Books and Writers

For starters today I'm going to do another book review. I don't know for sure if I'll make this a regular part of this blog or not, but I do tend to read a lot of books, and so, there is every possibility that I might do so.

Last week I read Bill O'Reilly's book, "Culture Warrior." I found this to be a very interesting book. Well researched, and well written. It was also very informative, and over all a good read. It actually dealt with some of the same issues as "The Marketing of Evil," but from a differant angle, and it dealt with some differant things as well. I'm not comparing the two books, if I did I'd have to say that "The Marketing of Evil" was the better book, but that's not my point here.

I enjoyed "Culture Warrior" and do think that it was worth my time in reading it. That is not to say that I was in complete agreement with everything that O'Reilly put forth in the book. There are a couple of things that I do think that he was wrong about, but the book still made me stop and think about those things, and I really like that. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it more in the future, I like it when people repsectfully disagree with me, and then present the reasons why they disagree with what I've said (just as Gary did on my last post) which opens a dialouge, and that is where progress is made. By people being "forced" to think things over. By the same token, I like that O'Reilly said some things that I'm not on board with, because it really made me stop and think about those issues, even though, obviously, I can't go and talk to him about it. But that's ok.

One thing that is differant from my last book review is that I'm not going to recommend that people read this book. Please don't take that the wrong way, I'm not saying that you shouldn't read this book. If you had it on your reading list already, go ahead and read it, or if you were thinking of reading it already, then by all means, don't let me stop you, it's not in any way a bad book. But I don't want to point people toward it that weren't already thinking of reading it. The reason for this is simple. First and foremost, it is written from a secular worldview, and the times that he does talk about religion are some of the things that I can't agree with. The other reason is that I don't find this book to be of Critical importance the way I do with "The Marketing of Evil," so if you are only going to read one or the other, then please, make it "The Marketing of Evil."

If you do read "Culture Warrior," just remember to keep thinking for yourself, and don't just believe everything to be as it is written in the book, just because it is written in this book. You've got to think for yourself. Besides, who needs O'Reilly to give them political annalysis when you can get it from me?

Just kidding!

Anyway, the second thing that I want to discuss today is the fact that the writers strike is finally over. I don't know the details of the deal that was made, but it is very good for the TV industry that the writers are back to work. I guess the question now will be, what shows will survive, and how many veiweres did some of the big shows lose out of this whole deal?

I know that I for one haven't missed very many shows while they have been off the air (or in re-runs, which is pretty much the same thing). I also think that it has been a really good time for channels like "The History Channel" and "The Discovery Channel" among others, and I wonder how many viewers that have gotten hooked on shows on those networks will stick with them rather than going back to the main networks. I'm sure it will be some.

I hope that the writers got a good deal out of this, since, in my opinion, the industry wouldn't be making any money without the writters.

On a side note, I would like to see the TV executives stop being so demanding of new shows. All too often these days if a show doesn't get stellar ratings right off the bat, they are cancelled. It wasn't always this way. I'm sure that a great many shows that have come to be fan favorites over the years never would have survived their first season if they were introduced today. Sometimes it just takes a show some time to find it's audience, so they need to give them a chance.