About the Author

U.S. Senator Al Franken grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Before running for the Senate, Al spent 37 years as an Emmy award-winning comedy writer; author of I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!, Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), and Giant of the Senate; and radio talk show host. He has taken part in seven USO tours, visiting our troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

First elected to the Senate in 2008, and re-elected in 2014, he currently sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Committee on Indian Affairs. He has been married to his wife, Franni, for 40 years.

Reviews

“Devastating... The Truth keeps its promise to be funny about extremely unfunny matters. It matches Lies in wit, and its subjects are tougher. The gags have bite. . . . And it is effectively leavened with bits of dialogue, many of them all too real.”—The New York Times

“Subtle, laugh-or-cry-out-loud and ultimately devastating . . . The Truth (with jokes) is guaranteed to rile the right again with its forensic lasering of Republican skullduggery and media mendacity, laced with sharp humor. . . . [Franken] is the voice the American left has been waiting for.”—The Guardian (London)Praise for Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

"Laugh-out-loud funny."—The Washington Post

"Rings with the moral clarity of an angel’s trumpet... Although Franken is a self-proclaimed liberal, his work differs in that it presents well-substantiated arguments and damning examples of false accusations that conservatives have effectively used against Democrats... sharp analysis and humor."—Associated Press

"A typically unabashed blend of razor-witted denunciation and old-fashioned gumshoe detective work directed at right-wing crazies both in and out of government... [An] exquisitely irritating new book."—The Independent (London)

"[A] heady mixture of scathing humor and righteous indignation."—The Onion

“In the kicking, spitting spirit of current all-star political discourse, Al Franken gives as good as he gets.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Praise for Oh, the Things I Know!

“With a nod to Dr. Seuss and his popular tome for graduates of all ages, Franken offers his own advice guide, which covers pretty much anything anyone wants to understand about life… This laugh-aloud take on advice books—it is dedicated simply 'For Oprah'—is Stuart Smiley with an edge.”—Ilene Cooper, Booklist

“Easy-to-follow guide to success and, failing that, happiness.”—USA Today

Franken is George W. Bush's worst nightmare: a savvy liberal political satirist and Harvard fellow with a massive readership. Franken and his tireless team of fact-checkers are able to spread The Truth to people who might never pick up books by Eric Alterman (What Liberal Media?), David Brock (Blinded by the Right), Joe Conason (Big Lies), Ron Suskind (The Price of Loyalty) or Richard A. Clarke (Against All Enemies). Debunking the lies and allegations spread by "the right-wing blogosphere, radiosphere and asshole-on-TV-osphere," Franken details how the Bush team won the 2004 election through "smears, fears and queers." Believing that the Bush regime's plan was to "divide Americans to conquer them," Franken has created a reference manual that refutes propaganda issued by an administration he believes "shouldn't be running a small town hardware store much less the world's only remaining superpower." While Franken writes with a razor-sharp wit, his intention is deadly serious: to expose how hypocrisy, bigotry, ineptitude, unchecked corruption and partisan politics have resulted in war, debt and a divided nation. Franken considers the political motives behind the Terri Schiavo case and the distortions behind Bush's campaign to privatize Social Security. Along the way he takes on the Swiftboaters, Bush's fake "mandate," Tom DeLay, Iraq and Karl Rove. Like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, Franken has the ability to entertain, illuminate and motivate. (Oct. 25) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

"Devastating... The Truth keeps its promise to be funny about extremely unfunny matters. It matches Lies in wit, and its subjects are tougher. The gags have bite. . . . And it is effectively leavened with bits of dialogue, many of them all too real."-The New York Times

"Subtle, laugh-or-cry-out-loud and ultimately devastating . . . The Truth (with jokes) is guaranteed to rile the right again with its forensic lasering of Republican skullduggery and media mendacity, laced with sharp humor. . . . [Franken] is the voice the American left has been waiting for."-The Guardian (London)Praise for Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

"Laugh-out-loud funny."-The Washington Post

"Rings with the moral clarity of an angel's trumpet... Although Franken is a self-proclaimed liberal, his work differs in that it presents well-substantiated arguments and damning examples of false accusations that conservatives have effectively used against Democrats... sharp analysis and humor."-Associated Press

"A typically unabashed blend of razor-witted denunciation and old-fashioned gumshoe detective work directed at right-wing crazies both in and out of government... [An] exquisitely irritating new book."-The Independent (London)

"[A] heady mixture of scathing humor and righteous indignation."-The Onion

"In the kicking, spitting spirit of current all-star political discourse, Al Franken gives as good as he gets."-Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Praise for Oh, the Things I Know!

"With a nod to Dr. Seuss and his popular tome for graduates of all ages, Franken offers his own advice guide, which covers pretty much anything anyone wants to understand about life... This laugh-aloud take on advice books-it is dedicated simply 'For Oprah'-is Stuart Smiley with an edge."-Ilene Cooper, Booklist

"Easy-to-follow guide to success and, failing that, happiness."-USA Today