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How to Be Right
- ...in a world gone wrong
- Narrated by: James O'Brien
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
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How to Be Right
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Summary
Random House presents the audiobook edition of How to Be Right, written and read by James O'Brien.
Forget agreeing to disagree – it’s time to learn How To Be Right.
Every day, James O’Brien listens to people blaming benefits scroungers, the EU, Muslims, feminists and immigrants. But what makes James’s daily LBC show such essential listening – and has made James a standout social media star – is the careful way he punctures their assumptions and dismantles their arguments live on air, every single morning.
In How To Be Right, James provides a hilarious and invigorating guide to talking to people with faulty opinions. With chapters on every lightning-rod issue, James shows how people have been fooled into thinking the way they do, and in each case outlines the key questions to ask to reveal fallacies, inconsistencies and double standards.
If you ever get cornered by ardent Brexiteers, Daily Mail disciples or little England patriots, this book is your conversation survival guide.
‘I have had a ringside seat as a significant swathe of the British population was persuaded that their failures were the fault of foreigners, that unisex lavatories threatened their peace of mind and that ‘all Muslims’ must somehow apologise for terror attacks by extremists. I have tried to dissuade them and sometimes succeeded.... The challenge is to distinguish sharply between the people who told lies and the people whose only offence was to believe them.’ (James O’Brien)
Critic reviews
"O’Brien is an exceptional broadcaster with a peerless ability to calmly point out the absurdity of certain viewpoints, a quality which similarly runs through this book ... provides a much-needed examination of the blustering rhetoric of politicians and media pundits, and brings a sliver of comfort to readers that they are not alone in their despair." (The Guardian)
"Almost indecently enjoyable." (Robert Webb)
"I know few broadcasters as consistently, forensically, brilliant as James O’ Brien. Here, he shows us -- with empathy, edge and exquisite comedy -- how it happens." (Emily Maitlis)
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What listeners say about How to Be Right
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A. Fox
- 02-11-18
I had high expectations & they were surpassed.
I’m a grumpy man who will agree 90% with James but like to concentrate on the 10% we may differ. I found myself slightly annoyed that after this book it’s up to 99%. I save the 1% so I don’t look like a fanboy.
Really well read & meticulously thought out.
He was kind & tried to be understanding to people he didn’t necessarily agree with.
Makes sense of much we feel ourselves but are to frustrated to articulate.
Oh I’ve found a complaint. Too short. Needs a second in the series.
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43 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Jolyon
- 30-12-18
subscript [and persuade nobody]
You will find browbeating of the inarticulate, straw man arguments to confirm Obrien's view, actors performing selected out-takes from his radio show's phone-in contributors, so as to invite ridicule. You will not find an honest effort to get to the source of different opinions.An intellectually lazy book that contributes nothing to the 'gone wrong world'.
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42 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- cecilia88
- 02-06-19
How to exploit less intelligent to appear smart?
This book is about how to argue with people who are less intellectually able than you by ridiculing them and making fun of them. Most will like it as it makes them feel better about themselves. It about winning the argument rather than exploring the issues at hand. The author uses cheap examples to appear smart and witty and fails to actually get to the bottom of any issue discussed. This book in itself is actually an example of the world gone wrong.
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30 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gino
- 12-06-19
I only purchased this because of the 1Star reviews
I would not have normally purchased this but I was inspired to do so by all the negative reviews from people who’ve clearly never read it.
I thought it could have dived deeper but, nevertheless, It should be core text for aspiring journalists.
Moral leadership is an essential characteristic, but far too limited, in those with power and influence. This book will help empower those driven by positive vocation and make the weaker squirm and it will hopefully challenge their complicity in wherever the divisions in our society lead us.
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29 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- muchcacho
- 01-05-19
Hypocritical
This book makes some interesting points near the start, but about halfway through from the feminism chapter onwards the wheels start to fall off and the author seems to no longer be able to keep a lid on his biases and any pretence of "unveiling the facts by asking deeper questions" disappears as he refuses to ask any questions of the dubious double standards particularly of feminism.
The later section on the housing market is decent, but the last chapter about Trump (and I'm no supporter of Trump) is just an exercise in hypocrisy. He berates one caller saying "you can't answer a question with another question" only to do exactly that to the next caller. Then snidely comments that "those who can't play the ball play the man", yet can't complete any entire sentence when it concerns anyone connected with Trump without throwing in playground insults.
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25 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Raz
- 01-11-18
The second most important book I read this year
Made me realise that democracy without education is never going to work.
The future belongs to hate preachers. James is not one of them. He is just exposing some victims of hate propaganda to whom the future looks brown.
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Tony Martin
- 25-07-19
How to be right in an echo chamber.
The book is just like his radio show, James Vs Controlled Opposition and twisting what people say.
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21 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Callum higgins
- 04-12-18
Worst book I’ve read this year
It’s basically just transcripts from his call in show in which he inevitably shoots down people’s uneducated opinions. Very repetitive, offers very little in the way of insight.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Max Barsby
- 17-11-18
Disappointed, to say the least
I listen to James O’Brien daily on LBC and have seen him numerous times in person, this book hoped to be the literary highlight of the year for me. I found this book to be a complete regurgitation of discussions with callers and hope it would pull from his thoughts opposed to a re-enactment of his calls on LBC, very disappointed.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kaggy
- 15-11-18
Smart, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining
I first came across James O’Brien when he presented Newsnight and after seeing his blistering and frequently hilarious interviews with the ‘great and good’ I quickly became a fan. I was therefore disappointed when he departed to pursue his career on LBC but was quickly consoled after listening to his shows. I agree he can be abrasive and some of his takedowns can sound cruel but this book gives an excellent explanation as to why he reacts so strongly to people who base their views on conjecture rather than objective facts.
This audiobook reproduces some of his most startling conversations and although they are acted, much of the passion of the original discussions is well reproduced. James has famously strong views on Brexit and this is something he is currently admired and reviled for. He does however demonstrate a willingness to consider the views of others and has the humility to say he simply doesn’t know the answer on occasion.
This is a fascinating insight into the mind of a man who wants to be right not to satisfy his ego, but because it is the right thing to be. I hope he gets the opportunity to present on television again but in the meantime this book does a great job of filling the gap.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 28-11-18
essential reading in these scary times.
fantastic, important amd relevant book in the current climate of disinformation and the rise of the far right.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephen
- 12-11-18
Not long enough
Such a great book! My only issue was that it could have been much longer. I wish it were a 15-hour tome, as I could literally listen to the profound logic emanating from Mr O’Brien all day.
I found myself feeling a little more hopeful at the end that others are also abhorred at the anti-enlightenment direction some countries are heading in. This shared perspective allows me to at least wish that those on the right side of history will push back and carry humanity back on to the progressive path.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Graham Hunt
- 07-11-18
Wonderful and scary
A deep analysis of what drives the narratives in the heads of so many people and how they are manipulated and taught not to think. Unfortunately those who don’t think won’t listen to it or read it because in their own minds they are already “right”
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- PhryneC
- 01-11-18
A real treat
James perfectly articulates my own feelings and thoughts in this audiobook. I am always so glad to hear that James has certainty where I have certainty, and ambivalence where I have ambivalence. This book is a real treat - all James - no ads, no traffic reports or PM questions just pure James. Can't wait for its sequel.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Vedran Ramljak
- 09-12-19
Intellectually dishonest
I was unpleasantly surprised to find that James was being extremely intellectually dishonest in this book. I’m very disappointed, I held him in high regard and I expected more of him.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 23-09-19
An Articulated Triumph
O’Brien masterfully distracts the western 21st century malaise topic by topic while never losing sight of the overall picture. He has an ability to articulate the seemingly most intractable debates in clear and illuminating ways; of particular note was chapter 7 where he deftly casts the veil off structural inequalities by analysing the inextricably interconnected granular incentives at play in individuals lives. The result is both terrifying and instructive, perhaps not surprising given the realties of our society.
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