I contributed my first review to Amazon over the weekend when I noticed none had been posted for Mark Steyn’s recently published Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech, and the Twilight of The West. Maybe that’s because, unless you order from the Steyn Store, the book is not shipping yet… but I’ve been a fan of Steyn’s work for several years so I wanted to take the time to write a review. Though I’m a nerd of many hobbies and a short attention span, I cracked open Lights Out as soon as it arrived in the mail. Despite the fact I noted with my order that no dedication was necessary, Steyn took the time to add a funny comment with his autograph. For a frothing xenophobic hatemonger, he seems like a nice enough guy.

My Amazon review:

In “Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The West,” Mark Steyn details his recent misadventures with Canada’s laughable “Human Rights” Commissions. After Maclean’s, a Canadian news weekly, printed an excerpt from Steyn’s America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, the Canadian Islamic Congress sued Maclean’s for their “flagrant Islamophobia,” demanding space in the privately owned magazine to print a response. Two of three Commissions agreed to hear the case, despite the plaintiff’s arguments being written by five of Canada’s least literate law school students.

Lights Out is primarily a compilation of Steyn articles from the past several years, with a fair amount of new commentary related to the “human rights” trials. The Maclean’s articles cited as justification for legal action by the plaintiff are reprinted in full, followed by the plaintiff’s complaints, followed by Steyn’s concise destruction of said complaints. Far from the obnoxious partisan your average multiculti-cultist dismisses him as, Steyn relates international headlines and demographic stats in a way that’s thoughtful, worrying, and humorous. There are Muslim populations in Western countries that are hostile to Western culture and laws. These populations are growing rapidly, while native birth rates hover at unsustainable levels. Are these issues we’re allowed to discuss?

Steyn’s stated purpose is repeal of the Canadian law that created the freedom-suppressing Human Rights Commissions. An ambitious goal, to be sure, but one that will gain momentum after a few hundred thousand Canadians have read Lights Out. If you care about free speech, order this book.

So far I’m batting a thousand: 1 of 1 people found the review helpful. Ahh, the sweet taste of a stranger’s acceptance.

If you’re a regular Steyn reader, you may have already read many of the articles featured in Lights Out. If you’re a regular Steyn reader, I don’t have to tell you the book’s worth your time anyway!

As anticipated, I failed to follow through on my idea to write a post a week about a movie, game, or book that I wanted to share. So here is several weeks’ worth!

First, the trailer you’ve probably already heard about and seen, for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I’ve loved the Indiana Jones movies since I was a kid, so I’m looking forward to this one. It was supposed to happen in the summer of 2005, then maybe in 2006 or 2007; hopefully the finished product will be better late than never! I think Steven Spielberg will keep George Lucas from bungling this up as he did the three most recent Star Wars movies.

Second, a new movie you may not have heard much about: Iron Man. I’m not big on comic books and have never been a fan of Iron Man in particular, but the trailers look extremely cool. Jon Favreau is directing, which is good because Jon Favreau is awesome.

Last but not least, I just finished Robert Ferrigno’s recently released Sins of the Assassin. I really enjoyed Prayers for the Assassin, the first book in the trilogy, and the second does not disappoint. Ferrigno paints a convincing, frightening world and drags his characters through exciting twists and turns that are a lot of fun to read. If you like a good few hundred pages of fictitious action, it’s highly recommended.