Forgive Us Our Spins: Michael Moore and the Future of the Left - Hardcover

by Jesse Larner (Author)

Well written, witty, and wise. Jesse Larner's book goes well beyond its brief: it helps us understand where the left has been going for the last few years, and where it might end up.
--GEORGE MONBIOT, columnist, The Guardian (UK)

""Forgive Us Our Spins is a very smart and well-researched book about the ever-controversial Michael Moore. Larner does a great job at showing why Moore's political and cultural adventures often do more damage than good. And Larner is a man of the left who doesn't make excuses for the right. A concern for decency and the quality of public discussion in this country shine through in this book--a healthy antidote to not just Michael Moore but also the intellectual clowns of the right, like Ann Coulter and Michael Savage. Let's hope Larner's voice is heard by many.""
--KEVIN MATTSON, professor, Ohio University, and author of Upton Sinclair and the Other American Century

As the 2004 presidential election approached, Michael Moore repeatedly expressed confidence that his film Fahrenheit 9/11 would have a powerful impact on the outcome of that bitter contest. The talking cogs in the right-wing media machine were happy to agree with him. They foresaw that Moore and his flawed, shallow, and factually sloppy film would be major factors in motivating and energizing their base.

Left, right, or in between, everyone has an opinion about Michael Moore. His books reside on bestseller lists, his films are unfailingly controversial, and his politics range far to the left of any elected official on the national scene. So why is he the only voice capable of bringing progressive issues and ideas to public awareness? What message should the Democratic Party glean from his immense popularity? What impact will Moore and his work have on the future of the left?

In Forgive Us Our Spins, you'll meet Michael Moore as you've never seen him before. This witty, well-written critique of America's most commercially successful radical examines Moore's life and work, reveals the personal history that underlies his political passions, and takes a clear-eyed look at his controversial trouble with the facts.

Love him or hate him, you can't deny Michael Moore's political stature. Is he the champion the left has long yearned for or the kind of friend that's more dangerous than an enemy? Read Forgive Us Our Spins, then decide.

Front Jacket

Michael Moore is a master of politics as entertainment. He has become famous as a left-wing, populist firebrand whose powerful antiestablishment messages attract massive media attention.

How did this self-described working-class guy from the suburbs of Flint, Michigan, come to be touted as the preeminent voice of the American left? Have hard-hitting, polemical films such as Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 brought important social issues to public awareness as nothing else could? Or are they mere entertainments that pander to true believers while playing fast and loose with the facts and failing to explore the issues honestly and in depth?

In Forgive Us Our Spins, public affairs analyst Jesse Larner traces the rise of America's most commercially successful radical and examines Michael Moore's impact on political discourse in a very conservative age. Larner digs deep into Moore's past to explore the roots of his activism, identify recurring themes and methods in his work, and describe crucial relationships that reveal the man behind the icon.

Larner offers honest, well-argued analyses of Moore's films, articles, and television shows, and of the right-wing responses to them. He looks at Moore's brief but rancorous tenure as editor of Mother Jones magazine and at other incidents in Moore's career that illustrate his problematic management style and call into question his self-proclaimed commitment to workplace egalitarianism.

Larner also poses broader questions about Moore's public role and about contemporary politics. Since 1980, the serious democratic left has largely surrendered the field of ideas, leaving a hole at the heart of American political discourse. Since 1994, when the Republicans captured Congress, there has been no effective check on conservative ambitions. Larner argues that this is an unbalanced and unsustainable situation that presents an opportunity for a combative champion of the left like Moore, but it's an opportunity that Moore has largely squandered. Through his poorly researched attacks on the Bush administration, his hostility to the American culture of free enterprise, and his refusal to take a serious position in the war on terror, Moore has motivated and sustained right-wing activism--most importantly during the 2004 presidential campaign. Is Michael Moore inadvertently the best political friend Karl Rove ever had?

Forgive Us Our Spins offers a serious, well-researched critique of one of the most important figures in American political life. This stimulating and thoughtful expose is must reading for liberals and conservatives alike.

Back Jacket

Well written, witty, and wise. Jesse Larner's book goes well beyond its brief: it helps us understand where the left has been going for the last few years, and where it might end up.
--GEORGE MONBIOT, columnist, The Guardian (UK)

"Forgive Us Our Spins is a very smart and well-researched book about the ever-controversial Michael Moore. Larner does a great job at showing why Moore's political and cultural adventures often do more damage than good. And Larner is a man of the left who doesn't make excuses for the right. A concern for decency and the quality of public discussion in this country shine through in this book--a healthy antidote to not just Michael Moore but also the intellectual clowns of the right, like Ann Coulter and Michael Savage. Let's hope Larner's voice is heard by many."
--KEVIN MATTSON, professor, Ohio University, and author of Upton Sinclair and the Other American Century

As the 2004 presidential election approached, Michael Moore repeatedly expressed confidence that his film Fahrenheit 9/11 would have a powerful impact on the outcome of that bitter contest. The talking cogs in the right-wing media machine were happy to agree with him. They foresaw that Moore and his flawed, shallow, and factually sloppy film would be major factors in motivating and energizing their base.

Left, right, or in between, everyone has an opinion about Michael Moore. His books reside on bestseller lists, his films are unfailingly controversial, and his politics range far to the left of any elected official on the national scene. So why is he the only voice capable of bringing progressive issues and ideas to public awareness? What message should the Democratic Party glean from his immense popularity? What impact will Moore and his work have on the future of the left?

In Forgive Us Our Spins, you'll meet Michael Moore as you've never seen him before. This witty, well-written critique of America's most commercially successful radical examines Moore's life and work, reveals the personal history that underlies his political passions, and takes a clear-eyed look at his controversial trouble with the facts.

Love him or hate him, you can't deny Michael Moore's political stature. Is he the champion the left has long yearned for or the kind of friend that's more dangerous than an enemy? Read Forgive Us Our Spins, then decide.

Author Biography

JESSE LARNER is a graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He is the author of Mount Rushmore: An Icon Reconsidered, and his work has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio, and Radio Nation. He has appeared in several documentary films on American politics. He lives in New York City.