The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington | 
 enlarge | Author: David Sirota
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 68700
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0307395634
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9780307395634
ASIN: 0307395634
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An All-Access Pass to the Populist
Insurrection Brewing Across the Country
Job outsourcing. Perpetual busy signals at government agencies. Slashed paychecks. Stolen elections. A war without end, fatally mismanaged. Ordinary Americans on both the Right and Left are tired of being disenfranchised by corrupt politicians of both parties and are organizing to change the status quo. In his invigorating new book, David Sirota investigates whether this uprising can be transformed into a unified, lasting political movement.
Throughout the course of American history, uprisings like the one we are seeing now have given birth to powerful movements to end wars, protect workers, and expand civil rights, so the prospect of today’s uprising turning into a full-fledged populist movement terrifies Wall Street and Washington. In The Uprising, Sirota takes us far from the national media spotlight into the trenches where real change is happening—from the headquarters of the most powerful third party in America to the bowels of the U.S. Senate; from the auditorium of an ExxonMobil shareholder meeting to the quasi-military staging area of a vigilante force on the Mexican border. This is vital, on-the-ground reporting that immerses us in the tumultuous give-and-take of politics at its most personal.
Sirota also offers a biting critique of our politics. He shows how the uprising is, at its core, a reaction to faux “bipartisanship” in the nation’s capital—the “bipartisanship” whereby Republican and Democratic lawmakers join together in putting the agenda of corporate interests above all those of ordinary citizens.
Ultimately, Sirota reminds us that the Declaration of Independence, “America’s original uprising manifesto,” says that governments “derive their powers from the consent of the governed.” Irreverent and insightful, The Uprising shows how the governed have stopped consenting and have started taking action.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Overrated, Don't Bother with this Shrieking, Irrational Author August 15, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
David Sirota's book is a caricacature like his "debating" style which tends to devolve into angry, hissy fits and babyish shrieks.
This subject matter really deserves a much more developed mind, and composed personality. Everything is slapped together, and stolen from real thinkers who've treated the subject as it deserves. For substance, turn to the amazing Thomas Frank.
Sirota's writing is as poor and incoherent as his personal appearances which are ever more increasingly red faced and angry, infantile and ridiculous. He's just an angry, terrible thinker. I'm so glad this book was borrowed because it was really not good. I would recommend any other authors suggested by people here. Some (not all, certainly) of the positive reviews must be friends and family.
 Uprising (?) August 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While I enjoyed David Sirota's most recent work "The Uprising." It often left me feeling incensed at our government's inclination to the status quo and then feeling relieved that there are still individuals working within our government who recognize and work for the greater good of the American people. "The Uprising" reads like a first person account or David Sirota's experience with each group. At the same time, this book fails to tie together the various uprisings it describes, common themes and methodology that works or does not work. It requires the reader to search and reread passages for this message. Very little is done to summarize all that has been read or build a conclusive point. If the book's design is a call to action for change its messages is as disorganized as the anti-war protest described in his book.
 Read this book! July 22, 2008
I recommend this book to anyone who has had that gnawing feeling that something is not quite right in this country we love. Do you think the big corporations have too much power? Is the middle class disappearing? What did our founders really intend when they created the separation of powers? Did we lose control of our country...and how can we get it back? David Sirota writes about pockets of discontent that are beginning to bubble and boil all over the country. Small uprisings that are having an effect on corporations, in state policies, and in Congress. If you thought you were alone, read this book and find out that others are sharing your concern...in one way or another. This book will stir you up and widen your eyes. I learned so much from each chapter and had a good laugh or two along the way. David Sirota is a great writer who has his ear to the ground and shares his wealth of knowledge in this book. Read it.
Excellent Read July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
You will learn something new from reading this book. David Sirota provides first hand accounts of populist movements around the US. I learned about the Working Family Party in New York and fusion. I also got a new perspective on Washington driven faux uprisings vs. real uprisings.
The book has a great mix of personal story and the uprising description. It has a good flow to it and is divided up into distinct sections. If you don't like a section - just skip it. I enjoyed reading all of it.
 Fizzle July 9, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
It starts out great, the chapter on "The Thrilla in Montana" was a joy to read. Then the book seems to slide, and about half way through I gave up. I just couldn't stay interested. The author, somewhere about halfway through the third chapter, loses sight of what the book title suggests the book is about. Maybe I am being dismissive, but with so many books on modern politics it takes a great book to get a good review from me. This isn't that book.
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