Why Did I Listen To This Book:
I actually followed the whole Fox Mole thing on Gawker. I am one of those people who reads Gawker and Jezebel SO MUCH that they have buttons in my frequent visits tab on Safari. So, when the opportunity came to review the audiobook of Atheist In the FOXhole by Joe Muto, I jumped at it as I find the idea of an inside look at Fox News to be fascinating. I love getting the dirt on different things. Juicy gossip is juicy gossip, y’all.
What’s It All About:
Essentially the title says it all. Atheist In The FOXhole is Joe Muto’s tell all memoir about his time working for FOX News in New York City. The layout of the book is basically chapters that chronologically describe his experience working there and at the end of each chapter is his timeline of the hours leading to his unveiling as the Gawker Fox Mole. We learn how Joe got the job – by sending a ridiculous cover letter and his eventual career trajectory to when he begins working on the O’Reilly Factor. We learn how working at FOX affects Joe’s personal life, oh, and there are a few bits about his love life but that is not nearly as fascinating as the parts about what Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter are like in real life. Then we get to the turning point where Joe decides that something has got to give and he decides to leak some information about FOX News to Gawker.
Interesting Tidbits Gleaned:
- Ann Coulter is actually not evil in real life – this shocks me given her unabashed use of ableist language.
- FOX News reports and decides on their stories and angles strictly based on ratings. What this means is that instead of reporting real journalistic stories, they focus on appealing to a certain demographic.
- FOX News employees hang out at Lanagan’s Bar. Of course, I would gleam this.
- For TV, FOX News does not pay all that well.
- Bill O’Reilly seems like a genuinely interesting man. Seriously, I thought I would end up strongly disliking him after reading the book, but he’s portrayed with admiration. Sure, he is shown to have faults, however, he actually seems really cool too. I KNOW.
How’s The Narration:
An Atheist In the FOXhole is narrated by the author. Joe Muto’s narration basically sounded to me like your college friend telling you a story at happy hour. I liked his narration and voice. I thought that it was well done and well produced. Usually I tend not to have much luck with authors narrating their own books, but in this case it was a good choice of narration. In all, I enjoyed listening to An Atheist In The FOXhole by Joe Muto and liked how different it was from my regular reads.
Disclosure: Received audiobook copy for review.
Other reviews of An Atheist In The FOXhole:
I have not seen any by book bloggers. Let me know if you review this one!
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I think it’s interesting that his title implies that, to be liberal, one must be an atheist.
Huh, I did not get that impression. My impression was that the title was a play on that phrase ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’. But, it’s an interesting point to raise.
I really like reading nonfiction to shake up my YA Contemp Romance ruts and this sounds right up my alley (although I probably wouldn’t do audiobook). Great review!
Yes! Non-fiction is really great for that — shaking out a rut. I hope you give this one a shot. 🙂