This is not a subtle book, and its bombastic approach would be even more grating if it weren't for several flashes of self-deprecation, such as when the author shares a negative piece of viewer mail, or when he writes, In case you haven't noticed, I'm a cocky bastard. Sometimes O'Reilly's put-downs are creative and funny: If God has a sense of humor, as I believe he does, [Al Sharpton and David Duke] will be sharing a sauna in the netherworld. With one thermostat. And he's good at illustrating his points with outrageous details. In criticizing the bloated federal budget, for instance, he points to these shockers: $230,000 for a study of housefly sex habits, $27,000 for an analysis of why prisoners want to escape, and $100,000 to find out why Americans don't like beets. (To which he replies: Houseflies mate when no one is looking. Prisoners don't like prison. Beets don't taste good.) O'Reilly is often considered something of a conservative, but he can also play the blue-collar populist: The rich want us to believe that anyone can make the quantum leap from bowling league to country club by just working a little harder. That's supposed to keep us motivated and quiet. Fans of his TV show will probably appreciate this cantankerous book. --John J. Miller

About The Author: William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television. During the late 1970s and 1980s, he worked as a news reporter for various local television stations in the United States and eventually for CBS News and ABC News. From 1989 to 1995, he was anchor of the entertainment news program Inside Edition.

O'Reilly is widely considered a conservative commentator, though some of his positions diverge from conservative orthodoxy (in particular his opposition to the death penalty). O'Reilly characterizes himself as a "traditionalist". O'Reilly is the author of nine books, and hosted The Radio Factor until early 2009.

O'Reilly at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, September 30, 2010

Early life and education: O'Reilly was born on September 10, 1949, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to parents William James, Sr. (deceased) and Winifred Angela Drake O'Reilly, from Brooklyn, New York and Teaneck, New Jersey. Bill O'Reilly's ancestors on his father's side lived in County Cavan, Ireland since the early eighteenth century, and those on his mother's side were from Northern Ireland. The O'Reilly family lived in a small apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey when their son was born. In 1951, his family moved to Levittown on Long Island. O'Reilly has a sister, Janet. He attended St. Brigid parochial school in Westbury and Chaminade High School, a private Catholic boys high school in Mineola. His father wanted him to attend Chaminade, but Bill wanted to attend W. Tresper Clarke High School, the public school where most of his closest friends would attend. Bill O'Reilly played Little League baseball and was the goalie on the Chaminade varsity hockey team. During his high school years, O'Reilly met future award winning singer Billy Joel whom O'Reilly described as a "hoodlum." O'Reilly recollected in an interview with Michael Kay on the YES Network show CenterStage, that Joel "was in the Hicksville section – the same age as me – and he was a hood. He used to slick it [his hair] back like this. And we knew him, because his guys would smoke and this and that, and we were more jocks."

After graduating from high school in 1967, O'Reilly attended Marist College, his father's choice. While at Marist, O'Reilly played punter in the National Club Football Association, and was also a writer for the school's newspaper, The Circle. An honors student, he majored in history. He spent his junior year of college abroad, attending Queen Mary College at the University of London. O'Reilly received his Bachelor of Arts in history in 1971. He played semi-professional baseball during this time, as a pitcher for the New York Monarchs. After graduating from Marist College, O'Reilly moved to Miami, Florida at age 21, where he taught English and history at Monsignor Pace High School from 1970 to 1972. O'Reilly returned to school in 1973 and earned a Master of Arts in broadcast journalism from Boston University. While attending Boston University, he was a reporter and columnist for various local newspapers and alternative news weeklies, including The Boston Phoenix, and did an internship in the newsroom of WBZ-TV. During his time at BU, O'Reilly also was classmates with future radio talk show host Howard Stern whom O'Reilly noticed because Stern was the only student on campus taller than he. O'Reilly also earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard, he was a student of Marvin Kalb.

O'Reilly has authored nine books:

• O'Reilly, Bill (1998). Those Who Trespass. Bancroft Press. ISBN 0-9631246-8-4. 
• O'Reilly, Bill (2000). The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0528-8.  (Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)
• O'Reilly, Bill (2001). The No Spin Zone. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0848-1.  (Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)
• O'Reilly, Bill (2003). Who's Looking Out For You?. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-1379-5.  (Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)
• O'Reilly, Bill; Charles Flowers (2004). The O'Reilly Factor For Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families. Harper Entertainment. ISBN 0-06-054424-4.  (Best-selling nonfiction children's book of 2005)
• O'Reilly, Bill (2006). Culture Warrior. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-2092-9.  (Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list; Achieved more than one million copies in print in its first three months)
• O'Reilly, Bill (2007). Kids Are Americans Too. William Morrow. ISBN 0060846763. 
• O'Reilly, Bill (2008). A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity: A Memoir. Broadway Books. ISBN 0767920929. 
• O'Reilly, Bill (2010). Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama. William Morrow. ISBN 0061950718. 

In addition, O'Reilly writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column that appears in numerous newspapers, including the New York Post and the Chicago Sun-Times

Source: Wikipedia