This has been quite a year for Michael Moore, capped crusader. First, his American publisher HarperCollins threatened to pulp his new book, Stupid White Men, as its scathing attack on Bush (in one of the more lighthearted chapters he describes him an illiterate drunk) was considered inappropriate in the aftermath of September 11.

When America's librarians got wind of this they started sending hate mail to HarperCollins, the media found the story, and the publisher was embarrassed into putting the book out. Although they only printed an initial 50,000 copies, these sold out within hours and the book has been selling ever since.

"It's about three-quarters of a million now," says Moore. "It'll be a million before it's done."

Then there is his film, "Bowling For Columbine", a corrosively brilliant documentary which takes the Columbine High School killings of 1999, in which 12 pupils and one teacher were killed by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, as the jumping-off point for an exploration of gun culture, American violence, and its roots in slavery and racism.

The film also features a confrontation with Charlton Heston, the Hollywood icon now president of the National Rifle Association.