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Loading... UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believeby Richard Belzer
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  CKmtl | Apr 8, 2009 |  Possibly one of the funniest books I have ever read. If you happen to be a fan of his character, John Munch on Law and Order: SVU please give this book a read. (  ) offthepage | Aug 12, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0345429184, Paperback)Best known as Detective John Munch on the hit TV series Homicide, Richard Belzer is also an accomplished standup comedian with a knack for political commentary in the tradition of Mort Sahl and Dick Gregory. In UFOs, JFK, and Elvis, he applies his analytic powers to two of the most controversial topics of the late 20th century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the alleged U.S. government cover-up of the existence of alien life. (The reference in the title is the book's only substantial Elvis sighting.)Belzer sensibly avoids pretending to have the answers, opting instead to focus on the questions themselves. Why does the Zapruder film fail to synchronize with other footage of the Kennedy shooting? What's the real background on Lee Harvey Oswald--and who really posed for that famous backyard photo? Did NASA regularly suppress UFO sightings by Apollo and Gemini astronauts? And how about that giant face on the surface of Mars? While Belzer's sarcastic, antiauthoritarian tone may not convince you that aliens walk among us, it's rather difficult by book's end to fully dismiss his belief that "history is just a collection of accepted lies" told to keep the masses in line. --Ron Hogan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:39:46 -0500) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
As an academic book, it has major failings. You have to take Belzer's word, or the word of several references of unknown credibility, on a lot of things.
The humour aspect saves it somewhat, as long as you like Belzer's snark. Being familiar with his stand-up definitely helps, as you'd have a better idea of his tone during his rants.
Also, lest the title lead you astray, there is nothing about Elvis. (