O'Really O'Reilly?

Sometimes when you really anticipate reading a book, you are disappointed. This was not one of those times!

I had heard of Bill O'Reilly before; in fact during the recent Presidential campaign season, he became a nightly fixture on my television. Tired of the normal liberal-slanted drivel served up by network television, having "The O'Reilly Factor" present BOTH sides of the issues was fresh and, at least I thought, inherintly fair. In fact, "fair and balanced" seemed to be his and his networks theme.

Bill hawked his book shamelessly around the holidays. Having now read it, I understand; there was nothing in it he should have been ashamed of. The book is like his show in print. Telling the truth, decrying the "spin" doctors and forcing the truth from those trying to evade the heart of in issue and spit forth their own propaganda. Does O'Reilly make sense? Nearly always. Do I agree with his opinions? Usually. Does he present both sides of an issue? Yeah, although you always know which side he is on. (Of course, this is true of Rather, Brokaw, Jennings, and their ilk.)

If their is one flaw to the book it is that O'Reilly is telling his life and so occassionally it comes across as bragadocious. His double date with Donald Trump for example, while entertaining and certainly a fit into the chapter it is in, smacks of "name-dropping! Of course, if that is my greatest criticism (and it is) then one could say I am reaching...

As I said, rarely am I so fully satisfied with a book so long anticipated. I raced through it's pages and probably will do so again real soon. While many of his stories are dated, the theories about life that he uses them to illustrate are timeless.