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FairTax: The Truth
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In 2005, firebrand radio talk show host Neal Boortz and Georgia congressman John Linder created The FairTax Book, presenting the American public with a bold new plan designed to eliminate federal taxes and the IRS, jump-start the U.S. economy, bring back lost industries and jobs, and recapture billions of untaxed dollars currently hoarded by criminal and offshore businesses. Their book became an immediate #1 New York Times bestseller, igniting a powerful grassroots tax reform movement that's spreading like wildfire across our nation.
Now, three years later, the authors are back to answer the outspoken and misinformed critics of their innovative proposal. Offering stunning new insights not covered in the original book, FairTax: The Truth debunks the negative myths and gross misrepresentations of this groundbreaking idea. The FairTax plan is simple, brilliant, and it will work-enabling you to keep all the money in your paycheck; eliminating the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system; and revolutionizing the way America pays for itself.
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Journalism comes to Ankh-Morpork just in time to cover the mysterious switch-o-change-o the Bad Guys do to The Patrician. One of my least favorites in the series so far. It was okay, but not as engaging as some of the others have been, and there weren't any chuckle-out-loud moments here. My biggest issue with this one is that Vetinari seems to act out of character - he's more goofy than intimidatingly sharp, and it's jarring.
Honestly, what can one say about Discworld #25 that one hasn't already said 24 other times? It's —ing Discworld. Of course, it's —ing clever and funny.
The Truth is book twenty-fifth in the Discworld series and a stand alone. Although characters from other novels appear, it largely focuses on new characters.William de Worde sends out a monthly newsletter to foreign royalty, but when a group of dwarfs brings a printing press to Ankh-Morpork, William becomes editor in chief of Ankh-Morpork’s first newspaper, the Ankh-Morpork Times. With a plot underway to take down Vetinari, it is up to the Times to use some investigative journalism to find the truth.Obviously, The Truth deals with the idea of truth and the value placed on it. Sometimes it seems that nobody cares about the truth, because a lie is more convenient or maybe just more interesting. But isn’t it important that the truth is out there?“Someone has to care about the… the big truth.”William is the son of Lord de Worde but has fallen out with his father and now lives on his own, making money off his words. However, William’s background still has a huge effect on his character. He can try to change himself, but he can’t completely erase his background. This works to make William both a flawed but interesting protagonist.I also love the supporting cast. The Truth features both Vimes and Vetinari, who are both wonderful. Then there’s a couple new characters introduced who are employees of the Times – Sacharissa and Otto. I particularly love Otto, a vampire photographer who crumbles into dust whenever he uses the flash.“We’ve always been privileged, you see. Privilege just means ‘private law.’ That’s exactly what it means. He just doesn’t believe the ordinary laws apply to him. He really believes they can’t touch him, and that if they do he can just shout until they go away.”The group of “concerned citizens” out to remove Vetinari are doing so largely out of a sense that the city is no longer “our sort of people” and a desire to get back to the “good old days.” Another large part of The Truth is dealing with this sort of prejudice.“William wondered why he always disliked people who said “no offense meant.” Maybe it was because they found it easier to say “no offense meant” than actually to refrain from giving offense.”From a plot wise perspective, it’s easy to figure out who’s behind the attempt to remove Vetinari. The fun comes in seeing how the staff of the Times reacts to the challenges thrown there way.The Truth is a delightful entry into the Discworld series, if not one of my favorite. I would recommend it to anyone looking to try the series, particularly if you have more than a passing interest in journalism.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
The book is lighthearted and winsome. Pratchett’s talent for simile and metaphor, and the odd use of the footnote (in fiction?!?) combine to create a novel that speaks essential truths about the nature of humanity, the culture it has created, and the hilarity of it all.Read more of my review at Grasping for the Wind.
Another strong Discworld novel, centring on Ankh-Morpork’s first newspaper and a plot against Lord Vetinari. We have Gaspode the Wonder Dog disguised as a French (sorry, would that be Genuan?) poodle hiding Wuffles who was the only witness to the crime, a teetotalling vampire photographer who doesn’t respond well to flash photography, and someone who looks so much like Vetinari he can pass for him in a good light - until he opens his mouth. Vimes and the Night Watch play secondary roles.
The Discworld discovers movable type and develops a newspaper industry in very short order. This is complete with someone who starts writing for a select group nd ends writing in the public interest, a vampire photographer and a man who grows rather curious vegetables. Alongside this is the "other" side of the press, the gutter press, which is every bit as flamboyant as you might expect.
And while this is evolving by the day, there is a plot to unseat the patrician, and replace him with a stooge. As is usual, this fails, but does so in a convelouted way that keeps the watch and the press guessing until the very end.
And while this is evolving by the day, there is a plot to unseat the patrician, and replace him with a stooge. As is usual, this fails, but does so in a convelouted way that keeps the watch and the press guessing until the very end.
One of my favourite Discworld books, a satire on the the press and an examination of 'truth'. The printing press has come to Ankh-Morpork and William De Word, a writer of a small newsletter for rich people has become the first editor of a mass publication daily paper. This is a multi-level book, its central plot is a whodunnit when Lord Vetenari seemingly goes mad and attacks his clerk, William De Word turns sleuthing reporter in an attempt to get to the 'truth'. It's also a book about power, about who is pulling the strings behind the scenes. If this wasn't enough, the contract heavies, Mr Pin and Mr Tulip, ask a question about the nature of evil.On the lighter side, as they say in the paper, we have amusingly shaped vegetables, a vampire who's taken the pledge and Gaspode the talking dog.
Just finished rereading this one. Still one of my favorites. Highly recommended.
Update (December 2013) And I just reread it again. Yep, still a favorite.
Update (December 2013) And I just reread it again. Yep, still a favorite.
Pratchett has a way of writing about occupations that makes me actually think certain jobs might actually be more fun than I would otherwise think. While I'm not as eager to go out and be a journalist after this book (like I was seriously considering being a mailman after reading Going Postal), this has more to do with the crap of mainstream news that this book actually kinda sorta rails against.This was written in November of 2000 - before 9/11 and well before Occupy Wall Street. Nevertheless, one of the themes of this book - about the uber-rich having all the power and thinking they're above the law - couldn't escape my notice. As is usually the case with Pratchett, I am forced to think while laughing out loud.I'd have to say that Otto was my favorite character in this story. The first three times of the iconographer's (photographer) problem when taking a picture... I thought the joke would get old fast. Yet, every time poor Otto says, "Vun, two, thr- arrgharrgharrgh!" I ended up giggling louder and louder.Oh, and the idea of Otto not being defined by his nature, and William choosing a new path and other values for himself than what he was raised with was just more of Pratchett's awesomeness in making me think and making the story personal.Just my $0.02...
It took me a while to get involved in this story, but once I was I was hooked - I absolutely love the new characters (William de Worde, Otto, the dwarves, Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip). The plot was decent, but rather simple to figure out, at least by Discworld standards. All in all, I did enjoy it, and I think it's a solid book - certainly much better than Making Money, but a few steps below Going Postal or Thud!.
Absolutely classic. One of my favourites. Pratchett on top form with a wry blend of satire and puns.William de Worde becomes the editor of Ankh-Morpok's first newspaper, despite everybody being traditionally against movable type, the Patrician feels it may be time to let the dwarves experiment a bit. However shortly afterwards the Patrician is invovled in a bizzare 'event' and the Watch arrest him. William asks questions and soon finds more answers than he expected.The contrast between William's Times and Dribbler's Inquirer, quickly highlights everything that is wrong with the media in the world today. This is the central premise of the book obviously, but it leaves room for some fascinating byplay around it. In usual contrived Pratchett fashion some of the puns are somewhat extended, Harry King and muckrakers being one of them. Downsides - Mr Pin and Mr Tulip are just odd, and take up proportionately too much of the plot. Other than the direct media play, there isn't much commentry on other issues, though we do get to see plenty of the twisted AM view of how life works, and where to take advantage. If there's one take home message from reading this it is think about what "they" say.
It's a Terry Pratchett book. They're kind of all the same. I listened to the audio book while on a long drive. It's diverting enough, but the humor ranges more from rolling the eyes and groaning to the slightly bemused smile, never managing to make it to an actual chuckle. Also, why does he give so much extraneous detail? "He sat down in his chair, took up his quill, dipped it in ink and proceeded to put the end of the quill into his mouth, because as we all know (some inane point about sucking on the ends of pens, including at least one bad pun)." It's not a direct quote but it might as well be. That sort of Captain Obvious routine gets a bit tiresome on a 10-hour car trip.Still, some interesting observations about journalism.
A lot of your enjoyment of Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld series comes down to your awareness of the object of Pratchett's satire. In the case of "The Truth," it's the world of newspapers and journalism in general. Having a background in this, I found a lot of Pratchett's zingers and satire to be dead-on accurate in their humor and observation. What I didn't find quite as spot-on was some of the twists and turns of the novel. For one thing, the identity of who is behind the elaborate conspiracy is so easily deduced that it ruins some of the driving force of the last half of the novel. Of course, the problem is that the readers know the identity (or can deduce it easily if you're paying attention), while the characters don't because they don't have as much information as we do. It's a case of the reader being a bit too omniscient for his or her own good and ruining the final revelation a bit. Another issue is the speed at which things occur. William DeWorde goes from hand-carving a monthly newsletter for five at-home benefactors to running a newspaper complete with moveable type press within a week. Pratchett works too hard to pile on absurdity after absurdity as the newspaper takes off in ways that William can't expect and doesn't prepare for. Pratchett works too hard to make a few funny observances by compresing the timeline and making the story feel a bit rushed at points. Which a lot of this can be forgiven with Pratchett being his typical self and finding unique ways to put words together to be both thought-provoking and funny. Once again, Pratchett has this way of finding just the exact right turn of phrase and combination of words to make what he's doing appear completely effortless. But if you step back and look at it, you realize exactly what he's doing and how he's doing it. And that alone makes "The Truth" worth appreciating.
Really struggled with this one, which is a shame as I have so far enjoyed Terry Pratchett..
I enjoyed this story of how the news machine started in Discworld. William de Worde gets sucked into the world of journalism with more than his share of bumps along the way. He comes up against conspiracy, Vimes and even the Patrician, yet he perseveres to deliver 'The Truth.'My favorite character in this book is Otto, the reformed vampire who must start singing temperance songs every time he sees blood or heaving bosoms. He is the iconographer for the new paper and has a strange fixation on light, though he goes up in a puff of dust when he uses the flash on his iconograph.
Just another terrific Discworld story. Many of the later ones have just about dispensed with magic altogether, since the world pretty much creates its own story. Main character William de Worde is pretty interesting and well thought out, dealing as he is with family issues and trying to make his own way in the world. Not too many other characters really stand out, although the wonderful criminal savant Mr. Tulip is terrific fun. It's fun to watch characters from earlier books come in for smaller or larger roles; for example we get a picture of Commander Vimes as he's seen from the other side of the law. The role of Gaspode the Wonder Dog doesn't seem quite to work, but it's a minor matter. Terrific as always.
So again, very readable, very pageturning, good things to say about isn't multiculturalism good, arn't rich traditionalists bad. But still, I think revisiting these 'forgettable Pratchetts' I think there is just a big run of more-of-the-same. Also, I found the Evil Bad Guys a bit tedious in this one, which given they make up half the book doesn't endere it to me. After all the recent media enquiries and scandles, I think it is interesting how much the plot of this book is 'a free press is a great thing, and it will work to Uncover Truth and Save the Day', and yet there is already that silver line of cynicism, that 'just as much of the Truth as we can before it actually starts to hurt our family'However, one of the things I loved was the opportunity to see the Watch from the outside. When it is the Hero, rather than the Bad Guys, wanting to avoid Vimes is a very different slant...
Terry Pratchett is a god who walks among men. The entire Discworld series is a joy and only a strange mad creature cursed by gods and man would refuse to read and love these books!
The Truth is the last of the Terry Pratchett books I'm reading for my Beach Blanket Bonanza challenge, although I do now have a copy of Feet of Clay on my TBR pile. I have to say that my summer reading has renewed my interest in Pratchett's Discworld books.The Truth like the other two books I've recently read, takes place in Ankh-Moorpork. The Watch are present but only on the sidelines. They are trying to hold the city together while the Patrician stands accused of murdering a member of his staff.The main focus of the story though, is on a local wordsmith, William de Worde who is Ankh-Moorpork's local bard turned newspaper reporter. He and some industrious Dwarves and an overly enthusiastic vampire photographer have found a way of turning lead into gold: the hard way. They have invented the printing press and they are going head-to-head with Commander Vimes to get to the truth behind the Patrician's alleged crime.I enjoyed the descriptions of the newspaper and the trouble they had gaining legitimacy. I found the mystery part of the book took too long to get off the ground compared to the fast-pacing of Men at Arms.
Of all of the Discworld novels this is the one I would, in all seriousness, assign as required reading were I teaching a class. The course would have to relate to mass media, censorship, intellectual freedom or civil liberties. Sometimes satire does a better job of showing the importance of our rights and freedoms better than any bombastic speech or (blinding flash of the obvious) your typical 8th grade civics course.
This book is absolutely hilarious. The writing is incredibly witty and well done, and the characters are very fascinating and have little quirks that make the book so amazing.
An ink-stained wretch starts a newspaper when the first printing press comes to Ankh-Morpork.
One of the better Discworlds. It can be read without a knowledge of the rest of the series.
My favourite novel of the Discworld series. There's always plenty of gags, but perhaps a few more to the page in this one, and a really good story to boot. 'Things Written Down' has to be one of the best corporate slogans since 'H King, Taking the Piss since 1961'. Pure comic genius.
Dwarfs can turn lead into gold. That's not just rumor, it's news! Ethical journalist William de Worde likes to investigate stories. And what better way to get the word out than to create the Ankh-Morpork Times, Discworld's first paper of record. When de Worde gets an inside scoop on a hot story concerning the city's favorite patrician, Lord Ventinari, the facts say he's guilty. Yet facts don't always tell the whole story. There's always the truth... and it's not like there's a law against writing words down. The Truth is the 25th Discworld novel and the second in the Industrial Revolution theme. Movable type has come to Anhk-Morpork and with it investigative journalism and the invention of the Disc's first newspaper. Along the way the staff at the paper end up "helping" the Watch solve a mystery. We are introduced to some fun new characters. William de Worde is the ethical journalist who insists that what's printed in the paper must be true. Sacharissa Cripslock is his main reporter who has a knack for thinking in headlines. Otto, a reformed vampire, is the paper's photographer. Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip are The New Firm, a non-standard criminal group newly arrived in Ank-Morpork. Gunilla Goodmountain, the inventor and main operator of the printing press, can set type at the speed of dictation. Many of the regular Ankh-Morpork characters also make appearances as supporting cast or cameos, including most of the Watch, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, the Bursar of UU and Gaspode. The Truth does not have as many jokes and puns as other Discworld novels. Instead it presents the reader with humorous situations and focuses on the characters who don't realize just how strange their view of the world really is. And there are funny shaped vegetables. It is just brilliant.
Fantastic! Great running gags on Pulp Fiction, newspaper writing, and silliness (like a vampire photographer who turns to dust every time the flash goes off). I know I should be slowing down and savouring these Discworld books, but I just can't help myself.
I thought it was good. Really placed an emphasis on the importance of verifying your sources (it's about a newspaper), which seems to be a lost art these days.
Another element of the teeming horde that comprises Terry Pratchett's Diskworld novels, The Truth would probably be grouped with the subset featuring Ankh-Morpork's City Watch. That's not entirely accurate, because the story really revolves around William de Worde's newspaper, but the Watch is involved to a large degree.I'm not entirely sure what to think about this book. The whole thing is very Pratchett, with plenty of sections that left me literally laughing out loud (sometimes to the concern of those around me). On the other hand, there were parts that I didn't feel really worked, such as Mr. Tulip's manner of cursing ("Too ---ing right"). I'd say that, on the whole, the book's satirical bent tended to interfere with the storytelling. It was good in pieces, but not necessarily in large chunks. Still, it's quite funny. Go ahead and give it a read.
THe power of the press - is the pen really mightier than the sword. In his usual satirical style Pratchett looks at the world of the press and the power it welds and well as the manner it interact with political leaders. Again a mirror is held up to our world with a great deal of humour but also raises some serious questions that we all need to consider where we look at the media. Porbably one of his more enjoyable books.
One of Sir Terry's best, and one of the two perfect 'gateway drug' entries into the Discworld series.