The audience of Fox's top-rated cable news talk show The O'Reilly Factor
and of the bestselling book by the same name know that this explosive anchor can be articulate, bombastic, scornful, witty, iconoclastic, passionate, persuasive and sarcastic ("Can you feel Gary Condit's pain?"). When conducting interviews, O'Reilly, a two-time Emmy winner with 25 years reporting experience, delivers tough questions and corrosive counterpoints. In the No-Spin Zone (originally conceived for his TV show), "lies are rejected and equivocations are mocked." "All I ask is for powerful people to respond honestly to the questions, and if they can't, explain why," says O'Reilly. Here he excerpts past interviews with various memorable opponents—James Carville (on Bill Clinton), Dr. Laura (on working mothers), former surgeon general Dr. Joycelyn Elders (on sex education), Puff Daddy (on rap), Susan Sarandon (on police brutality), Al Sharpton (on boycotts)—and insightfully introduces each, mulling over the issue or providing background. To cover TV sleaze and violence, he splices interviews (Steve Allen, Howdy Doody's Buffalo Bob) into his own terse text. The same treatment is applied to the death penalty (George W. Bush, Bianca Jagger), taxes (Mario Cuomo, GAO head David Walker) and other issues. He saves the best for last—Dan Rather on news stories the media overlooks, prefaced by O'Reilly's own memories of becoming "a 'dead man walking' at CBS News." (On-sale: Oct. 16)
Forecast:O'Reilly's TV ratings continue to rise, and the show's "No-Spin Zone" title will grab book buyers. With simultaneous CD and large-print editions, and an e-book due in November, total sales should be astronomical.
