Critics attack unread book on culture war

A new book by pro-family activist and attorney Matt Barber, who famously was fired from Allstate for writing – on his own time and on his own computer – about his beliefs about marriage, has been attracting all sorts of negative attention on Amazon.com.

But his publisher says the critics are commenting without having access to the book, since he's kept tight control of the select few advance copies made available to reviewers, and no one else has seen it.

"The Right Hook: From the Ring to the Culture War" by Barber, a pro boxer, insurance investigator, lawyer and pro-family activist, will be available to the public for the first time when Barber is the keynote speaker Saturday at a banquet for Americans for Truth, an Illinois-based pro-family group. Its general release is Nov. 3.

But on Amazon, more than a dozen "reviewers" have blasted the book.

For example, a reviewer identified as "John E. Visser," wrote, "Folks, don't waste your money – this book (which I have read as an advanced copy) is completely loaded with nothing more than exaggerated opinion and faulty hyperbole."

"Daniel Stern" added: "The further along I got in this book, the more I resented being in a position of having to read it. Not only do I want my hour and a half back, I wish to be able to erase this crapola from my brain."

"Bstewart23" contributed, "My advance copy was quickly sent to the recycle bin after reading, not even to the community library, as the writer travels the too-familiar territory of obsessive, right-wing, misplaced victimhood at the feet of a shifting, more-enlightened culture."

However, the publisher, Tristan Emmanuel of FreedomPress.ca, told WND the reviewers are making up their "observations."

"They would have had to purchase a copy, which I could track," he confirmed to WND, purchases which have yet to happen.

"They are lying about Matt's book," he said.

Barber and the publisher told WND advance copies have not been available, and only a few select advance drafts were sent under tightly controlled conditions to several reviewers.

The recipients include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who concluded: "Our country is at a crossroads. Now, more than ever, we need strong voices to stem the tide of liberalism that is washing away America’s Judeo-Christian heritage. Matt Barber is one of those voices."

Another was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who wrote, "The Right Hook is a must read for anyone who seeks to preserve America's Godly heritage."

WND editor and CEO Joseph Farah concluded, "This book is accurately titled. It not only conveys Matt Barber's sudden career switch, it reflects the dynamic and timely message of the book. Americans need to hear it and Matt Barber delivers it with the force of those blows he once delivered as a prize fighter."

"It is impossible that anyone who wrote a review on Amazon has read the book," Barber confirmed to WND.

The ratings from the "reviewers" on Amazon were uniformly low, one out of five stars, and they tagged it with words including "homophobia," "hate speech," "closet homosexual" and "barbra streisand."

WND has reported opponents of Christian-themed books have publicly disclosed a strategy to condemn books on Amazon.

"Through these childish and dishonest attempts to discourage people from reading 'The Right Hook,' liberal activists and bloggers obtusely prove one of the book's main points: that socialists, atheists, militant 'gay' activists and other secular leftists can't win the debate on the merits," Barber told WND.

"They desperately resort to Orwellian propagandist tactics in an effort to keep the truth from getting out. This appears to be the left's strategy du jour. We're seeing the same thing with the Obama administration's calculated attacks on 'Fox News.' The result? Americans are too savvy to be fooled. That's why 'Fox News' ratings are going through the roof."

Several online stores at Amazon listed the book for sale, but none responded to inquiries about whether they actually had the book in stock.