Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth about Bullshit

This book is about the myriad ways the people in power blow smoke up your shorts. Even if you don't agree with her argument she has a spectacular command of the language and therefore is an absolute pleasure to read.

"... it doesn't mean that they're not after you", the saying goes. This seems like an appropriate sentence to go with this book, particularly considering some of the less positive reviews it received. Meaning: yes, Laura Penny might seem brash, offensive, even ideologically biased (who isn't?) - but that doesn't mean that any of her contentions and arguments are false. Quite the opposite. Her book is a refreshing incursion into modern Western societies (with the U.S.A. in the foreground, something which seems to offend some people - though a hegemonic and imperialistic nation should hardly be expected NOT to be the centre of attention and criticism at shaky times). Claiming that most (if not all) of the supposed information delivered to us via the media, politicians/government, big corporations, institutions and bureaucracies, is a distortion of reality - and therefore a blunt attempt to bull***t the public, - Laura Penny proposes to look at what is happening behind the glitzy appearances and fancy speeches. She succeeds to do this with elegance, wit, and a straightforward discourse that clearly contrasts with the bogus messages and ideology she is criticizing. Penny calls our attention to the unbelievable amount of bull***t we are confronted with every day, to the point that reality tends to be obliterated by a sham surface of propaganda slogans. An important distinction is drawn between lying and bull***ting: while the first is a clear falsification, the latter is a "mere" twisting of facts - whereby unimportant bits of information get blown out of proportion and the actual relevant issues are buried under heaps of platitudes or incomprehensible verbosity. However, because this distortion is so ubiquitous these days (in fact, the author convincingly argues that never before have we been so overwhelmed by fibs and hoaxes, hypocrisy and swindles), our reactions range from annoyed incredulity to sheer indifference, but rarely ever is there an outcry of indignation. Which is understandable, since even concern and indignation have been successfully appropriated by groups or institutions with dubious interests, so that many people (particularly the young) end up simply sneering with suspicion at everyone and everything. Penny's book goes on to show how this is connected with socio-economic developments of the past decades. She explores the causal relations between the rise of monopolistic mega-corporations, government policies supporting the interests of those corporations, and the (mostly somewhat negative) effects of this on employment, living conditions, consumption, information and entertainment in North America. In the end, we have here another depiction of the impact of globalized capitalism and neo-liberal politics on everyday life. In the several chapters of her book, Penny looks at the appearances promoted by advertisers, PRs, CEOs, broker dealers and banks, pharmaceutics and health industries, insurance companies, government officials

Sometimes outsiders have a better perspective on our newly emerging redneck-corporate theocracy, than our own homegrown,(not to say over-fed) pundits.A well researched fun read.

The author of this book should be commended for her clear grasp of historical events leading to the current state of affairs in Washington. It's sad that we're supposed to have a government of the people and for the people, but instead we have a government of the lobbyist for the corporation. I found this book highly readable, painfully honest, and depressingly realistic. Unfortunately, the people who have manipulated the affairs of this country to benefit themselves and their companies are not the type of people who will read this book. Instead the will find folks to write scathing reviews reviling it as a piece of anti-American liberal claptrap and then post them to try and influence readers away from this book. This book should be required reading for anyone who doesn't listen to the news, read a paper, or vote. On the other hand, I have no problem with an author using profanity to make a point, but it is taken far to excess in this book. It reminded me of a teenager who had just learned a truly foul word and manages to slip it in at every opportunity to shock & impress their listeners. I couldn't read sections of the book out loud to my husband because my children were in the room.

Titles are deceiving. This book seems to promise a light-hearted spoof of corporate BS. It is indeed hilariously entertaining throughout, yet it is also a seriously scathing eviseration of the "corporate kleptocracy" we all serve. Penny wields her pen with the theatrical beauty and deadly precision of a samurai warrior, a joy, especially for those of us frustrated by the mass amnesia that seems to afflict the empire's citizens. This book is a bright torch against the impending dark age.

Good, crisp writing- witty and acerbic at times, but an interesting read overall. The disparaging comments I read are typical American blathering hyperbole fueled by the "I-hate-anything- that-criticizes-the-United-States-of-Americorporation." Ms. Penny has done an excellent job of describing the systemic infection of greed driven lies that has eaten away the true moral** infrastructure of America. (**I hesitate using this term because it is bandied about so much these days that it has become a political cliche')