One Of The Worst Books I Ever Read: A Review Of Drudge Manifesto

Matt Drudge will be remembered for the role he played in popularizing the revolution brought about by the advent of Internet news. However, when it comes to the world of publishing, he better not quit his day job.

As one of the pioneers of a new form of mass communication, one would expect Drudge Manifesto to be an insightful tome as to his medium’s possibilities and strategies on how others might replicate his success. However, on this count Drudge Manifesto falls as short as the New York Times in fulfilling its civic obligation of supplying useful information.

The reader comes away from Drudge Manifesto with the impression that Mr. Drudge is an individual --- not unlike his nemesis Bill Clinton --- too aware of his own place in history. The extent of Drudge’s own self-awareness is to such a radical degree that it has led him to use a number of McCluhanesque literary devices bordering on the bizarre and that, ultimately, detract from the text.

For example, there are a number of pages scattered throughout the work filled with nothing but oversized “0”’s or a “1”s. On another is nothing but a single declaration in smaller-than-average size type in the center of the page reading “You’re boring”.

The only thing boring is wading through Drudge’s inane gimmicks. However, those with the stamina to meander through will be rewarded for their troubles with a transcript of the Q & A of Drudge’s 1998 address at the National Press Club in which the famed Internet muckraker provides perspective into the nature of this new medium and deflects criticisms of elitist mainstream journalists jealous about sharing the media spotlight with insightful outsiders.

In reading Drudge Manifesto, one is forced to conclude that Matt Drudge has become so intertwined with the medium synonymous with his name that he is nearly unable to rise above its limitations or to provide much of an analytical perspective capable of making the information revolution an even more effective venue for further expanding the freedoms of all mankind.

Copyright 2005 by Frederick Meekins