This is Bill O’Reilly’s third book. I have not read the first two.

Though politics is certainly well-covered in this edition, it is not the sole issue. The subject is, actually, very true to its title. Each chapter of the book discusses various entities and to what degree they may or may not be looking out for you.

The bulk of it is indeed political nature. O’Reilly discusses major figures in the government and describes how they’re looking out primary for themselves. The Clinton’s are hit pretty hard in this respect. He spends some time discussing self-centeredness and liberal bias in the media and then spends a good deal of time talking about the war. Here he presents the most simple, solid case for a defense of the decision to invade Iraq that I’ve heard yet. The chapter on witch-hunters who attack anyone who says anything potential negative in relation to race is also revealing.

Interestingly enough, a lot of time is spent on more common social issues. O’Reilly includes a chapter on parenting and offers some good sound advice, though nothing groundbreaking. He also mentions finding support in friends, religion, and looking out for yourself by keeping mistakes to a minimum.

My reservations about Who’s Looking Out For You? have nothing to do with ideology. In fact, I can’t recall a single thing that O’Reilly said that I strongly disagreed with. Everything that O’Reilly says makes sense and, after all, most of it is simply common sense. Aside from some scattered facts, there’s nothing new within the text here.

Who’s Looking Out For You? is heavily personal, such that nearly half of the book is autobiography. O’Reilly tells us all about his relationship to his parents, his strong friendships, his struggles moving up in the business world, and a whole chapter on mistakes he has made in his life. It’s all mildly interesting, and particularly revealing about the nature of the news world at times.

On the other hand, there is no real organization to it all, besides the topic driven chapters. It feels very much like O’Reilly is merely rambling. Telling us about politics and his personal experiences all in mash, as if he’s just talking from off the top of his mind – and then goes back and puts his ramblings into themed chapters. Anyone could write a book like this, and O’Reilly could probably write a hundred of them without any real effort.

I don’t think this is O’Reilly’s best work. I think it was thrown together to get another book out on the shelves. As such, it’s really not a necessary read.

01/05