Michael Moore's first foray into the printed medium, Downsize This! is a look at corporate greed, government policy, and the present status of American Culture. Focusing upon the present interplay between business, society, and civic responsibility of corporations, Michael Moore exposes the raw side of politics and big business within the United States.
Copyrighted in 1996 this book explores its themes by using a wide variety of short examples of his topics. These examples normally reflect one of two major means; a prank carried out by Mr. Moore himself to prove a point or a general overview of a situation. In both cases Mr. Moore uses humor to illustrate his points with wit and well aimed sarcasm.
A few chapters of particular note are where he confesses his secret love for Hillary Clinton, his criticism on the difficulty of joining labor unions, and his expose on corporate greed.
However Downsize This! does fall short if one is reading it in the hope of finding a central theme neatly laid out through the book. By his use of several unconnected stories, each present as a separate chapter, his book delivers many points well but in the end does not deliver a clear message. In addition although his criticisms are well stated his book has a dirth of solutions to the social problems of the United States.
On a side note of interest Mr. Moore got his start in political activism as a member of the Green Party. He also appeared with Ralph Nader during his run for the Presidency of the United States in 2000.
Information for this in part gathered from the New York Times review of Downsize This!