I needed that!

I wanted to stop reading this book, but I forced myself to finish it because I thought it was “good for me.”

The book is not “hilarious” as the cover blurb insists. Moore has an entertaining style. He uses humor and irony (sometimes great, sometimes pretty low, sometimes near-ruthless) to keep us turning the pages. But his writing is full of tugs at the conscience and reminders of problems we are not solving. It hashes over crappy realities that make you in a bad mood. It puts you on the spot: You feel like you’re not doing enough.

(I'm not sure about his credibility; he is obviously very biased, but he included many footnotes, some of which I read, and as loopy said "If half of what the author says is true....")

Some of the parts I liked best were:

(a) his economic theory (there's no recession: they want us to believe there is a recession so we will feel lucky to have a job and not demand things like health insurance)

(b) his comments on the criminal justice system –- or “ethnic cleansing American style” as he calls it

(c) his views on the pathetic state of American public education –- and his proposed standardized testing for political leaders!

(d) his comparison of Clinton and Bush –- they are mostly alike, except Bush lacks the charm

(e) his ominous Tallahassee encounter with the Governor of Florida! (Read the last chapter)

I disliked these chapters: “The End of Men” and “The People’s Prayer.”

Mailing this to the next reader, MarthaMinx. (Sent 7/22/03.) Thanks again, loopy and linguistkris, for sending it across the pond.

Recieved this book in the mail this past weekend, and I'm looking forward to reading what Michael Moore has to say about the state of our nation. I have to finish up another bookring book, and then I'll dig into this one.

Thanks for passing it along, gnissorckoob!

Whew, Michael Moore! Now there's a whole heck of a lot of information packed into an average size book! True to it's purpose, it certainly got me fired up and appalled at various attributes of our government and nation, and provided a deeper look at some issues that I only knew the surface of. However, there seemed to be SO MUCH information, (and written with characteristic Moore humor and sarcastic wit) that like other readers before me, I found myself wondering, "Is this all really true, or is he exagerating for the sake humor-- or perhaps to draw our attention to the urgentness of some of these problems??"

I certainly took much of Moore's information seriously in recognizing that we all must be a voice for what we believe in, and what changes we want to see. However, sometimes all the information became a bit clouded in his rants, and I found myself wanting to soak up the meat of the information and move on. I apprecaited the chapters on the criminal justice system, "We're Number One!", and comparisons of Clinton and Bush. For all the ranting I could personally do about the Republican party, it's just as infruiating to see many Democrats nowadays not do much better.

I thought this book did it's job of stirring one up, and encouraging us to educate ourselves on the state of the nation.

Oh, and if you haven't seen Bowling for Columbine, I highly recommend it.

Mailing it out to JPandJo in Boston today-- Hope you enjoy it!

I had forgotten I was on this bookray when I picked the book up at a Meet Up a few months ago, add to that, I put my address in my profile while on a 2 week vacation and I get the book. Go Figure. Since I already have a copy I'm going ot get Talkland's address and mail the book along. Once I have read my copy, I'll come back here and make notes on what I thought of the book.

Sorry I didn't journal I had received the book before now, I have been offline for a few days due to a family emergency. I will write again when I have finished the book.

The title of this book is wrong. The "stupid white men" who Michael Moore is referring to in this book have things pretty much how they want them so they can't be that stupid! This work of non-fiction is about how political power in the United States isn't about democracy but commerce. [Same can be said for all so called democratic countries.] Trade is as important as it has ever been in who controls what goes on in the corridors of power. Michael Moore goes into how big business gets what it want from government and what politicians get from big business. It is all about those who are rich and powerful staying that way and god forbid that the masses have a share in the spoils, that is just not on!

I did feel that Michael Moore's humour got in the way of the points he was trying to make in the book. I did not agree with his assessment of how to mend America's foreign policy of meddling. Personally I think the USA needs to butt out of other countries internal affairs and let the them get on with it. I think the world as a whole needs to change it way of thinking radically before we all have true freedom and choice for everyone. Unfortunately I don't think I will be around to see that happen in my life time.

Released on Wednesday, October 08, 2003 to a fellow bookcrosser, mailed in Eastbourne, England United Kingdom.

Away across continents and oceans to the land of contrasts with steamy jungles, dusty desert and snowy mountains!

This arrived before Christmas and I'm about half way through it already.

WOW. What an interesting read! I am glad our politicians aren't as bad as George W and his dad's cronies. I'm sending this to Luckaye in Queensland, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :-)

I received this from Special-K today

Release planned for Tuesday, June 08, 2004 at postal release in Kingston, Queensland, Australia Controlled Releases.

On it's way to Sarah in Canada!

HOORAY!!! It's finally arrived! I was worried for a bit but luckaye had reassured me it was on its way. It must have been having some adventure at sea. :) Will read very soon. Thanks!

Just finished this last night.....just in time for the election this coming Tuesday. I've read Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country" as well so it was like going back to the beginning with this book. It's a bit eerie that this book was due to release on Sept.11,2001.

Much has, obviously, happened since G.W.'s inauguration, Spet.11 and the release of this book. I, admittedly (as a Canadian), do not support Bush. But then, I do not support the Rupublican Party. And in Canada, I do not support our equivalent of the Republican Party (Conservative Party) but I also do not completely support our equivalent of the Democrats (Liberal Party). I daresay, I am a bleeding heart liberal, but I also understand the value of a dollar and the importance of a budget. It's a very fine line.

With the American election less than 24 hours away, I would not recommend to Americans to vote for Nadar....splitting the vote can lead to Canada's most recent election outcome, a Liberal minority government. But in the United States, without a mutiple party system, it will result in giving the majority to only one person. In this case, a disasterous outcome, in my opinion.

Tomorrow, I wish all American people a democratic, timely, fair, and peaceful election, no matter the results.

Released on Friday, November 05, 2004 at about 12:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Mailed to Bookcrosser in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing this to angelkitty as part of bookring. Enjoy!

Stupid White Men tells you everything you need to know about how the great and the good screw us over. It reveals - among other things - how 'President' Bush stole the election aided only by his brother, cousin, his dad's cronies, electoral fraud and tame judges; how the rich stay rich while forcing the rest of us to live in economic fear; and how politicians have whored themselves to big business. Not to mention providing faxcinating details on just how stupid Bush is, a convincing case for male obsolescense and a fabulous new use for Whites Only signs! A hilarious must-read for anyonw who wants to know what the con is and how 'they' get away with it, Stupid White Men is only available uncensored because public pressure forced the original publishers to publish a book they felt was too hot to handle. Now it's time to find out why. It's so damn funny it'll make you cry.

I was a bit reluctant to read the book at first. After seeing Bowling for Columbine, I was more than a little put off by Michael Moore. My problem with Michael Moore is that while he has some valid points, he uses fanatic methods and outright hostility to get them out there, making anyone that agrees with him seem like a total nutjob. If he could get his message out in a slightly toned-down way, I could deal with him. Also, he uses outright deception to get his point across. The ends does not justify the means. Speeches aired that are clips of several different speeches to change their context, articles shown during movies with sections highlighted so you won't notice the "we do not support" at the beginning, these are not the way to bring about real lasting change.

I did end up liking the book, however. As he says in his acknowledgements, there were plenty of people involved to keep him from going too overboard, which helped keep him sensible and reasonable. I will probably be reading Michael Moore's other books as well.

Goldengirl58 and Lady-Mondegreen have asked to be removed from this ray, so it's off to kali297 once my husband's finished it.

I snarked this book from my wife, AngelKitty. It was a postal holiday when I started. Sorry about the wait, Kali.

I enjoyed the book -- it's funny and well-written, but I can't help wishing that Michael Moore would throw his efforts over to fiction, rather than the "non-fiction" and "documentaries" he usually creates. I don't have a problem with his message, and I don't have a problem with the issues he selects to address being addressed -- it's his method I can't stand.

Before I go off, I want to say that I didn't see any specific lies or half-truths in this book -- but I have a distinct impression that they're there. Why? Because Mr. Moore has never made a trustworthy movie in his life, and as such, I don't trust him anymore. I loved Roger and Me, but it's a textbook case of misleading film -- covering something like a decade, he edited together footage from wildly different time periods, in order to boost certain sections' impact. That's not a liberty I'm comfortable with, especially when the results are called "Truth". Given that, and Angelkitty's experience with Bowling for Columbine, I just can't trust Moore anymore.

So -- it's a good book, and it's a funny book. But I know it's not the whole truth, and I'm not comfortable with that, even if it's for my own benefit. I know he'd like Americans to make certain political decisions (in fact, I think I might like to make those decisions as well, in the same direction he would), but they need to be our decisions. I don't appreciate his attempt to convince me with biased research.

The irony, of course, is that the common man's inability to research effectively, and his resulting dependence on pundits and slanted research . . . caused the sorry state of affairs Moore bemoans. This is a case in which I do not recommend fighting fire with fire.

Thanks, I received this in the mail today, along with another bookray book. I'll try to read both as soon as I can and pass them along.

Michael Moore raises trivial pursuit and demagoguery to new heights. He's laugh-out-loud funny--unless you're a Bush, and a study in contradictions. I hope he knows how to run for cover long enough to kick up a little more controversy. More Americans need to take it shaken, not stirred.