Al Franken, Giant of the Senate

Overall a wonderful and entertaining read, especially if you share Mr. Franken's political views. Having read the book after Mr. Franken's resignation from the U.S. Senate, there is definitely a bittersweet, melancholy mood infusing his words. It is clear that he truly enjoyed serving as a senator representing the people of Minnesota, and he took his responsibility seriously and passionately. After years as an comedy writer, entertainer, and political pundit, he at last found a higher calling, one that motivated him to reinvent himself and provided him great job satisfaction. As a U.S. Senator, he learned to be more serious and respectful in order to avoid being cast as the clown of the Senate. Despite his desire to make flippant remarks (as his previous self), he discovered the concept of "dehumorization" which is mentioned throughout the book. His political observations are razor sharp and laugh-out-loud hilarious as in his previous books as a political pundit, but this time with more credibility as he was writing as a full-fledged U.S. senator. He sheds interesting light on the inner workings of the U.S. Senate, as well as the day to day grind he went through. His observations of his fellow senators are enlightening. His stories about Ted Cruz are particularly funny. But rather than just blasting the Republicans as he did in previous books, he also illustrates the importance of working across the aisle with fellow senators. I particularly enjoyed reading which senators he liked working with, and which ones he would rather avoid at all costs. The descriptions and anecdotes he shares are not to be found in most newspapers or magazines. It is bittersweet that he had to resign from the job that has given him the greatest satisfaction of his life. But his words, often funny, and always insightful, make "Giant of the Senate" a worthwhile read for progressives.

Al Franken rose to prominence as a funny man, experiencing success as both a comedy writer and a comedian. But Franken also has other passions. Unlike many in show business, he is still happily married his first wife, Franni, a union that has lasted more than forty years and produced two fine children and several grandchildren. He is also an idealist who has an uncommon interest in the survival and well-being of the little people of the world, those who are enjoined in the daily struggle of just getting by. His concerns for the welfare of the common man are what led him away from comedy and into the realm of public service. Franken, the junior United States Senator from Minnesota, is the author of six previous books, all with a liberal political bent, and a couple of which launch verbal harpoons at Republican gasbags like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly. He is now out with book number seven, a modest tome entitled: "Al Franken: Giant of the Senate." The new book is an autobiography that is mainly comprised of sketches of the author's life from his childhood in Minnesota, through his evolution as a comedian - with particular emphasis on the fifteen years in which he wrote for and was featured on Saturday Night Live, to his entry into the political orbit of Minnesota's revered Senator Paul Wellstone, and finally to his own life in politics. Quite a bit of the book is focused on Franken's experiences in learning to be an effective senator and his constant struggle to work within the arcane senate system while always staying focused on the needs of his constituents back home in Minnesota. In many ways this book is a primer on both how to be an effective senator as well as a functioning human being. It should be read and pondered by anyone who is considering running for office. The author goes into much detail about the importance of being prepared for the job, citing the extensive reading that he has to do in order to be ready for committee hearings on a wide range of issues - and his sheer delight when his thorough preparations enable him expose fallacies being presented as facts. Franken also hits, time and again, on the importance of playing well with others. Not every sitting United Stats Senator is someone that we might want as a next door neighbor - just ask the guy who lives next door to Rand Paul - but if a senator is going to be able to advocate successfully for the folks back home, he will eventually need the support of most of his colleagues, even the odious ones. The one exception to Senator Franken's tireless efforts to find something to like about each of his colleagues is Ted Cruz. His disdain for Cruz is noted on the book's jacket and has been repeated on talk shows and almost every published review of the book. The junior senator from Minnesota famously said about the junior senator from Texas: "Here's the thing you have to understand about Ted Cruz. I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz." One has to wonder how America's most humorous senator would characterize Senator Roy Moore! But Roy Moore or not, and Donald Trump or not, Al Franken still views the world in positive terms and beats the drum for hope and change. Yesterday Senator Franken posted the following "alert" on Twitter. His importance as a voice for a caring and concerned America is reflected in the fact that it has been retweeted nearly 60,000 times in less than a day: "RED ALERT: Senate GOP just added provision to their tax plan that would gut ACA & kick 13M ppl off insurance. Yes, it's same tax plan that would add $1 trillion+ to deficit while giving majority of benefits to corporations & the rich. We need you to make your voices heard again." We are being called to action by someone who truly cares. "Al Franken: Giant of the Senate" is inspiring - and so is the man who wrote it! He is the example that everyone who enters public service should strive to emulate.

I was first enamoured of Al Franken when, years ago, he drew a map of the United States free-hand(!), state-by-state, on Saturday Night Live. That was pretty neat, I thought, and, ever since then, I have been a big fan. I have read two of his previous books, Rush Limbaugh, etc. and Lies: And the Lying, etc.; they were great books, full of humor, sound reasoning and intelligence. This book, as well, is a wonderful read -- a bit too long, hence the four, not five, stars; but, it is a book that should be read by every American voter before November, 2018, and certainly by November, 2020 (most of it, anyway). Despite the slight trace of senatorial bloviation, there is much insight here and much humor. Most of all, the book is a refreshingly open look at the Senate and American politics overall; I enjoyed almost every page, from early days in St. Louis Park, through the brief treatment of Saturday Night Live, and onto the Senate, including Franken's bizarre election experience of 2008. I think in this book, Franken lays the foundation for the argument that a Franken run for the White House in 2020 is not such a crazy idea after all. Al Franken has the stuff of a great candidate: he's smart, he has a sense of self-deprecatory humor, he represents the real traditions of the Democratic Party and not the obnoxious entitled attitudes of the party elite (let's get Pelosi out of there once and for all, please!), he is not afraid to stand up for truth when he is confronted with lies, but he does not regard all who oppose him philosophically as monsters. In short, in my opinion, he has the making of a great statesman, Porn-o-rama, or no Porn-o-rama!! Here's a candidate who will baffle not only his Republican opponents; I think he will confound the Russians as well: both have well-established difficulties with irony of any kind.

Senator Franken has written an engaging, informative, and sometimes funny book. Hmm — seems odd referring to him as a senator when I remember his comedy work as a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live (SNL). Franken’s family moved from New York to St. Louis Park, Minnesota when he was only four years old. He left home in his youth to attend Harvard where he received his BA degree. St. Louis Park is also home to New York Times columnist Tom Friedman who is three years younger than Franken. Wonder if they know each other? He devotes about the first forty pages to his stint on SNL and shows quite clearly how much work is involved in putting together a weekly comedy show. I’d say it prepared him well for more hard work as a senator. He ran for office in 2008 against incumbent Norm Coleman but the results were so close that he wouldn’t be seated in the senate for months later. The recount final tally was 321 more votes for Franken out of some 2.9 million cast. Once seated as a full fledged senator, Franken discovered the hard way that he needed to “dial back” his razor edge sense of humor. In one session when he was actually presiding over the senate, he did an “eye roll” at something GOP leader Mitch McConnell said. After the session was over, Franken got a warning from Mitch about observing professional courtesy in that august government body. Frankel later sent Mitch a gracious apology note. Franken pays homage to the members of his staff who keep watch over his comedic and other potentially hazardous pronouncements. While they privately enjoy his humor, they admonish him to “keep it in the car.” He did take one opportunity to ignore this advice during a tense and argumentative senate session. His joke was successful and helped break up the bitter wrangling. Franken saves his sharpest criticism for one of the final chapters called Lies and the Lying Liar Who Got Himself Elected President. He laments that we seem to have entered an era where getting caught lying openly and shamelessly has lost all power to damage a politician. The “Trump Effect,” as he calls it, causes Trump supporters to approve the fact that he lies constantly, including to them. It’s an excellent book, one that Democrats would enjoy but Republicans won’t read because they’d run the risk of learning a thing or two.

I was a fan of Al Franken before I ever picked up this book. I read three of his previous books and I knew that he was both an entertaining and thoughtful writer. I am not really a fan of books written by politicians who are currently serving and are likely to seek re-election. For the most type these books don't provide much depth into why a politician believes what they preach and tend to tread carefully over challenging issues. For this reason, I really didn't have much of an interest in reading this book. I am a big fan of Howard Stern and one day Howard mentioned the book and how much he had enjoyed it. While I don't frequently follow Howard's recommendations, I do pay credence to his opinion and I was familiar with Sen. Franken's writing style, so I ordered it. For anyone who leans to the liberal side of the spectrum, this is a fantastic read. Sen. Franken did something that Hillary Clinton was never able to do during her campaign -- he was able to explain not only what he believes, but why he believes it. Sen. Franken made a compelling case about his wife's family and why he is a Democrat. When his wife was very young her father, a decorated WW II veteran, was killed in an automobile accident, leaving her mother a widow with five young children to raise. Each of those five children went on to graduate from college and to lead productive lives. As Sen. Franken points out, if it weren't for the federal government none of this would have been possible. He makes a compelling case for why liberals believe the way that they do. Not only does he manage that, he also does it with his characteristic humor and wit. This book is highly recommended.

These are dark days in the United States: a man unfit to hold any public office sits in the White House, the majority party in Congress is unwilling to rein him in and unable to govern itself, the courts seem stymied, and the population is bewildered and disgusted by it all. Fortunately, even in Washington DC there are voices of reason. One of the clearest of them is that of the junior senator from Minnesota, Al Franken. In this extremely humorous and perceptive memoir Senator Franken reminds Americans that we are better than this. Franken's path to political office was not a usual one. He was born in a family that was lower middle class at best, discovered his comedic talents in grade school, and honed them to perfection on Saturday Night Live. Along the way he also honed to perfection his inherited social consciousness and a strong desire to make the world a better place. For him, beginning in the 1990s and continuing through the next decades, that meant taking on the right wing juggernaut of lies and distortions that has perverted American politics. He wrote a series of very funny, highly perceptive books skewering the Far Right's heroes, then decided to run for political office himself. He took on and defeated an incumbent Republican Senator in what turned out to be the closest race in the 2008 Election, and has since been one of Congress' strongest voices for reason and common sense, with a welcome leavening of hilarity. Franken illuminates the mysterious inner workings of power in the United States Senate. He tells plenty of amusing tales about people who are seen by most of us as dour and glowering but who also (according to Franken) have their funny sides. He likes most of his fellow Senators, regardless of their party, and makes it clear when he doesn't like one (to no one's surprise, it's Ted Cruz). He also makes his opinion of the Trump Administration and its assorted flunkies known to all. I doubt he will be invited to any White House occasions in the near future, nor do I doubt that he would turn any such invitations down. The final chapters of Franken's memoir strike a hopeful note, relating stories of some of the bright and promising people he's met in Washington and back home in Minnesota. He ends with some good advice for us all: to remain engaged with and connected to our Washington representatives. I've already taken that advice: the lackluster figures who misrepresent me in Congress hear from me on a weekly basis about their various incompetences and other failures. Senator Franken is a bright spot in the Washington darkness, and we can all hope that his light will continue to shine brightly.

With a sharp wit and a refreshing honesty, Al Franken reflects on his journey from comedian/writer to United States Senator. In the telling of his story, he also pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of our government. While his satire made me smile and occasionally laugh out loud, reading about our dysfunctional government was sad. In the current political climate we all (or most of us) realize our government does not function as well as it could, one might say it is a disaster. The gap between Democrats and Republicans seems too large to bridge. But, Franken does offer a ray of hope. He purports that 64% of the things that have to be decided, both parties actually agree on. So if politicians focus on those, things can get better. I am not so sure I agree, but Franken is on the inside and I am not. Franken does an excellent job of explaining the Republicans’ unwillingness to work with Obama when he was in office. He also has insight into why Republicans are so against climate change, whether they believe it or not. Hint: Koch brothers. He also has no qualms about dissing Ted Cruz or Trump. This is a book that needs to be read more than once, marked up, and used to remind all of us that there is hope, as long as more politicians are willing to be as open as Al Franken. This one gets five stars. Regardless of your politics, read it.

I bought this book before Al was forced to resign from the Senate. He apologized for a poor decision and what was meant to be funny, but in fact disrespectful, movement caught on camera. I am glad I did buy and read it. Al does give us a bit of his personal life and journey; however what I found more riveting was learning close up and personal how things really work on Capital Hill. Specifically, he gives great incite into some of the most pressing issues: Affordable Care Act No Child Left Behind. The stimulus package Mitch's obstruction strategy How to get legislation passed or not Climate change deniers, the Koch Brothers and Fossil fuel money Net neutrality Al understands our psychological dispair: "The fact is that he is the president, and Republicans control Congress, and that means we’re going to lose a lot of fights in the years ahead. Plus, we’re going to have to watch Donald Trump be the president. Day after day after day. Insulting speeches. Insane tweets. Policies that are both insulting and insane. This is going to suck for a while." And he gives hope, encouragement, with tinge of optimism. " And now we have to do it again. This comeback starts with standing up for our values and making it clear that no president has a mandate to spread bigotry or roll back the clock on progress (especially not one who lost the popular vote by three million). It continues through next year, when we have a chance to punish Republicans for enabling this disaster and take back governorships and state legislatures all across the country. That’s how we can put a stop to the voter suppression that made such an impact in 2016 and redraw congressional district boundaries more fairly after the 2020 census."

A must read for anyone who still has faith that the world can be a better place with Al Franken playing a giant part in that. Pleae come for dinner next time you are in Australlia Al!

Amusing, informative, great reading. RUN FOR PRESIDENT! Recommend without reservation and with great enthusiasm. Most excellent in all ways. Hallelujah!

This is a great book, not often is there a chance to laugh out loud in a non-fiction book about politics. I love his cynical humorous style and his amazing insight into American politics. Hadn't paid a lot of attention to politics at all until the advent of Donald Trump, am not even American, so it was a real eye-opener to me about getting elected to the Senate. How difficult it must have been for Mr. Franken to curb his ever present humour when in session, what it's alright to say, what to avoid. To have spent many years of his life in writing for comedy and then finding himself in a situation where a lot of it was real life comedy except it was important to remember you are representing your supporters and dealing with real problems. I certainly recommend this book, it's interesting, entertaining and informative.

This is a very honest and informative look at how our government operates and why electing people who are "anti-establishment" generally backfires. The problem is not that there are differences of opinion; the problem is when our representatives refuse to talk, negotiate, work together to achieve things that may not be perfect, but are ultimately of benefit for our country. Al Franken is a serious politician and a great Senator as well as being a very funny and hugely insightful person! This book is not a partisan polemic (as some of his others can rather be, much as I love them). It is a really great look at how to make government work. We need many more people like him in our Congress. Great book, great person!

Good book for a disturbing time in American history but the disturbing is sure to pass....right? Looking forward to 5he next book, suggested title “Liars and the lies they tell from behind bars”