Sissy Nation: How America Became a Culture of Wimps & Stoopits

by John Strausbaugh

Praised by the New York Times Book Review for being persuasive and] provocative, Strausbaugh reveals in furious, funny, and ferocious prose how Americans became sissified, soft, and scared--and offers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 190526416X
• ISBN13: 9781905264162
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Virgin Books
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Pretty good book . . . for a sissified cityboy.

Must say that I enjoyed John Strausbaugh's book a great deal. Seldom has common sense been so eloquent. YES, it is humorous, but far from satire -- this is a serious issue that the locksteping automaton sheeple are loathe to address (it "hurts their widdle feelings" and isn't "politically correct"). TRUTH is only objectuionable to those who fear it. Strausbaugh boldly speaks his mind about "groupthink," politics, fundamentalism, obesity, anti-depressants, public education, the Interweb, and a number of other valid and timely topics . . . and I'm in agreement with over 90% of it. HOWEVER, being a sheltered cityboy has insulated him from more than a few things, and I did note 2 glaring errors of fact: 1.) Strausbaugh naively lumps ALL gun owners in with mentally ill mass shooters and sociopathic gangstas who empty their Tec-9s over hurt feelings. He seems to think that Amerika would be a better place if everyone would just turn in their guns -- and blames "Joe Average" for supporting the criminal misuse of illegal firearms simply for refusing to waive his own 2nd Amendment right. He makes the "generic sissy argument" that the gun is a symbollic phallus used only to assauge one's feelings of inadequacy . . . riiiiight. I'M not a sissy. I own a gun because in MY neighborhood ALL the criminals carry illegal guns -- and there are about 5 shootings a week. They'll shoot you AFTER they've taken your wallet here. Not a nice place. I'm not about to let some smirking gangsta do whatever he likes to me and my friends just because HE has a gun and we don't. Grow up, John. 2.) Strausbaugh further posits that the "noble" illegal immigrants from Mexico simply want to earn pennies doing the jobs no-one else wants. Unlike the South, NYC has not experienced the devastation caused by the massive influx of illegal Mexicans. They are not travelling here to pick vegetables and scrub toilets -- no, they're working at skilled trades (fiberoptic cables, telecommunications wiring, masonry, construction) and making over minimum wage to do it. Subcontactors rake in huge profits by not only hiring, but transporting and housing them. These are not jobs that "nobody wants" -- they are Union jobs that you need a license to practice, and the wages are typically quadruple what the Mexicans are getting paid. Not only that, but they're not paying taxes . . . and using the SSNs of taxpayers to work here . . . and those innocent taxpayers get notice from the IRS that they owe taxes on the money "they" allegedly were paid for laying cable in NC while they were simultaneously waiting tables in CA! While the Mexicans are the administration's current whipping boy (i.e., distraction from Iraq and the economy), they are far from harmless innocents. Even though I disagreed very strongly with those two points of fact, the remainder of this book was outstanding, and I recommend it highly. A wake up call that ought to be mandatory reading for all citizens.

He's got it right!

The author has it right and lays it out in a no-holds-barred fashion. There will definitely be something in this book that will offend, but that's entirely the point. Sometimes one has to be shocked into awareness, something we're resistant to these days. We have become a weak and flabby nation, and are becoming a weak and flabby world; physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. It's subtle and it has occurred over a long period of time, but it is very real. People are easily slighted and chronically dissatisfied. Kids (and adults) have come to expect rewards and praise for simply doing the right thing (or for doing nothing), as a result there is nothing to really strive for. Everybody demands their 15 minutes of fame and they demand it now, even if they really have nothing to offer. Essentially, that is what this book is about. Sure, it's a bit of a rant and not every idea is examined in the detail I would have liked, but once I started I read it right through -- I couldn't put it down. We, as a nation, need to hear more of this sort of thing, particularly our kids. I'm grateful the author had the courage to write this book.

Laugh-out-loud Unitil it Hurts Funny!!!

John Strausbaugh's "Sissy Nation" is laugh out loud, stomach hurting, tears flowing funny!!!! His flair and often insight commentary is just downright hilarious. The book starts out on a fat, oh, I mean fast pace. At some points in this book, I was doubled over laughing trying to catch my breath. His observations on lazy, fat, stoopid Americans flows form one issue to the other. There were some things I wholeheartedly agreed with and a few I didn't, but, since I'm not a sissy, I wasn't offended and since I disagree with him on some parts (God's defenders actually winning the debates in modernity, Swinbourne, Plantinga, et al), I was not offended, but still found myself laughing about his overall point regarding post-modernity. Hence, I'm not a sissy because I do not fall into "groupthink" and I can distinguish the main from the side points (it is nice to know after reading this book I was not a sissy, at least by his definition). He briefly, but humorously tackles obesity, college campus, post modernity, and government stoopidness (is that a word?). This book really is laugh out loud funny - I advise all people, men, women, and others, read this book now and laugh out loud. You won't agree with everything and if you do, you may be a sissy. If you don't and you're offended, you may be a sissy. And if you can't read, you just may be stoopid.

SISSY FIGHT! SISSY FIGHT!

Not everybody is going to get this book. The rigid, closed-minded, scared-of-his/her-own thoughts, group-thinking, group-speaking, dependent--um--next-door-neighbor-of-yours' fanatic will find this book downright revolting. We really don't need any more of those people around anymore anyway. But, don't build a fence. It's time to move on. Let's climb one notch higher on the scale of evolution. I'm not sure that Americans have ever really thought for themselves. Strausbaugh says they did, once. And he points out a whole lot of things we currently "believe in", mindlessly, that may seem obvious once laid bare. The point is, Strausbaugh has I.D.'d them all--not you and not me. Strausbaugh's writing is so sharp it makes everything look easy--like the reader actually thought of it himself. Effortlesss writing. And effortless to read, until you put it down. Yeah, you've been reading it in the tub (or wherever), and now you're just floating there, so you stop to think about it. Watch out, it just might steep into that sissy mind of yours. You're in good company. Strausbaugh himself admits to being an American Sissy. "Sissy Nation" refers to the end of empire, specifically to the end of the American Empire. Strausbaugh is quick to point out that much of the western world isn't far behind in the unraveling of the personal integrity, individualism and gumption that made America great. He stresses that the "ideals" of America are sound, and that they have served as an excellent model upon which to build a nation, but that the average American's dependence upon virtual reality, consumer goods and branding, escape, and just wanting to be entertained is leading to the decay of the nation and the emergence of a new breed--the American Sissy. According to Strausbaugh, we choose "sissy leaders" who, at best, tell us whatever we want to hear in order to get elected, and at worst, lie to us and manipulate us in accordance with our fears. And our fears, fueled by the popular press, are many. "Sissy Nation" is filled with humor. But the book is deeper than it appears on first reading. Read it twice. There's a rather remarkable brain at work behind the "out there" rant. You can find out more reading Strausbaugh's online blog at www.sissynation.us. Dissing this book is like saying Mick Jagger (whether you like him or not) wasn't, at least at one time, a great performer.