Sh*tshow!

The Country's Collapsing . . . and the Ratings Are Great

By: Charlie LeDuff

Narrated by: Charlie LeDuff

A daring, firsthand, and utterly unscripted account of crisis in America, from Ferguson to Flint to Cliven Bundy's ranch to Donald Trump's unstoppable campaign for President - at every turn, Pulitzer-prize winner and best-selling author of Detroit: An American Autopsy Charlie LeDuff was there.

In the fall of 2013, long before any sane person had seriously considered the possibility of a Trump presidency, Charlie LeDuff sat in the office of then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and made a simple but prophetic claim: The American people were at breaking point. The country was going broke and on high boil. No one in the bubbles of Washington, DC; New York; or Los Angeles was talking about it - least of all the media. LeDuff wanted to go to the heart of the country to report what was really going on. Ailes balked. Could the hard-living and straight-shooting LeDuff be controlled? But, then, perhaps on a whim, he agreed. And so LeDuff set out to record a TV series called The Americans, and, along the way, ended up bearing witness to the ever-quickening unraveling of The American Dream.

For three years, LeDuff traveled the width and breadth of the country with his team of production irregulars, ending up on the Mexican border crossing the Rio Grande on a yellow rubber kayak alongside undocumented immigrants; in the middle of Ferguson as the city burned; and watching the children of Flint get sick from undrinkable water. Racial, political, social, and economic tensions were escalating by the day. The inexorable effects of technological change and globalization were being felt more and more acutely, at the same time as wages stagnated and the price of housing, education, and healthcare went through the roof. The American people felt defeated and abandoned by their politicians, and those politicians seemed incapable of rising to the occasion. The old way of life was slipping away, replaced only by social media, part-time work, and opioid addiction.

Sh*tshow is that true, tragic, and distinctively American story, told from the parts of the country hurting the most. A soul-baring, irreverent, and iconoclastic writer, LeDuff speaks the language of everyday Americans and is unafraid of getting his hands dirty. He scrambles the tired old political, social, and racial categories, taking no sides - or prisoners. Old-school, gonzo-style reporting, this is both a necessary confrontation with the darkest parts of the American psyche and a desperately needed reminder of the country's best instincts.

©2018 Charlie LeDuff (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist LeDuff delivers a crackling critique of American culture using vignettes from his years traveling across the country and talking to everyday Americans.... This timely portrait of America is a superb example of contemporary gonzo journalism.” (Publishers Weekly)

Knock out job!

Charlie killed it! Great book! Finally a book that accurately reflects what Americans on all sides are feeling, rather than a narrative that’s all about how one side is wrong.

Pure Entertainment

The book was wonderfully written and performed. There was an abundance of well thought out chapters and ideas.

Charlie Crushed It

I never know what to expect when an author narrates their own work. Most of the time I listen and think the author should have left it to a professional. Sometimes, I think that the author ruined their own work with a horrible performance.

Then there are times like this. Charlie LeDuff was absolutely fantastic. I sat down, thinking I'd listen to the book for just a few minutes today and pick it up again later. The next thing I know, I have listened to the entire thing with very few pauses. I cannot imagine anyone else delivering a performance like Charlie's.

I'm sure a professional narrator could have done a good job with the text and maybe have even done it justice in their own way. But the one thing that only Charlie LeDuff could do is the thing he did in spades. He gave an authentic performance.

He was manic when he needed to be manic and somber when he needed to be somber. He struck the right tone for the story he told but was always energetic.

I guess if you are super partisan or either the left or the right you will find parts of the book hard to swallow but if you are one of the numerous people who span many racial, gender, social, age and class groups who believe that all politicians fail to serve the citizenry, you will spend most of your time listening to the book and nodding along. Well, when you aren't laughing at a funny aside from Charlie.

Charlie is a Smart Guy

I usually feel it is a mistake for an author to narrate his own work. This is no exception. That said his passion for his work is obvious and the story is strong.

Right on time

LeDuff hit the nail on the head, chapter after chapter. One of the few times the term fair & balanced has been used as an accurate assessment. This man revived true journalism in an effort to tell the story of what's taking place in the present day US from both points of view.

Rage, pain and wake up call to all

This is the third book by LeDuff that I read and listened. He is one of those journalists who lives what he writes about.

Honesty in short supply

Love that Charlie narrated this himself, I’d guess it sounds as it should from only his lips.
Fantastically honest and smart, we need much more of this sort.
In short - Excellent

Charlie is everything right with America.

Charlie doesn't tell you how you should think, while he sits in an office far away from the average person. Charlie goes into real America, and tells you what is actually happening. He allows you to decide what to think about that. He is what is missing from the 'news'. An actual journalist (though he seems to shy away from that term) who gives you the facts; not a pundit who gives you opinions, often just spinning the facts to fit their opinion. If Charlie LeDuff was on the news again, I may actually tune back in. Until then I will follow his work through books, websites, or podcasts...whatever media he wishes to report the news through.

Finally- real news!

News from a news man not a television elitest. Includes the parts of the story that doesn't sell commercials or cause people to believe it's none of their business - just other people's problem. Great narrator.

reports from the front lines

LeDuff holds the media to task for exacerbating divisions among the United States' angry downtrodden, and reveals that the ties that bind us go beyond left and right straight to wealth and power inequality. Its hard to imagine anyone else narrating LeDuff's unique rant.