My Bad: 25 Years of Public Apologies and the Appalling Behavior That Inspired Them

by Paul Slansky and Arleen Sorkin

Book Overview

A collection of famous and infamous apologies - from Janet Jackson to Jesse Jackson, Jarry Falwell to Jerry Lewis - that proves anyone is capable of screwing up, big time. Whether it's in the field of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158234521X
• ISBN13: 9781582345215
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Juicy

The most interesting tidbits are the obscure incidents I had not heard of before. There are plenty of them in here. The most accurate review is this: "[A] densely packed grab bag...an invaluable history lesson, reassuring in its lest-we-forgetness, riveting in its revelations."--Entertainment Weekly Many radio talk show hosts have said some real interesting things they have apologized for. That's my highlight of the book. The chapter featuring politicians dragged on a little bit.

Anything you say can and will be used against you...

While at the library the other day, I wandered by the front desk where they display recommended titles. This one caught my eye... My Bad: 25 Years of Public Apologies and the Appalling Behavior that Inspired Them by Paul Slansky and Arleen Sorkin. If you're as fed up with public "apologies" as I am, you'll love reading this... or be even more disgusted. :) Contents: Introduction; Media Mea Culpas; Taking Care of Business; I Fought the Law; You Can't Say That on the Radio; Readin', Writin' & Regrets; The Boob Tube; Judges and Lawyers and Cops, Oh My!; Slinking Off the Silver Screen; In the Penalty Box; The Disarmed Forces; Facing the Music; Forgive Me, Lord; Politically Incorrect; Future Imperfect; Index This book could be five times the size and still not run out of material. The authors have a number of apology quotes followed by an explanation of what prompted them. They cover the spectrum of business blunders to sports slip-ups to political improprieties. Many of the explanations are offered without much commentary, but you do catch some of the authors' feelings along the way. There are also some humorous running threads where a particular person (like Ted Turner) makes repeated appearances, proving that many people do *not* learn from their mistakes. To be fair to the offenders, some of the apologies are sincere and are the best that can be offered under the circumstances. But people have become so glib with their "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" statements, that it's hard for a real apology not to be viewed with the same jaded cynicism as all the others. I think what got me was how some people could think that anyone would believe their explanations or rationale for saying what they did. I recently read someone writing about mistakes and apologies, and they were correct... "When you're wrong, just take the bullet. Trying to rationalize it will only make it worse." This was an enjoyable and instructional read. It helps you remember that anything you say or do will definitely be held against you in the court of public opinion, so engage the brain before the mouth gets started...

A book that shows just how futile & hollow apologizing has become in our era

"I'm sorry". Those two words have proven to be a surefire out for anyone who has said or did anything wrong, whether or not the apologizer means at all what they say. But even if the apology may not be sincere to most people, especially for celebrities, it is often enough for them to forgive one's actions & move on. It is simply a matter of just how reprehensible the action was to warrant the apology in the first place. MY BAD looks at a quarter century of public apologies that cover a wide spectrum of contrition, from truly sincere to merely face-saving. Some people have come out against the editorializing in this book, and whether or not that makes for good journalism is in the eye of the beholder. But since MY BAD sets out to demonstrate just how hollow the apologist's words can often be, the authors are simply showing that even the public can be unmoved by a celebrity's words of atonement. Once again, the contemptibility of the person's actions is being documented by the authors, and in most cases, even the reader has to agree what the person did or said was pretty awful. MY BAD shows the wide range of verbal gaffes that can occur once an open microphone or eager reporter comes into the mix. I was surprised to see just how many times Ted Turner lapsed into verbal racial profiling, and the equal amount of times he had to take back his words. Who knows if he said them in the heat of the moment or if they actually reflect his own sensibilities? But apparently his multiple apologies were enough for Turner to keep his job, even if make him a temporary punchline. The same goes for serial offenders like Marge Schott (though even she was banned from baseball once) & California congressman Robert Dornan (someone who gives conservative politics a bad name, in my book). In this era of political correctness, MY BAD shows that the use of some words to describe minorities may be considered unacceptable by the majority, that still does not stop the abundance of instances where they are used. Trent Lott's famous public atonement for his pro-segregation remarks is documented with his multiple apologies, and this is probably where the dislike of editorialization may come in. The authors' joking of Lott's profusion of "I'm sorry"'s is more like their way of pointing out that Lott's career & image were already tarnished by his words, and that rather than accept defeat & take it like a man (he would, but too late), he just kept digging an even deeper grave. In particular, there are two stories in MY BAD that made me aware of just how the use of archaic, racist terms are not only still pervasive in today's climate of political correctness, but set back the cause for racial tolerance by a few years or decades. Joe Bob Briggs' 1985 column in the DALLAS TIMES HERALD parodying "We Are The World" just blows the mind with its raw insensitivity, and while Briggs' character may be a satire of Southern backwardness, the fact his words would be "misunderstood"

Very entertaining read

An excerpt from a previous review: "This could have been a 5-star book. But, the authors chose to indulge themselves in a bit of editorializing about certain people. It becomes quite clear where the authors' political sympathies reside. There's nothing wrong with that - it's just that this book is not the appropriate place for it." A book is not an appropriate place for an author to have an opinion? Wow...just...wow. That's the whole idea of literature, isn't it? I really enjoyed this. I bought it because it's co-written by Ms. Sorkin, who I just knew as a great voice actress but it turns out she can write, too!

My Bad = Exceptionally Good

This book is brilliant on a number of levels. First, the sheer volume of apologies collected. Second, the vast range of apologies and apologizers. Third, the entertainment value of the collection. But perhaps what's most brilliant is the concept itself -- which is informed by the profound observation that we live in an age when shame has ceased to exist. In another time and place, people would fall on their swords, or slink into a Fatty Arbuckle-style oblivion, or beg for forgiveness when their crimes and misdemeanors were exposed to the public. Today, as Slansky and Sorkin make abundantly clear, when public figures are revealed to be spouse-beating, lying, embezzling, racist, resume-fictionalizing, data-faking, plagiarizing, former Ku Klux Klannish scoundrels, they issue an apology that is itself full of laughably blatant lies, then go about their business. It would be depressing if it weren't so funny.