This Is Too Fun
I don't know why, but I get the biggest kick out of this. Five days ago Hugo Chavez gave a big speech at the United Nations. He called President Bush "el diablo" and said he could still smell the sulfur from Bush's visit to the podium the day before.
And he held up a book by Noam Chomsky, a 2003, just-barely-still-in-print volume called Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, and told the American people to read it.
And now, five days later, the book is still Number One on Amazon.com's rankings.
I hope a lot of Americans do get some exposure to Chomsky, I hope they pause over his words and contemplate our nation's motives and methods on the world stage. It can't hurt to think about these things a little bit. You don't have to agree with everything he says, but ... watching TV, reading the news, listening to the radio, you'd never know these kinds of ideas even exist.
I think what amuses me is how the American press (after totally ignoring Chomsky) has tried to laugh Chavez off, but a lot of American people are obviously taking him seriously.
And he held up a book by Noam Chomsky, a 2003, just-barely-still-in-print volume called Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, and told the American people to read it.
And now, five days later, the book is still Number One on Amazon.com's rankings.
I hope a lot of Americans do get some exposure to Chomsky, I hope they pause over his words and contemplate our nation's motives and methods on the world stage. It can't hurt to think about these things a little bit. You don't have to agree with everything he says, but ... watching TV, reading the news, listening to the radio, you'd never know these kinds of ideas even exist.
I think what amuses me is how the American press (after totally ignoring Chomsky) has tried to laugh Chavez off, but a lot of American people are obviously taking him seriously.
posted by JimK at 4:02 PM
5 Comments:
I am not a Chomsky fan but still to see a serious book at the top of Amazon is amazing. Does this mean Chomsky is beating Marley the Dog and James Patterson??
Yes. But the fun has ended. Today the book is only Number Two. I am also no big fan of Chomsky's -- he certainly has something to say, but I am not always confident in his sense of perspective -- but it is amazing to see something like this at the top of the best-seller list.
JimK
Do you think "Hegemony" would be as big if Oprah had suggested it?
I am trying to envision the Chavez Book Club: dinner with the author, the daytime TV set with the couches, call in questions from readers who never read serious books before Hugo convinced them to read this one.
"I just want to say, before I ask my question, (two minutes of personal jabber about Events In My Life That Are Exactly Like Your Book), how do you get your ideas?"
It would be much bigger if Oprah recommended it- esp. the printing that would say "Oprah's Book Club" on the cover. However, it would probably not be read. Say, are we justseeing very early Christmas and Chanukah gifts being purchased??
"This Is Too Fun"
This is what's so great about America. What's seems a little dull to some people really jollies others up! It sure is fun reading those best-seller lists (a-hem).
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