This was a fascinating read because I wasn't Michael Moore fan when I began. I wasn't NOT a fan - I've enjoyed his movies and have been thankful that someone was out there crusading tirelessly for causes I support, but I wasn't an active fan. That may change now, less because of his movies and more for who he is and the courage he's had throughout his life to speak against injustice when everyone else is silent, when speaking out will draw scorn or worse.

I picked the book up after hearing an interview with him. He begins with the (shocking) way people (including Hollywood liberals) treated him after he denouced the war in his Oscar's speech in 2002. People were SO angry. Moore hired Navy Seals to protect him, there were so many death threats. That's how the book opens. From there he goes back to tell stories of his life and they shed light on why he does what he does today. More precisely, how he couldn't do anything BUT what he does today - he doesn't say this, but it's obvious he was born with a raw determination to denouce injustice, and that, along with a few other qualities noble and irritating, are so intrinsic, that his life has been like a cannon after launch. I paused many times in the book - particularly after the chapter on the Elk's Club - to ask myself whether I'd have the courage to have done what he did. Sadly, often I would not.

Not everyone may find his stories profound, but they really got me thinking about what it takes to speak out and why it is that a lot of good-hearted souls remain silent. It's important to be broad-minded and see the other point of view for so many things in life, but when you're facing issues of poverty, racism, war, you want the single-mindedness of Moore on your side.