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Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? The Best of Politically Incorrect
WITH BILL MAHER, IT'S NEVER POLITICS AS USUAL!
Conservatives know what they want and they never forget it. Except for the time Reagan went to the Vietnam Memorial and shouted, Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Heidi Fleiss and Dr. Kevorkian [are] two visionaries of American social life, the queen and king of coming and going.
The Packwood diaries must be pretty racy, because most of the people who read them apparently cannot wait to get to the bottom of the next page. Which, of course, was Packwood's problem, too.
"Politically Incorrect is almost single-handedly reviving political satire. . . . [It] has pulled off the rare trick of being irreverent without being irrelevant."
The New York Times
"A funny collection of jibes, jokes and tidbits from his hilarious late-night show."
Playboy
Conservatives know what they want and they never forget it. Except for the time Reagan went to the Vietnam Memorial and shouted, Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Heidi Fleiss and Dr. Kevorkian [are] two visionaries of American social life, the queen and king of coming and going.
The Packwood diaries must be pretty racy, because most of the people who read them apparently cannot wait to get to the bottom of the next page. Which, of course, was Packwood's problem, too.
"Politically Incorrect is almost single-handedly reviving political satire. . . . [It] has pulled off the rare trick of being irreverent without being irrelevant."
The New York Times
"A funny collection of jibes, jokes and tidbits from his hilarious late-night show."
Playboy
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
21 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Bill Maher
20 books468 followersWilliam Maher, Jr., is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He hosted the late-night television talk show Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central and ABC, and is currently the host of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. On June 1, 2006, he also began hosting an Internet-exclusive talk show on Amazon.com entitled Amazon Fishbowl.
Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary. His commentaries target a wide swath of topics, from the right-wing to the left-wing, bureaucracies of many kinds, religion, political correctness, Hollywood, the mass media, and persons in positions of high political and social power, among many others. He supports the legalization of cannabis and gay marriage and serves on the board of PETA. Maher is number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.
Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary. His commentaries target a wide swath of topics, from the right-wing to the left-wing, bureaucracies of many kinds, religion, political correctness, Hollywood, the mass media, and persons in positions of high political and social power, among many others. He supports the legalization of cannabis and gay marriage and serves on the board of PETA. Maher is number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 30, 2012
I was concerned prior to reading this book that I wouldn't get many of the jokes, having been between 12 and 14 years old when the show aired. I had very little idea what was going on in the world at that time, being an extremely sheltered young church-goer in rural Minnesota. I find; however, that I have been sufficiently educated since then so that I at least had a vague idea about what was being discussed, which increased my enjoyment of Maher's humor significantly.
I never watched Politically Incorrect when it was on, but I do watch Real Time regularly, so I am familiar with Bill's point of view, although it seems he was a little less cynical about religion back in the 90's. Also, his panel guests were more varied. Presented here are a series of opening statements setting up a topic which I assume the panel went on to discuss. Several times this includes further humorous comments from Bill and also (more rarely) from his guests. I would have liked to have been privy to more of the discussion, but I think if you had watched the show, this would have been more of a reminder of what it was about, or possibly even redundant. There is no new material contained herein, so I wonder about the original point of releasing this collection.
There were several moments where I laughed aloud, but much less than when watching Bill on television, or reading other comedians' written offerings. Again, these are more conversation starters than essays. I suppose an interesting way to interact with the book would be to start conversations among one's friends and relatives, but that might devolve into an argument more damaging to familial relations than one would desire. At times I found myself musing about Bill's premise and trying to decide whether I agreed with him, which may have been his intention. I was entertained by the book and did find it humorous, so I suppose it achieved it's aim, at least with me. If you are a fan of Bill Maher or political humor, I would imagine you'd enjoy it too.
I never watched Politically Incorrect when it was on, but I do watch Real Time regularly, so I am familiar with Bill's point of view, although it seems he was a little less cynical about religion back in the 90's. Also, his panel guests were more varied. Presented here are a series of opening statements setting up a topic which I assume the panel went on to discuss. Several times this includes further humorous comments from Bill and also (more rarely) from his guests. I would have liked to have been privy to more of the discussion, but I think if you had watched the show, this would have been more of a reminder of what it was about, or possibly even redundant. There is no new material contained herein, so I wonder about the original point of releasing this collection.
There were several moments where I laughed aloud, but much less than when watching Bill on television, or reading other comedians' written offerings. Again, these are more conversation starters than essays. I suppose an interesting way to interact with the book would be to start conversations among one's friends and relatives, but that might devolve into an argument more damaging to familial relations than one would desire. At times I found myself musing about Bill's premise and trying to decide whether I agreed with him, which may have been his intention. I was entertained by the book and did find it humorous, so I suppose it achieved it's aim, at least with me. If you are a fan of Bill Maher or political humor, I would imagine you'd enjoy it too.
July 30, 2018
Quick little bite-sized essays and quotes from his old show 'Politically Incorrect' that are meant to make you chuckle as well as think. Some of his notions are more serious than others, and some are downright foolish. But even those ones make you think. Bill Maher definitely comes off as a cocky man, but he's funny and (usually) insightful, even if he's best taken with a grain of salt. And interestingly, he's not always the hardcore liberal he's made out to be. Occasionally he's so far right he'd make a Republican blush.
September 17, 2020
What do you do with the old monologues from your TV show after the show is done? Reprint them as a book and (ka-ching) cash in again with no extra work. These are funny, but not as funny as watching his show and seeing the delivery.
January 19, 2025
I enjoy my BR readers. It was fun to read in the way a time capsule is fun, and not fun in the same way you dig up a Tickle Me Elmo and wonder WTF were we thinking. Still, it was fun, just not as fun as his current stuff is. He has better writers now.
August 11, 2019
As always a lovely way to spend the day becoming politically informed and laughing about it.
January 10, 2025
Witty
December 9, 2025
he's funny.
February 11, 2016
Published in 1996, this book is a 273-page collection of monologues and essays from the first three years of Maher's show "Politically Incorrect." Engaging the audience and round table guests, Maher cleverly tackles key issues and figures of the early to mid-nineties with biting humor and sharp wit.
I'm a big fan of Maher and watch his HBO show "Real Time" weekly. That's a show I get because I'm of an age where I understand the references and the nuanced analysis of the contemporary political climate. However, when this book was published, I was only 8 years old and "Politically Incorrect" had already been on the air for three years. Needless to say, I wasn't aware of the topics covered in this book.
An interesting thing about the book is realizing just how differently people thought in the 1990s. Many of the ideas written in the book are certainly outdated and wouldn't fly now. Those were different times and a lot can happen to change the public consciousness over 20 years.
Reading this book was an interesting look into humor as it relates to issues I wasn't aware of at the time. As a result, not all of the jokes landed with me. Sure, I got the punchlines when the monologues covered topics like the OJ Simpson trial, David Koresh, and Bill Clinton's infidelity. However, many names and events were mentioned that were absolutely below my radar and were probably only meaningful for 15 minutes back in 1994 (i.e. Chuck Jones and his relationship with a shoe?). While the book was funny, my inability to grasp some jokes and commentary affected the experience. It's not the book's fault. I should've known better and had myself be born earlier.
I'm a big fan of Maher and watch his HBO show "Real Time" weekly. That's a show I get because I'm of an age where I understand the references and the nuanced analysis of the contemporary political climate. However, when this book was published, I was only 8 years old and "Politically Incorrect" had already been on the air for three years. Needless to say, I wasn't aware of the topics covered in this book.
An interesting thing about the book is realizing just how differently people thought in the 1990s. Many of the ideas written in the book are certainly outdated and wouldn't fly now. Those were different times and a lot can happen to change the public consciousness over 20 years.
Reading this book was an interesting look into humor as it relates to issues I wasn't aware of at the time. As a result, not all of the jokes landed with me. Sure, I got the punchlines when the monologues covered topics like the OJ Simpson trial, David Koresh, and Bill Clinton's infidelity. However, many names and events were mentioned that were absolutely below my radar and were probably only meaningful for 15 minutes back in 1994 (i.e. Chuck Jones and his relationship with a shoe?). While the book was funny, my inability to grasp some jokes and commentary affected the experience. It's not the book's fault. I should've known better and had myself be born earlier.
November 22, 2011
This is basically a collection of Maher's monologues and some guest quotes from his show Politically Incorrect. On the one hand, much of the material has not aged well; it covers mostly the decade of the 1990s, so the references are pretty much of the time. On the other hand, a few pieces do remain timeless, and in one or two cases, even relevant to the situations we see in society today. I did not rate this higher because the quality of the pieces is fairly inconsistent. Some are good; a few are brilliant; a lot are just so-so. However, if you want to take a trip down memory lane to see the pop culture of the 90s, Maher does provide a good picture of it. So, an ok book. Personally, I've liked his later book a bit better. Maher fans may want to read it if they feel a need for completion.
February 24, 2011
I'm not a die hard Bill Maher fan. I agree with a great deal of what he says, but he also says things that cause me to roll my eyes and flip the page. This makes him BFF Material, in my opinion. This is what I like to deal with, someone with at least a couple of opinions that work for me, and disagreements laid out in clear yet hilarious terms.
What's really sad about this book is, all of the episodes referenced were from pre 1994. It's almost 20 years later, and people are still having the same arguments. Immigration, health care, Red vs Blue.
It's disheartening, is what it is.
Great book, though. Fun and easy read.
What's really sad about this book is, all of the episodes referenced were from pre 1994. It's almost 20 years later, and people are still having the same arguments. Immigration, health care, Red vs Blue.
It's disheartening, is what it is.
Great book, though. Fun and easy read.
July 21, 2022
"July 20, 2022 –
100.0% "Aren't books suppossed to make you learn something or at least chill about it!?
Its total B.s... the whole book from something which I was finding fun for read it became crappy material."
July 20, 2022 – page 83
30.4%
July 7, 2022 – page 80
29.3%
April 23, 2022 – page 64
23.44%
March 22, 2022 – page 51
18.68%
March 2, 2022 – page 48
17.58%
February 16, 2022 – page 28
10.26%
February 4, 2022 – page 21
7.69%
February 1, 2022 – page 9
3.3%
February 1, 2022 – page 0
0.0% "Genius!"
February 1, 2022 – Shelved
February 1, 2022 – Started Reading"
100.0% "Aren't books suppossed to make you learn something or at least chill about it!?
Its total B.s... the whole book from something which I was finding fun for read it became crappy material."
July 20, 2022 – page 83
30.4%
July 7, 2022 – page 80
29.3%
April 23, 2022 – page 64
23.44%
March 22, 2022 – page 51
18.68%
March 2, 2022 – page 48
17.58%
February 16, 2022 – page 28
10.26%
February 4, 2022 – page 21
7.69%
February 1, 2022 – page 9
3.3%
February 1, 2022 – page 0
0.0% "Genius!"
February 1, 2022 – Shelved
February 1, 2022 – Started Reading"
March 16, 2010
The political satirist/comedian offers his views on the state of the United States during the Bush-Clinton 90s. It's his opinion and he's entitled to it whether you agree with him or not. Bill came across as a bit more conservative than you would think. A lot of his opinions do have a common sense element.
August 9, 2011
great, snappy collection of short monologues from Bill's original show. Still love the defense of Bill Clinton as our tribal chieftain with the biggest spear, coming out years before Monica. Maher will prove himself to be an important voice for our era, agree or disagree with his conclusions
January 15, 2008
Great political satire
October 9, 2008
I saw this in a used bookstore yesterday and realized I had read it long ago.
July 4, 2009
From the Politically Incorrect series. So happy HBO brought him back on tv.
August 10, 2011
Good synopsis of the early days of this show. Many of Maher's monologues are just as relevant today, even though 15+ years old. A pop culture and society prophet? Maybe so.
October 8, 2011
I like reading slightly old political humor. It's interesting to compare it to how people see things through the lens of a decade or so. And it had its laughs.
January 26, 2012
I enjoyed reading it. I like his sense of humor and always have. Some issues were dated but some still ring true.
January 20, 2008
Probably a lot of points being made that are moot now, but it was a fun read at the time.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews