In a long interview from the Palestine Chronicle, Finkelstein complains that few publications have reviewed his latest book, Beyond Chutzpah
. He talks about a lot of other stuff too. Finkelstein's book title of course is a dig at Chutzpah, written by Alan Dershowitz, whom Finkelstein has feuded with for years. From that Palestine Chronicle article:
Finally, professor Finkelstein, we spoke to you just after your book, Beyond Chutzpah, was released -- what kind of media attention, both by the corporate mainstream and the alternative press, has your book received -- any surprises, any disappointments?
Well, the answer to that question is very simple (laughs); there was no reaction at all. I can't say I was altogether surprised; there were disappointments along the way. The book received, to my knowledge, and my knowledge is (laughs) pretty exhaustive here, I follow it...there wasn't a single mainstream review of the book-and by "mainstream," you usually refer to first, second and third-tier newspapers. First-tier newspapers would be the national newspapers like the New York Times, the Post, and you would probably include things like the Wall Street Journal. Second-tier newspapers would be something like the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Boston Globe; newspapers of that sort. Among the first and second tier, there were exactly zero reviews of the book--133;actually, apart from, I think, one-half of one sentence--literally--maybe six words, even less, maybe five--there wasn't any mention of the book, anywhere, in the first or second-tier newspapers. The third-tier newspapers would be sort of local newspapers, in my town, New York, maybe the Daily News, the New York Post--the local tabloids--to my knowledge, there wasn't any mention in any of the third-tier newspapers of the book. In understand that in the Chicago Sun-Times, which is sort of the "junk" tabloid, there was a paragraph mention under something like "lunatic authors;" they mention myself and the Holocaust denier David Irving. So, that was it for third-tier newspapers, so, that was a complete zero. Among leftist publications, it was pretty much totally ignored. The Progressive Magazine -- Matt Rothschild, who's the editor-in-chief--he said the book already had enough publicity, so he wasn't going to review it, which was kind of odd, because I thought there was a difference between a publicity stunt and a serious book review, but he said no. The Nation magazine never reviewed it. There were a few little publications on the left who reviewed it. But the main, left, liberal publications, no mention of it, nothing, absolute zero. Among media, obviously no television. I think, apart from your program, and a couple of programs that have come from your neck of the woods, there was no radio. Certainly there was no mainstream radio, no NPR, nothing. Absolute zero. And even Democracy Now! didn't have me on, which was sort of a disappointment. So, altogether, I would say, a complete zero, a complete washout. I wasn't totally shocked by it, but it was frustrating, and, in some cases, it was a disappointment.
I'd like to add that the New York Times, The Naton, The Chicago Tribune and the like are not obligated to review any book. Published book reviews almost always help sell additional books. Bill O'Reilly has complained that the New York Times rarely (if ever) reviews his books. O'Reilly differs from Finkelstein in this respect, in that his books are best sellers, and at some point the New York Times, arguably, owes its readers an opinion on a top selling book. Finkelstein's books are not best sellers.
Here's another Finkelstein book: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering
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