Disclaimer: if this post is littered with spelling mistakes, I make no apologies. Cleo gets jealous when I put the laptop on my lap instead of her. So I am sitting crosslegged, with her sitting on me purring, leaning over to reach the keyboard. Ridiculous. I can literally say my cat gives me back ache.

I am well into reading Stupid White Men. Michael Moore, infamous documentary maker and writer, was one of our choices for book club this month, as we decided we’d like to read factual some stuff.

Well, I’m not sure about “factual,” but so far Moore is definitely informative and entertaining.

While I take his diatribes with a pinch of salt, well aware that he has a history of twisting the facts, I do enjoy his sharp wit and even sharper sarcasm. Whoever said sarcasm was the lowest form of humour was wrong. Moore’s Open Letter to Bush is hilarious.

So far I found two things the most shocking: one, that this book, which has solds in tens of millions around the world, almost didn’t make it to the shelf. Censor Moore? You just try! Second, that airline pilots in the US are often on wages below $20,000 a year. Now that is disgusting and unaccepetable. Who cares who Bush screws to get oil? I agree with Moore – when you’re 30,000 feet in the air, you want the person behind the wheel to feel happy, confident, and have their mind on the job. Not on how they’re gonna get their next meal. That is just so wrong. I get twice that much a year and all I do at work is write this blog!

The chapter “Kill Whitey,” which, second to Dear George was the chapter the big wigs wanted to hide, is a scathing exposure of the psyche of the stupid white man. The most interesting thing about this chapter is that I’m reading it with the knowledge that we now have a black President of the United States. Imagine if the Moore of six years ago had been told that that would happen. From the total lack of faith in the intelligence and empathy of white people that the book conveys, he would surely have laughed in the face of whoever dared suggest it. Well, guess what Moore. The world can change.

I wonder wether he’s happy about that, or sad that he no longer has a target for his acidic ridicule. After all, that ridicule sold him millions of books and made him a rich man. Uh oh, is the cynicism rubbing off?

Despite the OTT approach, bias, and Eeyore outlook, I am enjoying the book. I am certainly learning alot about American history and bureaucracy, which was the aim.

Definitely, and three times definitely, read it. It is worth looking past Moore’s irritating visage on the cover.

Oh , and a final note: if you’re reading this, and you have an opinion, please comment! It lets me know people care what I say, or at least lets me delude myself that they do!