If you read it, they will too?

Lately, I've been on a book kick. Perhaps the whole reason I've been vacant here. Aside from the craziness of work (why aren't the snowbirds gone? What's with all the people all of a sudden?), I have been biding my time between paperbacks and hard covers.

The recent addition to my collection has been Glenn Beck's The Overton Window. As much as I'm not a flag waving, Faux News supporter, I have to give Beck credit. He's a really good writer. You hear that, Dante? I'm read Beck! I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm now a convert to The Blaze movement, but I can admit that the book had it's moments.

Aside from Mr. Beck mentioning in the forward that the book is contrived of multiple genres, he states that his is a ""faction" - completely fictional books with plots rooted in fact, and that is the category I strived for with The Overton Window" [sic]. He "intentionally" wrote this book to make the reader feel like it's happening now. That it really can be any point in history post September 2001. Or, as one gets deeper in to the book, that's one of the points realized, as it is mentioned a few times, due to the nature of the book itself.

The Overton Window could be classified as a cheat sheet for high powered public relation firms, as one of the main (people) characters, Noah, works for his father's PR company. This company, located in the heart of New York, does business for everyone that is willing to pay a price to get their point across. Whether it be a bottle water company or a financial institution, Noah's family has had their hands in every campaign available. Noah is the type of guy that you'd see on the street and know he's a richy rich boy that gets all the girls because of his money. Or, he gets them when he says he gets them.

Kind of case in point: there's a girl who works in the mail room in his building, Molly. She's a flag throwing conspiracy person. Not so much conspiracy, as they never call it that, but she belongs to a group called "Founders Keepers", where they base their protests on the works of the founding fathers. Nothing these people do lacks ambition and proof. Well, Noah and Molly end up bumping in to each other when Molly is posting an information sheet about a forthcoming "event" (protest meeting) at a bar later in the evening. The two talk, she urges him to join the cause, he has his reservations. Needless to say, he ends up going, only after having a seemingly shitty day to get there. Where some things would fail that you don't want happening, they come at full blast. Others get a slow boil until they erupt.

I think for the first half of the book, Glenn Beck catches your attention. It's a page turner, because you want to see how Noah's father, a great and powerful asshole, can turn water in to wine and sell ice to Eskimos. Noah picks up on his father's cues and can manipulate the data, but he has the heart of a saint. More reason to follow a pack of not so clear headed theorists into a burning fire. The second half of the book takes you out of the fire, but it's predictable. It puts the salve on the burns and tells you you're going to be okay, even though you've got third degree spots you know damn well you shouldn't have. You laugh at some points, you tell yourself "I can see that" or "good point", and you end up telling your friends you just finished this book. Ashamed or not, you look up some of the bullet points Mr. Beck gives at the end, just to appease the curiosity.

As mentioned in one part of the novel, you can take the information and run with it, open your eyes, and start your own thinking, or you can leave it be and continue living the thing you are calling your life. Question is, isn't this what all main theorists believe?

Cheers;




see also:
David Icke via Amazon

Glenn Beck via Amazon

Alex Jones via Amazon

Michael Tsarion via Amazon