I think that I heard about this book on either NPR or The Daily Show, but I can’t remember which one it was… I’m leaning towards the latter, though.
To be honest, I didn’t follow politics super closely until about two years ago, but then I kind of became addicted to news, so I didn’t know about Al Franken until then. I wouldn’t have known that we had a former comedian in the United States senate or any of the story that goes with that had I not seen/heard an interview.
Even if you don’t necessarily agree with Franken’s political views, this is an entertaining and interesting book. I listened to the audio book, because lately that seems to be the only way I can consume a book in a timely matter. That was just fine by me though, because I love to listen to audio books that are read by the author. It gives it so much more power, I feel. Learning about how Franken came to the decision to run for the senate, win the seat and all the trails in between was interesting but what I really liked was the parts where he talked about getting used to being in the setting of the senate and the way that senators have to speak (taking credit for things that their staffers do, for example.) Those parts made everything much more comedic, even though it’s certain that Franken was horrified at the reactions that ensued.
Overall, I would recommend the audio book, although I didn’t give the written book a chance. Hearing the stories in the author’s voice makes it all the better.
Books books books books! 