The Anti-Chomsky Reader
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The Anti-Chomsky Reader
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Narrated by:
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Kirk Jordan
Noam Chomsky’s defense of Pol Pot and the genocidal Khymer Rouge, as well as his bizarre associations with Holocaust revisionists, may surprise those who think they know what he believes. Other Chomsky views, such as his claim that the United States has taken the place of Nazi Germany on the world stage, will be more familiar. With Chomskyism growing here and abroad, Collier writes, “It is clearly time for a reckoning.”
The essays in this book provide a response to the millions of words Noam Chomsky has written in the past forty years. Examining Chomsky’s controversial ideas about various foreign and domestic issues and even the legitimacy of the linguistics theories on which his reputation rests, The Anti-Chomsky Reader explores the dark corners of what the New Yorker recently called “one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century.”
©2004 Peter Collier and David Horowitz (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Critic reviews
“After reading this book, no one will be able to rely on anything Chomsky says without independently check every claim.”
(Alan M. Dershowitz, New York Times bestselling author)“To read this fine book is to receive an unsparing view of what lies behind the Chomsky curtain.”
(National Review)“Collier, Horowitz, and their six other authors have produced a book that has long been needed. It provides a penetrating coverage of the disgraceful career of a disgraceful but very influential man, who has so far avoided a criticism as thoroughgoing as this.”
(New Criterion)“In turning Chomsky’s virtues against him, The Anti-Chomsky Reader offers a challenge to those who fixate on only the crimes in US history. At its best, the volume transcends the pro-Chomsky/anti-Chomsky debate to focus on larger outcomes in a post-9/11 world.”
(Reason.com)So, I wanted to go in with an open mind and consider alternate points of view, since I think that is important.
I wish I hadn't bothered. I lasted 15 minutes before getting totally sick of the emotive drivel and shameful distortions that Collier has turned out. Yes, it is that bad.
Some quick points:
1. He either does not understand Chomsky's arguments or has willingly distorted them since he constantly makes claims about what Chomsky's views are, but they are pretty much unrecognisable from what I had understood from Chomsky's work.
2. The writing is overflowing with emotive descriptions of Chomsky's alleged (in fact, just straw man arguments) views and behaviour. Chomsky is, we hear, "anti-American" (note to Collier: being critical of a country's foreign policy or power structures does not make someone 'anti-that-country'), and a wide range of other snide digs, that play the man rather than addressing the actual issues.
3. There is no attempt at balance. This is just a diatribe made by someone who clearly doesn't like Noam Chomsky and so will stoop to any level to denigrate him. There is clearly no interest in laying out a mature and sensible set of counter-arguments. Instead, it is playground squabbling from the start.
The narration is ok, although there have already been some mispronunciations in the first few minutes.
Conclusion:
This book is like listening to the ranting of a certain kind of person with far-right views, poor education and a very limited world view. That means that:
1. If you are limited in your faculties, and think far-right narratives like Fox are balanced and reasonable, then you might like this book.
2. If you have a brain in your head and understand the Earth isn't flat - then you really should stay clear of this by a country mile.
I am glad Audible has a no-quibble returns policy. This rubbish is not worth paying for.
This book is a joke, but no-one's laughing
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