A good primer on the dangerous legacy and false origin myths of Glenn Beck, who has gone from forgettable shock jock to hate-baiting talking head in a record amount of time. Having said that, Zaitchik seemed to skimp a little on the 'beginning' of Glenn Beck's life - more emphasis is put on his time at Fox News that in his early days in talk radio. It won't be converting any of the faithful followers of Saint Beck (as in 'wreck') but it is still a jolly good/disturbing read for those who can clearly see Beck as the extremist fearmonger as he is. There is a regrettable lack of photos, though; it would have been worth it to see pictures of Beck's tragic 80's ponytail. ( )

Common Nonsense Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, by Alexander Zaitchik (read 22 Aug 2016) This book was published in 2010 and I should have read it then but I started to read it now and I got kind of caught up in it. It tells of the life and actions o Glenn Beck, a guy I have paid little attention to. In 2010 he was making a big splash in Tea party circles and with far right nuts. I am kind of glad I did not read the book in 2010 since I would have been dismayed at the following he had. Today I could read the book with better heart, since I knew that Obama had been handily re-elected in 2012--which must have greatly dismayed Beck followers and maybe even Beck--although he is simply feasting on the fears and hates of his followers and probably is laughing at the dupes who make him a success. The book is pretty carefully researched and is easy to read, even though I would have liked a more documentary-like approach. ( )

I finished Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance and I'm understanding a little more about him. I don't watch his program or Fox news, but I've heard him referred to enough that I thought I had to check him out. Most of the book is biography and shows him to be possibly bi-polar (he says himself he may be borderline schizophrenic), sadistic, power hungry, attention starved, self serving and charismatic. He says his conversion to Mormonism helped him overcome his substance abuse problem so he is no longer sadistic, though that seems to be one of his many untruths. But more important, the reason I read the book was to understand his take on history. Zaitchik says that he is a perfect example of his Mormon faith. The crying shows his sensitivity (which Zaitchik dubs gender pirating) which is normally on exhibit during testimony meetings. As a former Mormon I attended many testimony meetings, but it's been a long time so I can't vouch for that. What I can vouch for is the Mormon attitude of paranoia and persecution that's at the top of Beck's psyche.

I was in the church long enough ago that I remember the denigration of African Americans, which I think the church is now saying never happened. I knew they were politically conservative, but I didn't know that Beck's historical mentors Cleon Skousen and Ezra Taft Benson (who was a president of the church) were John Birch Society conservative. When I was a Mormon I worked for Goldwater and had an eye opening philosophical moment reading Ayn Rand. Beck is still in the eye opening phase of his JBS mentors.

I didn't realize that Beck hates the very term "social justice". I didn't know anyone would go that far. And he has bought into the idea that poor (probably Black) people were the cause of the housing collapse thus the collapse of the global economy. I'll bet they didn't know they had that much power.

Because of his racism Beck has lost almost all corporate advertising for his show on Fox, but Zaitchik says (in an interview, not in the book) that even when Fox inevitably cancels him, he makes so much from his radio show that he'll just keep on keepin' on. Will he ever learn anything? Oh yeah, I think so, but he'll twist it around to fit whatever he wants to rant about at the moment. ( )