The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life

Bill O'Reilly aptly describes himself as a ''pain in the rear'' in the surprise best seller The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life. This ''cocky bastard'' (again, his words) claims that unlike his Fox News show, his book will have no commercials, yet he's constantly interrupting this choppy compendium of random rants with plugs for himself.

He takes credit for creating the TV newsmag genre with his stint as anchor of the syndicated tabloid show ''Inside Edition'': ''Following the television rule that a successful program inspires ten clones, the networks jumped in with 'Dateline,' '48 Hours,' and so forth.'' What he fails to mention is that ''48 Hours'' -- not to mention ''60 Minutes,'' ''20/20,'' and ''A Current Affair'' -- predated ''Edition.''

O'Reilly correctly promotes himself as an equal opportunity attack dog; he rips into the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sen. Jesse Helms with similar abrasiveness. But for every smart remark (he decries the proliferation of ''silly gas guzzling SUVs''), he makes another stupid one (''the women who drive them are especially crazed'').

And the same guy who foists his fantasies about Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tyra Banks, and Connie Chung upon us lectures gays to keep their sexuality to themselves (''Dykes on bikes? Take a hike!''). No wonder Dr. Laura gave this jerk a blurb.