About book New Rules: Polite Musings From A Timid Observer (2005)
I love Bill Maher. And okay, so I don't agree with everything he says, but some of the things he does say are pretty effing spot-on.I picked this book up today off the bargain books table at my local bookstore and read it in one sitting. It was easy to do because: a) it's an easy read and b) it was so entertaining. I found myself laughing out loud several times.Bill Maher is not a Christian conservative Republican. Neither am I, which is why I enjoyed this book. If you are a Christian conservative Republican, read Ann Coulter.Maher's observations, while mostly political, are based largely on common sense, which is unfortunately lacking in a large percentage of the American population. He is an equal opportunity attacker, going after Republicans as well as Democrats, Christians as well as non-Christians, whites as well as blacks, gays as well as straights. The point of the book is that no one - no one - is exempt from doing something stupid, which makes us all equal.Here are a few of my favorites:There's no such thing as "flavored water."...Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt.Stop saying that athletes do it for the love of the game. They do it for the love of their 32-room mansion with the live shark tank in the living room.You can't notify people by e-mail that you've given them chlamydia. The San Francisco Health Department has a new service that lets you send an Internet greeting card to someone you may have infected with an STD: "Roses are red, orchids are gray, congratulations, you have hepatitis A."And my #1 top favorite:Jesus is not a candle. A company in South Dakota is selling candles with the scent of Jesus. You light one, and your friends say, "Christ, what's that smell?"Brilliant.This book isn't going to change the world. But maybe, just maybe, it'll make you think to yourself, "Americans aren't as superior as we think we are." Because really, it's our superiority complex that is slowly decaying our country. Bill Maher is just pointing it out.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a Bill Maher fan, so read on at your own risk. This book, really just a collection of New Rules bits from the show (I think), is funny, profane and insightful, just like its author. It's a great "turn your brain off and enjoy" book with some incredibly funny observations interspersed with several shockingly cogent and piercingly insightful commentaries on contemporary life. This being said, because it's just a series of snippets, I can't say that I would be motivated to buy and read a sequel to this volume as, ultimately, the net effect is like that of cotton candy at the fair - great at the time but not of sufficient significance to make you want it consistently. I guess that I'll just watch his Real Time show more as that's an even easier way to get additional New Rules....So, this is a fun and worthy effort, though its lack of unifying theme detracts from its impact. Given his gift for observation and humorous exposition, I wanted (but did not get) more, which, unfortunately, diminished its significance for me. I would really welcome a more developed and extended take from the author, though I am also quite sensitive to the reality that the line between social observer/critic and blowhard is a thin one easily transgressed. Still, I hope Maher takes the shot - he's got very a interesting perspective and withering wit, generally a good combination.
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I read The New New Rules: A Funny Look At How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass before I read this book. Honestly, I'm glad because this book, while funny, was not as enjoyable as its followup.This book consists mostly of the shorter New Rules, like you find in the segment of the same name that airs toward the end of Real Time with Bill Maher. There are also essays in this one. Both the essays and the shorter jokes would have probably been more appealing had I read them shortly after the book came up. Since it's been 8 years since the events that inspired the newest jokes in the book, those jokes weren't quite as funny. I'm sure that they would have probably had me rolling over with laughter at the time, though.Of course, the jokes are mainly about George W. Bush and his administration, but there are also jokes about people of more liberal leanings. And there are jokes that some might feel are inappropriate, but that might make them all-the-more necessary. Maher is unapologetic as he makes quips that most people wouldn't dare to make because he isn't afraid of making them. His brash sense of humor isn't for everyone, so if you don't like the guy and/or is his style going in, then this book probably isn't for you.
—Janet Morris
Really funny, but not for the easily offended. Bill Maher does not discriminate. He makes fun of everyone. The material is a little out of date, but still entertaining. He has a good statement on the issue of gay marriage. Progress is being made, but really, why is this an issue? But at least the Right isn't hypocritical on this issue; they really believe that homosexuality is an "abomination" and a dysfunction that's "curable." They also believe that if a gay man just devotes his life to Jesus, he'll stop being gay -- because that theory worked out so well with the Catholic priests.But the greater shame in this story goes to the Democrats. They don't believe homosexuality is an abomination, and therefore their refusal to endorse gay marriage is hypocrisy. Their position doesn't come from the Bible; it's ripped right from the latest poll, which says most Americans are against gay marriage.Well, you know what? Sometimes "most Americans" are wrong. Where's the Democrat who will stand up and go beyond the half measure of "civil union" and "hate the sin, love the sinner" and say loud and clear, "There is no sin--it's not an abomination"?No on can control how Cupid aims his arrows, and the ones who pretend they can usually turn out to be the biggest freaks of all.
—Tracy
I like Bill Maher but to me this book was just okay. Some parts were really funny, though mostly laugh in your head funny. But some parts I found offensive/insensitive even for Mr. Maher. His commentary on the Bush administration is still spot on nearly 10 years later. Also loved his comments about bat-shit crazy Coulter. But what bothered me were the rape jokes, mocking of women who suffer miscarriages, and comments on breastfeeding in public (Bill I like you a lot but get over yourself. Babies have to eat too).For the first time in my life I finished a book in less than an afternoon, which was a pleasant surprise. Despite the sporadic issues, overall the book was okay bordering good.
—Samantha
