The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who Are the True Heroes? by Benjamin Stein, Phil Demuth (Foreword by)
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(Hardcover)
- Pub. Date: June 2007
- 160pp
- Sales Rank: 64,617
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: June 2007
- Publisher: New Beginnings Press
- Format: Hardcover, 160pp
- Sales Rank: 64,617
- ISBN-13: 9781401911447
- ISBN: 1401911447
Synopsis
Is Barbra Streisand a star? Is Bruce Springsteen a star? Is Sean Penn a star? Are any of the Hollywood players who endlessly complain about America (and make $20 million per picture) and say that America is a racist, imperialist country a star? Ben Stein doesn’t think so. He says that the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America and fight for our freedom while risking their lives for $1,500 a month are the real stars. He says the real stars are the ones who fight fires and fight crime and teach autistic children for modest wages.
When Ben wrote this in an online essay not too long ago, it became one of the most widely circulated pieces in the history of the Internet. Likewise, when Ben said that he had no idea who Nick and Jessica were and wondered why they got so much media attention, but that he knew for sure that here was no harm in Americans wishing each other Merry Christmas or hanging Christmas wreaths, and that as a Jew, he did not feel at all offended by the celebration of Christmas, his column was circulated to millions.
These columns have appeared in The New York Times, on CBS News, in The American Spectator, and on E! Online. Here, Ben has compiled them into a book of commentaries that will help you get your head on straight about what is important in our world today and what is nonsense. You will feel anger, joy, and sadness as you read these essays . . . and you are sure to learn something valuable from all of them.
Biography
Ben Stein can be seen talking about finance on Fox TV news every week. He is known to many as a movie and television personality, but has probably worked more in personal and corporate finance than anything else. He has written about finance for Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal for decades and contributes regularly to the AARP’s Modern Maturity (now AARP: The Magazine). He was one of the chief busters of the junk bond frauds of the 1980s, has been a long-time critic of corporate executives’ self-dealing, and has written several self-help books about personal finance.
Customer Reviews
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As a former Service Member, I applaud the author's characterizing of the Armed Forces. This is longby Anonymous
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June 14, 2009: Ben's attitude about the Hollywood scene is right on as far as I am concerned. They don't live in the same world as we do here in fly-over country. This does apply to some of the Hollywood set, not all. Just wish that their world could be more like ours. No make believe here.
Ben Stein Complains About Americaby Anonymous
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June 16, 2008: I couldn't bring myself to buy this, but picked up a copy at the library. The Complaining About America suggested in the description seems to be people like Mr. Stein who make a darned good living operating in a well-regulated business environment breathing clean air and drinking clean water and not having to pass a 'Coloreds Only' sign on the way to the drinking fountain. All of these things he takes for granted are gifts from the progressive political movement of the past 150 years. Somehow he hates the progress we made and wishes to turn back to the clock. I'm puzzled how an economist can look at the cumulative record of our shared progress as a nation pursuing liberal secular ideas and find so much to dislike.
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