About this title: Joan Didion's essays reflect the years 1988 to 2000, and deal with such topics as Iran-contra, Newt Gingrich, the literary career of Bob Woodward, and the Lewinsky scandal.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: Vintage Intl ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780375718908ISBN:0375718907
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 352 p. Vintage. Audience: General/trade. CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK. NF-P, 2002, Vintage Books USA. 1989-; 20th century; Election; Elections; Essays; General; History; Literary Collections; Non-Fiction; Political culture; Political Process; Political Science; United States read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Good. Hardback edition in good condition. Clean, former library book with usual stamps, mylar cover, etc. No other markings or highlightings. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this item supports Pierce County libraries. Thriftbooks and PCL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. 0375413383 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0375413383 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Good. Hardcover ex-library book with dust jacket in good condition. All usual stamps and markings. Pages are clean and the binding is tight. read more
Edition: Vintage Intl ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780375718908ISBN:0375718907
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 352 p. Vintage. Audience: General/trade. Near-perfect condition. From a private collection. read more
Edition: Stated First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, Westminister, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Good in Very Good jacket. Ex-Library. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. In 1988 Didion began to write what became a series of eight pieces on the American political process. Collected here, they show how the normal citizen no longer has a voice. 338 pages. ------------------------This library discard is in good condition. The binding is solid but leans somewhat. Other than the library markings, the text is clean and unmarked. The covering of charcoal cloth and light gray paper shows only mild wear, and ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. First edition stated. 338 pp. Foot of spine slightly bumped. Dust jacket wrinkled on front; edge wear and very small tears. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First edition hard cover with dust jacket, FINE/FINE. As new in mylar cover. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375413384ISBN:0375413383
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Dust jacket in archival Brodart cover. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 352 p. Audience: General/trade. Volume looks great in archival cover. read more
-The opening is predictable and pretentious. I'm tired of the attitude from some journalists that they are too good to cover the campaigns/politics. It seeps through and colors their work. I guess she's at least kind enough to air the dirty laundry right out front.
-It strains credulity to think that you can build a case that someone is being dishonest, as she does of midlevel Reagan officials in The West Wing of Oz based on the tenses they use years after the events in question. Most people are just not that careful with language. Reads like an overreach.
-I'm not a fan of the modern Bob Woodward, but she takes cheap shots by playing with the order of the information on the pages of his books. i.e. if he knew this on page XX, why didn't he ask it during the interview on page YY? Nonfiction books aren't always written, much less researched chronologically, especially when the lowly-paid researchers are involved. Try harder next time please Joan.
-The essay on Newt Gingrich, where she takes his books and deconstructs the writing, is the weak point. A huge detour that doesn't add much to the book's stated goal. As high school juniors, we were forced to read To Renew America, and our essays poked fun at some of the same absurd lines as Didion. If we could do it in high school, I'm not quite sure what value Didion adds, because it clearly doesn't take an intellectual. This comes across as a self-indulgent attempt to whack someone she doesn't like. Publishing this piece in the The New York Review is little more than literary pornography, given the demographic she's writing to. What's inexcusable is including this piece in a book of essays published in 2001. Newt's relevance died long before then. She should have written a piece about Frank Luntz, who gets only passing mention, instead.
-Didion implies in several places that the problem with the Democrats is that they are too centrist. In other places she implies that the primaries are undemocratic. These two arguments aren't compatible. Also, it's poor methodology to compare voter turnout in midterm elections with presidential elections, as she does."
"Another gem in the crown of Joan Didion's collection of non-fiction writing. In "Political Fictions" she explores the nature of our political system in the United States and the manner in which we all buy into the story. It is my understanding that the book was released in 200 and what struck me was just how prophetic most of her ideas were, especially in the wake of the recent 2008 election.
Various thoughts and notes I made on the book are as follows: " A 1995 essay about Newt Gingrich concludes that "personal popularity among large numbers of voters may continue to elude him." While it is difficult to argue with Mr. Gingrich's intellect, I think time has revealed that his style as not played everywhere. " Donna Brazille is, in my humble opinion, a poor campaign strategist, as evidenced not only in her handling of the Gore campaign, but also the comments attributed to her here as part of the Dukakis campaign in 1988, of which I was not aware that she was a part of - yet her opinion is still solicited today. Odd. " The essay about Jesse Jackson and the spirit of inclusiveness of his campaign and how its message of hope, really foreshadowed how of the greater themes of the successful Obama campaign. " In my humble opinion, Bill Clinton was a rather slimy and divisive campaigner. " The essay about President George H.W. Bush and the need for camels really presaged the importance of stagecraft in politics. Reagan was the master at stagecraft and Obama uses it to tremendous effect, as well. " One of the first ideas I got from reading the book was the importance of branding in politics and how branding and marketing has assumed even more importance since these essays were crafted. " The initial essay about the Clinton/Lewinsky affair and the public's apathy towards it was simply remarkable. Didion hits at Kenneth Starr and his Ahab-like pursuit of the white whale. She talks about the unreliable first-person narrator aspect of the Starr Report and she just hits a perfect pitch. " Didion hints at the notion that the Clinton impeachment was certainly clearly political. The Republicans focus on the strict rule of law was not so essential during the Ollie North version of the Iran-Contra Affair. " Clearly the coziness of Republicans in the name-that-Clinton-scandal was an issue. Although the vast right wing conspiracy argument made by Hillary Clinton was a bridge too far, there sure were lots of Republican elves like Ann Coulter working their magic - all a bit too close to the Office of Independent Counsel. " The pundit class in Washington did not then and does not now understand the rest of America. " How very damaging Joe Lieberman was to the Gore campaign, Polls showed that 68% of voters in February 1999 did not want the impeachment issue brought up in the campaign with only 1/3 concerned about the effect of Clinton's actions on the country. Lieberman brought back all of those ghosts because his resume at that time consisted almost solely of chastising the President."
"I really wanted to get this one in before the election. Political Fictions is a collection of essays on the political process, political figures and noteworthy elements of various campaigns that Joan Didion observed and comments on in her uniquely analytical voice.
What I had hoped for was some insight into what all happens every four years, what all it means. "Insider Baseball" delivered with its portrayal of the Dukakais campaign from within. (The Bush-Dukakis election is the first one of that I was actually aware of. I was seven at the time, and I really wanted to vote for Dukakis. I just loved him.) Didion describes the massive machinery behind and pageantry of a presidential campaign in a way that makes it easy to imagine what goes on behind the scenes in today's Obama-McCain race.
Probably my second favorite essay was "God's Country," where Didion described the evangelical Christian right and how involved they became in George W. Bush's campaign, as well as Al Gore's attempts to counter by picking a "godly" running mate in Joe Lieberman. It was an interesting story that shed some light on how that segment of the population thinks and acts.
Other noteworthy essays were "Newt Gingrich, Superstar," which made me laugh out loud and shake my head in disbelief, particularly at Newt's vision of the future as "an extended Delta hub" sending honeymooners to the moon to enjoy the effects of zero gravity... "Clinton Agonistes" and "Vichy Washington," which both described (in differing lights) the Interngate scandal and impeachment proceedings of the late 90s.
All in all, an interesting and enlightening read, particularly in an election year."
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