In a review in "The New York Times", Richard Brookhiser wrote, "Such books are part of the puppet theater of modern political discourse" and that "any clever and combative person could write 80 percent of this book, or its mirror image, in a weekend." Brookhiser also questioned the legitimacy of the book's arguments, given that the successes of many in the list are made possible by the public. He rhetorically asked: "Shouldn't Goldberg's book be "270 Million People Who Are Screwing Up America"?"