POLS: Great Writers on American Politicians from Bryan to Reagan
- Book Review,
by Jack Beatty (Editor)
From Publishers Weekly
Culling together a wonderfully eclectic mix of political prose, Beatty, a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, has produced a discerning reader that gives voice to America’s civil servants: urban and rural, famous and infamous. Beginning with C. Vann Woodward’s detailed account of Populist Tom Watson’s devolution from unifying agrarian rebel to lynch-defending racist, and ending with a colloquial, if choppy, excerpt from Richard Ben Kramer’s chronicle of the 1988 presidential campaign, What It Takes, the collection features selections from a veritable who’s who of noted historians and novelists. H.L. Mencken’s delightfully vicious dissection of Warren Harding’s 1921 inaugural address—a speech "so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it"—highlights Beatty’s ability to mix cleverly written commentary with straight historical reportage. Elsewhere Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., weighs in on Dwight Eisenhower, David McCullough analyzes Harry S. Truman, Richard Hofstadter examines Herbert Hoover, and Philip Roth and Norman Mailer take on Tricky Dick and JFK, respectively. While the collection is diverse, some of the selections lean towards the obvious (pieces on Reagan’s humor, Kennedy’s charisma, etc.), and others have been cut-and-pasted too roughly from their original sources (the sections on Truman and Bush Sr. are particularly bumpy). Overall, however, Beatty’s compendium reveals a reverence for our nation’s policy-makers—the crusaders and crooks alike—as well as for the belle lettrists who brought them alive for the American public.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Columbia Journalism Review
"The contributors' bold imagination, wit, and critical judgment set a very high standard..."
Boston Phoenix
"a terrific read on some of the 20th century's most compelling political figures."
Chicago Tribune
"Take a breather from the crush of current political news and read through this collection of work by wonderful writers."
San Antonio Express-New
"A compelling compendium. Whether you are a blue, red, or purple voter, 'Pols' will help you laugh at political behavior..."
Book Description
In Pols, Jack Beatty presents a writer's portrait gallery of America's most famous and infamous politicians. Whether it's John Dos Passos' brilliant six-page treatment of the life of Theodore Roosevelt, H.L. Mencken on Warren Harding's vapid orotundity, Richard Hofstadter on Herbert Hoover's cult of the individual, Hodding Carter on the terrifying rise of Huey Long, Robert A. Caro on the lonely integrity of Sam Rayburn, Fred Greenstein on the subtle wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Rovere on Joe McCarthy the liar, Mike Royko on a day in the life of Richard M. Daley, Lou Cannon on Ronald Reagan's use of humor, or James Fallows on the passionless presidency of Jimmy Carter, these and other classic pieces come at the American breed of politicians from every sort of angle. Particularly at the height of this political season, it's both edifying and a joy to read some of America's greatest political biographers on a century of its most notable politicians. The writers in Pols show us the American politician in all their stripes - cowardly and brave, charismatic and enigmatic, in charge and lost at sea. Pols, a brilliant collection for the bookshelf or nightstand of any political junkie or fan of good writing, is a literary investigation into American political history at its earthiest and its most high flown.
About the Author
Jack Beatty is a Senior Editor of the Atlantic Monthly and a News Analyst on the public radio program On Point from WBUR-Boston. He is the author of The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, 1874-1958. His 2001 anthology, Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America, was named as one of the ten best business books of the year by BusinessWeek. Mr. Beatty is married, with one son. He lives in New Hampshire.
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