The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il - Dear Reader

Of interest, but shame on me for not realizing what the book is when I ordered it. From listening to the first hour or so, it is an eery telling of the Dear Leader's life from a first-person/propagandist's point of view. Again, shame on me, but I bought it expecting a factual report on life in the People's "Republic" of North Korea.
Why'd I give it four starts? Because it's well done; this review is just a warning to be sure you know what you're buying.

What a tremendous work. Written in such an interesting style "as dictated to" the author by Kim Jong Il, it gives you a sense of the situation from the North Korean perspective of their propaganda, and their mentality behind it. The end... literally the last page is chilling, bnringing to light the pure evil that is the North Korean system. It is one of the most evil repressive regimes in history, thankfully limited to only 25 million people. I cannot urge people enough to read this book.

I was hoping to learn something about real life in North Korea in order to understand the unfortunate current events. However, I found the book difficult to get through. In fact I only made it through the first 1/4 or so of the book. Not sure if it's me, but I found it difficult to bear the pervasive anti-West sentiment, and the continual selfagrrandizing attitude of "Kim Jong Il" (yes, I know it wasn't really him speaking). I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to get out of the book what I wanted to!

I originally purchased a hardcover version as a gift for my partner who is passionate about the horror that is North Korea, we re-purchased it as an audiobook when it came to Audible. This book is simultaneously laugh out loud hilarious and sob-inducingly horrific.

This book has dramatically changed the way I view North Korea. There's very little information we have about this country. Some of us laugh at the caricature NK leaders and think the people are foolishly brainwashed. This book has dramatically changed my perception. Dear Reader takes you through the life of Kim Jong Il, from his perspective. It's the best book I've read in a long time. It's witty, smart, funny, filled with facts.... and completely entertaining. Its humor is found through Mr Malice's narrative and well developed characters. The book isn't preachy and doesn't bog you down with irrelevant historical dates. It's changed my view of NK and has given me insight into the NK citizen hostages. If you're interested to know more about NK, you must read this book.

Whatever this book is, it is the opposite of education. It is littered with Fake News and praise for an inhumane tyrant, who killed his brother. But, sure, let's make light of it and pretend everything is fine and dandy.

What a sorry excuse. Sad that someone wasted their time writing this book.

I have been intensely fascinated with North Korea for years. I think that it is amazing that we look back at the horrors of World War II with such a, "...how did we let that come to be?" fascination, but most people don't realize the horrors that are going on every day in DPRK. I first was turned onto this book after reading a great article in Reason about the trip that inspired the book by Michael Malice. [...]

One of the best things about this book is that it draws in readers with the usual, "Kim Jong Il is a joke," premise, but does a wonderful job at showing just how awful the country's leadership was/is. If you aren't aware of the day to day insanity of North Korea, this book is an awesome way to learn the story in an entertaining but still terrifying way. Very well written and paced.

I first heard about Michael Malice through a local radio talk show, Newstalk 620 in Vermont. It was very interesting to have him on the show and talk about his experience in the "Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea". Which is ironic because it is neither democratic or a republic. To find out more about Michael Malice, and have a few laughs at the expense of North Korea's government, check out his video on Youtube at Porcfest.

and buy the book, for goodness sake!