Customer Reviews

Advise and Consent

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Allen Drury, a former AP reporter wrote this novel in 1959 and it instantly became a bestseller and deserving winner of the Pulitzer Prize. No one else since Drury has been able to capture political institutions as they are to construct a compelling story. In the end "Advise And Consent" would spawn five sequels that proved equally compelling as well.

Sadly, Allen Drury's stature as an author has always been downplayed by critics because alone among authors, he was a political conservative who often used his novels to make devastating indictments of the liberal news media and liberal politicians. And this is something that most critics always use as an excuse to condemn Drury's writings (there is never any similar litmus test applied by critics when it comes to the rampant leftism of an author like Gore Vidal). And yet, go through Drury's "Advise And Consent" series and you will find more insights into 1960s America than you will find from any other novelist.

One of the more enduring books of American literature, Advise and Consent appears to withstand the test of time. Well written, very gripping and a real page turner, it was no surprised that many people even today, would pick up this book to read. There was a movie based on this book which was also pretty good.

This is however a first book in a series although it can be a stand alone book. I would probably recommended that since the series can be somewhat of a let down after a such a fine novel. Technically speaking, the series that follows Advise and Consent branched off to two separate direction. One direction leads the United States into ruins while other direction leads the United States into victory and renewal over our enemies. The situation can get pretty soap opera-like and after you are done, it also felt bit dated.

Thus, I would recommended that you stick with this book alone and forget the series.

I first read Mr. Drury's entire "Advise/Consent" series of novels when in high school and have read each book several times again since, for the pure enjoyment of it all. All books in this series were well written, with great plots and characters. One could not help but feel as if one was part of the story. The plots could very well be characterizations of today's leaders and situations, both racial and political. Also, the way Mr. Drury split off into 2 story-lines on how each presidency would look had one man lived and the other died in the last novel of this series was pure genius and writing at its best!! The "Advise and Consent" novel was a VERY GOOD and EXCELLENT story of how the Senate goes about its business and the viciousness of politics. It was very exciting and a very fast read, NOT BORING as Mr. Leffingwell would have us all believe. For a good companion to this first novel, I would highly recommend the movie version of "Advise and Consent," starring Henry Fonda.

Like many other people, I first read this American classic for high school civics. I've since reread it twice more, and it's worth it. "Advise and Consent" is a painless education in how the Congress works, and no wonder! Drury was a Capitol Hill reporter for many years (I believe he started in Truman's administration).

Aside from his political knowledge, Drury's characters stay with you - they seem to be VERY real people. Action is, of course, laced with the 1950's modality, as well as the definite Cold War fears. Drury definitely deserved the Pulitzer Prize for this one!

What a novel! I understand why it stayed more than 100 weeks on the New York Times best sellers list when Drury's book was released in 1960. It is very well written novel with a brilliant plot. To love this book I think that you have to be, like me, very found of politics; but to just like it you only have to love good and clever books. The author knows its subject perfectly well and he ables you to understand better how U.S. politics works. Even if the book got a lot of pages it doesn't seem long at all. You will be sad when you will get to the last page: you'll ask for more! As you may have guessed, I highly recommend you this masterpiece.

Advise and Consent is the story of the nomination of Robert Leffingwell for Secretary of State, and the battle within the Senate to both defeat him and confirm him. Many of the characters - the majority leader, the President, senators, and Leffingwell himself - bear startling resemblance to political characters in history such as Sen. Robert Taft, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Alger Hiss.

Advise and Consent is one of my favorite novels for two reasons. First, it offers the best fictional "inside Washington" account, probably ever. Secondly, each character is defined expertly and painstakingly; you will rarely find better characterization in a novel then in Advise and Consent. If you're a politico, or if you're simply looking to read about complex, intelligent people with clearly defined, and sometimes insidious, goals, read Advise and Consent.

This is a classic novel that deals with the nomination by the President of a highly controversial person for the office of Secretary of State. A group of Senators is dead set against the nominee, and others are equivocal and unsure. The nominee has a dark past and this begins to come to light, the question is asked as to whether he has overcome this past and can now serve as a sturdy and reliable public servant.

The novel portrays Washington DC as a snake pit of intrigue and maneuvering, where anything goes in an endless struggle for power and position. It also shows America's capitol as a city which still has a place for idealism and principles. No, these two things are not contradictory, as this novel also shows.

The story moves along at a brisk pace, although it slows down in places. This novel was written in the early 1960s, and thus the story contains certain anachronisms, such as the Soviet Union reaching the Moon before the United States does. The novel also has an intolerant and non-contemporary view of homosexuality, which is unfortunate, but which ultimately does not detract from the story. (The movie is far worse in this respect, incidentally.) No matter. This novel is as relevant today as it was when it was written, at the height of the good old Cold War.

One of the oddities of this novel is that almost all of the conflict occurs within the majority party (although unnamed, it is the Democrats.) The minority party (Republicans) play almost no role whatever, and the novel barely acknowledges that they exist. This is the Democrats of the 1960s, when that party was much more conservative than it is today.

This is an excellent novel that should be required reading for all high school and college students.

I just reread "Advise and Consent" hard upon the recent Senate brouhaha, and even went so far as to purchase the recently-released DVD, which does not do entire justice to the source, although Walter Pidgeon is a better Bob Munson than even Allen Drury wrote. "A and C" is an admirable novel of a literary quality likely far above the other contenders on the NYT Bestseller List in 1959, if likely inferior to contemporary political novelists like Ward Just. Other reviewers have pointed out that Drury later started chewing the scenery at the distant right edges of the set, but "Advise and Consent" remains a splendid portrait of its time. Highly recommended.

In "Advise and Consent", Allen Drury introduces the reader not only to the inner workings of the United States Senate, but also to the very human realities of our elected officials. His novel is filled with believable characters, dealing with real problems and issues. And he knows the Senate from an insider's perspective.

Although the particular issues are now a bit dated (although this was not the case when I first read the book nearly 20 years ago), the realities of government are still the same (if not worse).

Once upon a time, many people read this book in high school. It should be required reading in both literature and civics.

We lost Mr. Drury a year or so ago at the age of 80. From the perspective of this reader, he will be sorely missed.

This is easily the best novel ever written about American politics. Drury, who began as a Senate reporter, really has the feel of the Senate down pat as he tells the story of the nomination of Robert Leffingwell, a one-time communist sympathizer, to be the Secretary of State at the height of the Cold War.

While Drury's later writing became somewhat stilted and out-of-touch, this book is dead on and creates real and believable characters.

A fun game, for those really in the know, is to try and guess which fictional Senator corresponds to which real-life Senator from the era.

(A freebie- Brigham Anderson of Utah is reportedly based on John F. Kennedy, a surprising development given the... revelations... about Anderson in the book).