Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House (Vintage)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Losers for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Michael Lewis is a master at dissecting the absurd: after skewering Wall Street in his national bestseller Liar's Poker, he packed his mighty pen and set out on the 1996 campaign trail. As he follows the men who aspire to the Oval Office, Lewis discovers an absurd mix of bravery and backpedaling, heroic possibility and mealy-mouthed sound bytes, and a process so ridiculous and unsavory that it leaves him wondering if everyone involved—from the journalists to the candidates to the people who voted—isn't ultimately a loser.
The contenders:
Pat Buchanan: becomes the first politician ever to choose a black hat over a white one.
Phil Gramm: spends twenty million dollars to convince voters of his fiscal responsibility.
John McCain: makes the fatal mistake of actually speaking his mind.
Alan Keyes: checks out of a New Hampshire hotel and tells the manager another candidate will be paying his bill.
Steve Forbes: refuses to answer questions about his father's motorcycles.
Bob Dole: marches through the campaign without ever seeming to care.
Losers is a wickedly funny, unflinching look at how America really goes about choosing a President.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
It is hard to believe that the race for the Republican nomination, or any other race for that matter, could begin in Manchester, New Hampshire. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It is hard to believe that the race for the Republican nomination, or any other race for that matter, could begin in Manchester, New Hampshire. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Some of the reviewers on this page have lambasted Lewis for not taking the campaign seriously enough. Come on guys!!! Have you ever READ any of Michael's previous books? This book was not meant to be a serious in-depth analysis of the campaign. That's what we have people like George Will and Bob Woodward for. Sure, Lewis focused time on Morry Taylor, an unknown. However, the parts about the Grizzz were the most enjoyable of the book. I didn't care about the candidates when they were running, so why the hell would I want to read about them now.
Lewis has truly captured the absurdity of the whole election year process. Pointing out how the only true candidate to speak freely (Taylor) got killed early on, as oppossed to the scripted efforts of the other candidates, was a sad reflection on how Americans are buying into the dog and pony shows as oppossed to ideas.
Read this book for a light hearted, enjoyable view of the 1996 campaign. If you want serious, this is not the place to be.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
While I concur with most of the comments above, I must dissent on one point. While a fascinating story teller, Mr. Lewis seemed to forget the point of the book: Following the political nominating process from start to finish, commenting about the democratic process writ large. He begins this task skillfully, reciting wonderful anectodes about each candidate as they trudged across Iowa and New Hampshire. A third of the way through, however, Mr. Lewis became increasingly -- almost disturbingly -- obsessed with Morrey Taylor, tire maven and political idiot savant. To be sure, Mr. Taylor never rose above the level of a joke, but nonetheless, Mr. lewis focused on him like he was the next Jack Kennedy, chronicling his almost every move while ignoring the real dynamic at work -- Pat Buchanan's upset victory in New Hampshire. I believe Mr. Lewis spent about 30 pages on the grizz, while synopsizing the significance of Buchanan's New Hampshire victory in about three sentences. The real drama of the 1996 primary season was not so much the Talyors, Dornan's Keyes et al, but rather Buchanan, Dole and Forbes. By the looks of it, this simple fact was lost on Mr. Lewis. Perpahs the "Grizz" and his collection of side kicks proved more entertaining, but certainly his impact on electoral politics is negligible at best. Buchanan was the first Republican to ever with the New Hampshire primary and fail to win the nomination: Now that is news. That was the real story. Not the Grizz. Mr. Lewis should be commended on his persistence and keen story telling ability, but he should be scolded for taking his eye of the ball. Go Pat Go.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am a political junkie and proud of it. I also live in Iowa and get a great chance to meet presidential candidates. I love to read books about campaigns, particularly campaigns with which I have some familiarity. This book was great! I loved his anecdotes about the campaigns. I was suprised at how much I agreed with his conclusions about campaigns and candidates today. He rightly observes that the people who would make the best presidents really don't have a chance - that it is the drive to campaign constantly and a skill at campaigning and sound bites that really determines elections today. Sad, but true. Lewis properly characterizes Dole and his campaign. It was fated from the start when Dole had tremendous support from governors, but no one was excited about Dole. Even Dole wasn't excited about Dole. And the rented strangers certainly weren't. The only thing I haven't yet come to grips with is his portrayal of Lamar Alexander, my favorite. I just think Lamar can't really be as evil as Lewis portrays him.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disappointing
Way too much cynicism.
Published on 4 May 1999
The Funniest Book About the 1996 Presidential Campaign
A great read. Michael Lewis, made famous for his witty observations about the machinations of Wall Street, turns his attention to the boring, quagmire that was the 1996... Read more
Published on 1 Sep 1998
A very disappointing book.
You'd hardly know that Bill Clinton ran against Bob Dole from reading this book. Lewis spends far too much time and energy focused on Morry Taylor, who was irrelevant in 1996, and... Read more
Published on 7 July 1998
Candidates '96:At last!A cross-section of America.
This highly entertaining and intelligent accountof the '96 Presidential campaign is a fun and breezy read yet the nonchalant tone hides a sharp and perceptive view of American... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 1997
"Trail Fever" shows the absurdity of presidential campaigns
Early in "Trail Fever", we find Republican candidate Morry "TheGrizz" Taylor in big trouble. Taylor is an irascible self-made industrialist who spent several million of his own... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 1997
Must Read
If you read Liar's Poker you will have to read this one.Although the subject matter is politics this is not the usual on the road book. It shows the human side of compaining. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 1997
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
