The Overton Window

{{italic title}}[[File:Cover for the Overton Window.jpg|165px|thumb|Cover for the Overton Window. Glenn actually held a poll of four different covers to decide which one he should use — the one he went with came in last.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=100XL1eON6Y</ref>]]
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{{hatnote|Were you looking for the political science concept, [[Overton window]]?}}
'''''The Overton Window'''''<ref name=Glenn>''The Overton Window'' by Glenn Beck, Published by Threshold Editions, ISBN 978-1-4391-8430-1</ref> is a 2010 novel by [[right-wing]] commentator [[Glenn Beck]]. Well, okay, "novel" isn't quite the right word. In his introduction, Beck calls this a "faction" or a "completely fictional book with plots rooted in fact."<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|IX}} In practice, it's better described as a semi-stream of consciousness with constant breaks for Beck's characters to rant about whatever was on his mind. Given that Beck has a feeble connection to facts when he's not writing fiction, it's better for people to just call the book fiction.

==Plot==
The book is about Noah Gardner, a [[public relations]] executive who is seduced by a woman named Molly Ross, a secret government agent who managed to trick him by, among other things, dressing up as his mother.<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|201-202}} (She also "kind of" looks like Natalie Portman.<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|229}}) To make a rather uninteresting story brief, the group finds out that the government is planning some massive attack, comparable to that of Pearl Harbor or [[9/11]]<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|147}} in order to justify a greater crack down on our freedoms. (Beck is not a 9/11 Truther for the record, and has even attacked both those who believe in the conspiracy and those who buddy around with members of that movement in the past,<ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/glenn-beck-big-hypocrite-9-11-conspiracy-theories Glenn Beck Is A Big Hypocrite On 9-11 Conspiracy Theories]</ref> making it more than a tad odd he would include a false flag terrorist plot in his book.)

At various points throughout the book, we learn about the government is doing — and unsurprisingly, it's whatever sounds the scariest to the average Glenn Beck fan. For example, at one point we learn the federal government is planning to "educate law enforcement and enlist the populace in a program designed to profile, identify, and report" members of specific groups, with one of the targets quite literally having the nickname "Tea Parties",<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|19}} or later the book "[[Tea Party]]".<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|435-436}} On another occasion, we learn "the final goal"<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|149}} of this government, which includes transferring power away from local governments and towards the federal government, specifically the executive branch, and then giving already existing federal power to an unspecific global entity.<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|150}} In the same regard, we're told another one of the main villains of the book — another worker in public relations — was responsible for the "pictures of clueless college students, rock stars, and Hollywood icons proudly wearing T-shirts featuring the romanticized images of [[Chairman Mao]] and [[Che Guevara]]."<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|33}}

There's nothing inherently wrong with this style of writing, especially if one is trying to create a [[satire]] of some sort. However, Beck isn't trying to present this as a farce, nor is he claiming these are [[Hyperbole|hyperbolic]] versions of current trends he sees in society, à la ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''. Instead, he's trying to present this as a realistic situation similar to what America was already like around 2010, which is where the book really falls flat, as Beck's utter lack of subtlety turns his political enemies into little more than one-dimensional caricatures who want to do bad things for no other reason then because they're bad people. 

As it stands, the only people who could get any kind of enjoyment out of this book are people who already agree with Beck and his buddies. Steve Levingston, who reviewed the book for ''The Washington Post'', made exactly this point:
{{quotebox|The success of Glenn Beck's novel, "The Overton Window," will be measured not by its literary value (none), or its contribution to the thriller genre (small), or the money it rakes in (considerable), but rather by the rebelliousness it incites among anti-government extremists. If the book is found tucked into the ammo boxes of self-proclaimed patriots and recited at "tea party" assemblies, then Beck will have achieved his goal.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/14/AR2010061405423.html Glenn Beck's paranoid thriller, "The Overton Window"] by Steve Levingston (June 15, 2010) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>|}}

==I am Glenn Beck!==
In the tradition of other [[libertarian]] novels, Beck includes a fair amount of "author filibusters" or "the plot stop[ing] dead in its tracks to give the author an opportunity to preach their message to the readers or audience, often very political or ethical in nature."<ref>[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorFilibuster Author Filibuster] ''TV Tropes''.</ref> During a meeting of a group called "the [[Founding Fathers|Founders]]' Keepers," Beck treats the reader to an entire chapter of nothing more than a character sharing their political views.<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|61-70}} Said speech sees her singing the praises of the conspiracy theorist favorite ''Tragedy and Hope'' by Carol Quigley<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|62}}<ref>''Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time'' by Carroll Quigley (1966) Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 9780026001304</ref> (which is a tad [[ironic]] given that Beck credits [[W. Cleon Skousen]] as an inspiration,<ref>https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/mitt-romney-video-wythe-glenn-beck-cleon-skousen/</ref> whom Quigley viewed as little more than a [[Nazi]] using his work to push an agenda<ref>https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/V06N03_roundtable.pdf</ref>) and quotes [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|67}}

==Reduce, reuse, recycle==
In the acknowledgement, Beck thanks "Jack Henderson for pouring his heart and soul into this project."<ref name=Glenn/>{{rp|VII}} However, it turns out that Henderson might not have been working quite as hard as Beck thought. Many of the plot points in ''The Overton Window'' are incredibly similar to a 2005 novel by Henderson called ''Circumference of Darkness'',<ref>''Circumference of Darkness'' by Jack Henderson (2005) Bantam Books. ISBN 0553589806.</ref> with the only notable difference being the villains are far-right actors while in Beck's books all the bad guys are on the left.<ref>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/glenn-becks-new-novel-abo_b_613861</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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