The Assault on Reason

Infobox Book
name = The Assault on Reason
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author = Al Gore
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language = English
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publisher = Penguin Press
release_date = May 22 2007
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pages = 308
isbn = ISBN 1594201226
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"The Assault on Reason" is a 2007 book written by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. In the book, Gore argues that there is a trend in U.S. politics towards ignoring facts and analysis when making policy decisions. He heavily criticizes the Bush administration for its actions in furthering the "assault on reason", and also the Congress, Judiciary, and press for being so complacent in the process. Gore also suggests the average citizen must be proactive in "restoring democracy". He expresses hopes that the medium of the Internet will supersede television and what he argues is its inherent bias, creating a "marketplace of ideas" that has not been present since the replacement of the printed word with mass media.

The book ranked number one on the "New York Times" Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction during the first four weeks of its release, and was on the list top 35 for fifteen weeks. [cite news | first=| last=| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/bestseller/0916besthardnonfiction.html| title= New York Times Bestsellers | work=New York Times|publisher=New York Times| date=|accessdate=2007-09-14] Actor Will Patton narrated the audio version.

Book reviews

The May 21 2007 review in "Publishers Weekly" states:

Michiko Kakutani, in a May 22 2007 review for "The New York Times," wrote:cquote|Part civics lesson, part political jeremiad, part philosophical tract, "The Assault on Reason" reveals an angry, impassioned Al Gore — a far cry from the carefully scripted, earth-tone-wearing Al Gore of the 2000 presidential campaign and the programmed “creature of Washington” described in the reporter Bill Turque’s 2000 biography of him, “Inventing Al Gore.” Much the way that the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” showed a more accessible Al Gore — at ease with himself and passionate about the dangers of global warming — this book shows a fiery, throw-caution-to-the winds Al Gore, who, whether or not he runs for the for the White House again, has decided to lay it all on the line with a blistering assessment of the Bush administration and the state of public discourse in America at this “fateful juncture” in history. ... In “The Assault on Reason” Al Gore excoriates George W. Bush, asserting that the president is “out of touch with reality,” that his administration is so incompetent that it “can’t manage its own way out of a horse show,” that it ignored “clear warnings” about the terrorist threat before 9/11 and that it has made Americans less safe by “stirring up a hornets’ nest in Iraq,” while using “the language and politics of fear” to try to “drive the public agenda without regard to the evidence, the facts or the public interest.”" [cite news | first=Michiko| last=Kakatuni| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/books/22kaku.html?em&ex=1179892800&en=cad164376faf2a24&ei=5070| title= Al Gore Speaks of a Nation in Danger| work=New York Times|publisher=New York Times| date=2007-05-22 |accessdate=2007-06-11]

Joe Conason, in a May 22 2007 review for the "Los Angeles Times," wrote:

Alan Ehrenhalt, in a May 27 2007 review for "The Washington Post," wrote:

David Brooks, in a May 29 2007 column for "New York Times", wrote:

Michael C. Moynihan, in a June 12 2007 review for "Reason Magazine," wrote:

Gideon Haigh, in a June 2008 feature piece for "The Monthly", objurgated the tome's windy subtitle:

Awards

*2007 Quill Awards: History/current events/politics

Notes

External links

* " [http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9781594201226 The Assault on Reason] " - "Powell's Books"
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1594201226/ Covers, Table of Contents, Excerpt (starting from the Chapter One), and Index] - "Amazon.com"
* [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622015,00.html Long book excerpt (before the Chapter One)] - "TIME"
* [http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3198208&page=1 Different long excerpt (starting from the Chapter One)] - "ABC News"
* [http://archcreekblues.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-good-vs-evil-mentality-destroyed.html A short further excerpt]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90190092 Interview and short book excerpt] - "NPR"
* [http://commonsense2.com/2008/02/book-reviews/the-assault-on-reason-a-review-of-al-gores-book/ A Critical Review by Timothy Bossard]