tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post177201978283236861..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Great Reporters, Great BooksJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-19775000162296652892013-01-09T00:54:21.465-06:002013-01-09T00:54:21.465-06:00The book I keep referencing in memory is about how...The book I keep referencing in memory is about how the media cover politics: THE BOYS ON THE BUS by Tim Crouse. He was the guy that Rolling Stone employed to report on the 1972 campaign in the event that Hunter Thompson went completely off the rails. He came up with a treatise on pack journalism that still--even in this era when so much of it has changed--defines how the media covers campaigns and Washington in general, including government. Captain Futurehttp://dreamingup.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-34901716902530520912013-01-09T00:44:06.443-06:002013-01-09T00:44:06.443-06:00OK, that's going on my list.OK, that's going on my list.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-72673054321727774622013-01-09T00:42:17.809-06:002013-01-09T00:42:17.809-06:00Schell, The Time of IllusionSchell, The Time of IllusionDavid Sousahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13198782350162148441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-25158232103202300792013-01-08T23:04:35.860-06:002013-01-08T23:04:35.860-06:00Sigh. You are correct. And I will never be a repor...Sigh. You are correct. And I will never be a reporter for the Baltimore Sun.Seth Maskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-26429778768874605542013-01-08T21:48:53.894-06:002013-01-08T21:48:53.894-06:00(Forgive me, it's the editor in me.)
. . . w...(Forgive me, it's the editor in me.)<br /><br /> . . . who I believe was a reporter . . . (not whom)<br /><br />It's the subject of "was a reporter," not the object of "I believe" (which is parenthetical).Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-11000105043013477912013-01-08T21:28:58.040-06:002013-01-08T21:28:58.040-06:00Theodore White's The Making of the President 1...Theodore White's The Making of the President 1960 was a big part of how I came to love politics--there is a reverence for elections there that, reading it as a freshman in high school, I found very inspirational. For the exact opposite readings, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 was also seminal in my political upbringing.<br /><br />More recently, Rebecca Traister's Big Girls Don't Cry was an amazing take on the '08 campaign that told a very big story (feminism and the '08 election) in a personal and relatable way.Sean Fitzpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07848979325394327317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-42806757177705804142013-01-08T21:28:43.595-06:002013-01-08T21:28:43.595-06:00Theodore White's The Making of the President 1...Theodore White's The Making of the President 1960 was a big part of how I came to love politics--there is a reverence for elections there that, reading it as a freshman in high school, I found very inspirational. For the exact opposite readings, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 was also seminal in my political upbringing.<br /><br />More recently, Rebecca Traister's Big Girls Don't Cry was an amazing take on the '08 campaign that told a very big story (feminism and the '08 election) in a personal and relatable way.Sean Fitzpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07848979325394327317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-60601078325325582792013-01-08T20:59:00.578-06:002013-01-08T20:59:00.578-06:00I strongly recommend The Great Game of Politics (1...I strongly recommend <i>The Great Game of Politics</i> (1924) by Frank R. Kent, whom I believe was a reporter for the <i>Baltimore Sun</i>. It's a truly great discussion of machine party politics, and a subsection of the book on the need for "humbuggery" (lying) in every campaign is quite brilliant.Seth Maskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-13089548893648502532013-01-08T19:04:48.192-06:002013-01-08T19:04:48.192-06:00I recently read a great autobiography of Richard J...I recently read a great autobiography of Richard J. Daley (the elder of the two Mayor's of Chicago) by two long time reporters called "American Pharaoh." While set in Chicago it also has a lot to do with American history in the 20th Century and especially the course of the Democratic Party. I'd also add Rick Perlstein's "Nixonland."longwalkdownlyndalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173899547449318257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-31982369568404595372013-01-08T17:59:25.480-06:002013-01-08T17:59:25.480-06:00As far as campaign books go, I don't know how ...As far as campaign books go, I don't know how any could be more entertaining than Michael Lewis's "Trail Fever," about the 1996 campaign, based on his New Republic dispatches. (He once told me that it was by far his least successful book; I apologized on behalf of the American people.)Matthew Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17386233693499569214noreply@blogger.com