Downsize This could have become out of date very quickly had everything Moore suggested been implemented. Moore gives a lot of information and makes some humorous suggestions. The book seemed to go on and on without really saying anything new. Maybe this is why by the end of it he did away from corporate America theme and starts talking about the O.J. trial. Isn’t this just what the media did, ignore the major issues of the day for the sensational one. Michael Moore isn’t the funniest commentator, but he does discuss something very important. For this reason alone, Downsize This is worth reading. ( )

Unashamedly anti-rightwing, this is an eye-opening account of what is going on in the US and Michael Moore's proposals for fixing things.

bought for 2quid

I know, I know, it's Michael Moore. I've seen his movies, I knew going into it that I wasn't exactly going to be reading a praising commentary on the Republican party. I didn't mind this book. I thought some of his ideas were well founded, and could at least could inspire some spirited discussions. I guess the issue I take with this book is that he makes his point, then spends the next 3-4 pages beating you over the head with it. OK, Michael, we get it! I suppose he wouldn't have had a 336 page book if he did that though, it would only be 20-30 pages long....more a pamphlet, then a book.

I purchased this book at an author reading when it first came out, and I went to a private reception for a scant few before the reading. Mr. Moore spoke for a while to a small group of us and encouraged us to be politically active and to try to keep independent journalism alive and make our voices heard. He was very down to earth and approachable.

I subsequently read the book and enjoyed it a great deal. I felt that there were some really good ideas and concepts that made sense and could really permeate our society of implemented properly and really marketed. At the time I was an editorial columnist for the student newspaper at the University of Washington. I e-mailed Mr. Moore and told him that I wanted to interview him for an article and he liked the idea, so he sent me his office number. I called, and he answered, but was busy at the time. He asked me to call back and schedule an appointment with his secretary.

I booked an appointment with his secretary. The way it worked was like getting cable installed. I don't call him, he calls me, within a 3 hour window. He never called. I finally called his office, and they told me that he wasn't in the office at all that day. I rebooked an appointment, and I received a subsequent e-mail of apology from him.

The new appointment came around, and he still didn't call. I sent him an e-mail to ask what happened, and he responded a week or so later with an apology. I replied that perhaps it would be easier if I wrote him a set of questions. He never responded. I sent him another e-mail, and did not hear back. I then wrote him a somewhat nasty e-mail about the fact that he was trying to encourage what I was doing, but then was unwilling to meet me half way. The e-mail had the subject line, "Michael and Me."

I don't think that he appreciated it, because I never heard from him again.

It made me like this book less. But that is personal. I agree with a lot of what he says, especially the chapter on why General Motors cannot sell crack cocaine, but then it seems that this was the book that turned him from idealist to media whore.