Common Nonsense

Publication

"The goal was to understand who he was. It was not to write a slash-and-burn Glenn Beck is a Big Fat Idiot book. I wanted something more substantial, something that looked at Beck as an aspect of Obama-era conservatism and how he reflected that and informed it, and how he is bigger than just a rodeo clown."

In researching the book, Zaitchik moved to Tampa, Florida, where Beck began his radio career at 970 WFLA from 1999-2002. While there, Zaitchik spent one year compiling and reading all of Beck's material that he could find, which also included listening to four hours a day of his radio program for eight months. Moreover, Zaitchik interviewed Beck's former friends, coworkers and colleagues in order to detail his transformation from "schlock jock" to "conservative media baron." By combining examination of Beck's public statements and a look at public records, Zaitchik compiles "a tough critique of the host's history, philosophies and methods, aimed at separating fact from hyperbole." In an interview about the book, Zaitchik remarked that:

Content

"Zaitchik details Beck's crusade against obscure Washington, D.C. bureaucrats such as former green jobs czar Van Jones, the coke and alcohol-fueled early days in his radio career and Beck's dependence on the conspiracy theories of the John Birch Society and obscure Cold War era anti-Communist crackpots."

Throughout the book, Zaitchik documents how Beck progressed from being "a competitive radio DJ who belittled a rival's wife over the telephone about her miscarriage, to a nationally known TV pundit accusing the president of being a Communist and black nationalist." In the end, Zaitchik renders Beck as "part opportunist, part entertainer" who he accuses of "assembling a team of supporters to create the books, video segments, rallies and radio shows that fuel his growing legend." The book also documents Beck's "prodigious talent for rubbing people the wrong way." According to Zaitchik, "It’s just a fascinating American story, regardless of politics," noting that Beck went from a Top 40 DJ to a national political figure in the span of only a decade.

"The Ghost of Cleon Skousen"

W. Cleon Skousen (1913–2006) was an American author, conservative, faith-based political theorist – as well as a prolific popularizer among Latter-day Saints of their theology. As Zaitchik tells it, "Beck basically incorporated elements of each of Skousen’s three incarnations: hysterical lying paranoid red-baiter, New World Order conspiracist, and finally Christian Constitutionalist. If you look at what Skousen and some of the other right-wing Mormons from the last century were saying, guys like Ezra Taft Benson, you realize that Beck has revived their crusades and updated their mission, almost note for note."

Common Nonsense features a chapter on Beck's influences from Skousen, whom Zaitchik argues is "Beck's favorite author and biggest influence," noting that Skousen authored four of the ten books on Beck's 9-12 Project required-reading list. Zaitchik has referred to the Skousen chapter as "the most important" and "the most interesting to research and write."

Critical reception

Chris Faraone in his review for The Boston Phoenix referred to Common Nonsense as an "impressive feat" resembling "a piñata stuffed with damning testaments to Beck's astoundingly flawed character" with "stories of (Beck's) savage hypocrisy on nearly every page." Faraone goes on to remark that:

Despite mild yet cautious applause of Beck's relentless nature, Zaitchik, armed with mighty rhetorical gusto, hardly skips opportunities to harpoon his white whale ... Common Nonsense serves up far too many jaw-droppers to recount ... from Beck's coming of political age during the 2000 Florida recount and subsequent Terry Schiavo debacle, to his gloating calls for bombing runs on Baghdad, to his snorting cocaine off the dashboard of his DeLorean. Only Beck can top Beck. One day he calls victims of Hurricane Katrina 'scumbags'; the next he points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average as proof that the Bush economy was strong, heartily defends torture, and compares Republican senator Rick Santorum to Winston Churchill. This is a man who equates green jobs with reparations, AmeriCorps workers with Nazis, and environmental activism with fascism. Beck is a bomb thrower, plain and simple, and Zaitchik highlights the most pivotal turns in his twisted jihad.

The Anchorage Press deemed the book the "definitive Beck biography," while Joe Conason of Salon Magazine described the book as "gripping" and "thoroughly researched." Mark Schmitt in The American Prospect referred to the book as "superb," and applauded Zaitchik for showing how "Beck's blackboard schemes" display "the oceanic audacity of his self-serving ignorance." Creative Loafing described Zaitchik as "a talented and incisive wordsmith", supposing that "a book like Common Nonsense is intellectual defense against (Beck's) rantings that have made him a cult hero among the Tea-Party set." Henry Stern in Willamette Week opined that Zaitchik is an "engaging writer who takes down Beck with strong research and entertaining turns of phrase", while diagnosing Common Nonsense as "a useful corrective to the hagiography that Beck’s acolytes subscribe to." The Boston Globe depicted the book as "a scathing profile that follows the powerful pundit from a single-parent home in rural Washington state to conservative superstardom."

Beck fans reaction

"Beck may mock himself ... but Beck has made an art of ensuring his fans rally around him no matter what. The more he's mocked, the more it feeds right into his game plan."

After the release of Common Nonsense, Zaitchik states that he sustained a "barrage of email bombs from the Beck Nation." According to Zaitchik, most of it was "triggered by religious web sites" with angry people telling him to "Go back to Russia" (where he worked for a time as a journalist) or "Go to hell." After the incident Zaitchik remarked that he "came away knowing not to underestimate the power of Glenn Beck," describing him as a "fascinating character," comprising "a blend of P.T. Barnum, Jimmy Swaggart, Aimee Semple McPherson and the old tent revivalists."