Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman [Hardcover]

Stuart Weisberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2009

In a survey conducted by Washingtonian magazine, Barney Frank was rated the smartest, funniest, and most eloquent member of Congress. A mainstay in the House of Representatives since 1981, he has come to be known for his talent as a legislator, his zeal for verbal combat, his imposing intellect, and a quick wit that both disarms and entertains other lawmakers. Most recently, as chair of the Financial Services Committee, he was instrumental in crafting a compromise bill to stem the tide of home mortgage foreclosures, as well as the subsequent $700 billion rescue plan.
Based on interviews with over 150 people, including more than twenty-five hours with Frank himself, this biography reconstructs for the first time his life and career, from his working-class childhood in Bayonne, New Jersey, to his years at Harvard and in Boston politics, through his rise to national prominence. Stuart Weisberg captures Frank in all his quirkiness, irreverence, and complexity. He also examines his less appealing side his gruff exterior, his legendary impatience, his aversion to wasting time. Weisberg reveals the pressure Frank has felt as the most prominent openly gay politician in the United States, one whose career was nearly derailed by a highly publicized sex scandal involving a male prostitute.
Above all, this book shows Frank to be a superb legislator a pragmatic politician who has dedicated his career to pursuing an unabashedly liberal agenda and whose depth of intellect and sense of humor have made him one of the most influential and colorful figures in Washington.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Barney Frank is a masterful legislator and one of the great political minds of our generation. His style principled but pragmatic, tenacious yet fair, and always brilliant and funny has won him the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Stuart Weisberg s lively biography of Barney Frank documents all of these extraordinary qualities, and the many ways in which he enriches our democracy. --Nany Pelosi, Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives

Barney Frank is one of the most brilliant, effective and funny lawmakers of his generation. Not many Congressmen are worthy of a book, but Stuart Weisberg s carefully researched and authoritative account proves that Barney s life and career are indeed the stuff of fine biography. --Cokie Roberts, ABC News political commentator, and Steven V. Roberts, Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University

Weisberg creates a mesmerizing portrait of the legislator known for his wit, speaking skills, intellect, and political savvy, who, when he publicly came out in 1987, was the first serving Congressman to so declare. Starting with Frank's beginnings among the 'cohesive minority' of Jews in the all-white, heavily Roman Catholic, industrial town of Bayonne, New Jersey, Weisberg shows Frank being drawn early to politics--he campaigned for Stevenson in 1956 at age 16--but hiding his sexuality for 25 years. His political career began with moving from a Harvard teaching fellowship to Boston City Hall politics in reform mayor Kevin white's administration and eventually to election to Congress in 1980, where he rose to current chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. among the many compelling passages here are those detailing Frank's half-in, half-out of the closet life while in his forties--an unfortunate but understandable 'midlife adolescence' for a man who had previously paid male prostitutes and 'didn't have a social life until he was 45.' A significant additional to political and gay studies. --Booklist

About the Author

Stuart Weisberg is an attorney who spent ten years as staff director and chief counsel for the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Employment and Housing. He directed the subcommittee s lengthy investigation in 1989 of what came to known as the HUD scandal. During the Clinton administration, he served as chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent federal adjudicative agency. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 584 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press; 1 edition (September 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558497218
• ISBN-13: 978-1558497214
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #567,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Do not recommend., April 23, 2010

By 

Dallas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman (Hardcover)

I bought this book because Barney Frank is such an interesting person and politician. I thought that his biography above most other politicians' biographies would be likewise an interesting read. However, the writing in the book is constructed in such a mundane way (e.g., "he did this, then he did that, then he did his") that there is no storytelling element in it besides a monotonous recalling of facts. The painfully bland narrative voice does a disservice to Barney Frank's fascinating life. Ultimately, I could not finish the book because of its poor writing. The research is probably very good, but it needs another voice/writing style. I hope that one day a biography that is as interesting and fascinating as Barney Frank's life makes it to the shelves. I do not recommend this book, but I do recommend doing your own research and reading on this amazing politician.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Biography of a Truly Unique Politician, October 16, 2009

By 

William Black (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman (Hardcover)

First, a disclaimer. I was a source for this book. That said, the book is an extraordinary political biography that describes the life of an amazing politician, but also of an era. While the term, "the spirit of the sixties" has been trivialized over time, this book highlights the best of that decade by showing the genuine idealism at its heart. Moreover, this "spirit" is transcended to the degree that Barney Frank combined - and combines - the idealism of that era with a practical approach to politics. His goal was to have a measurable effect on the lives of poor people, who were then and are today, neglected by the political elites at all levels of government. This book shows how he did this and is a very valuable primer for those driven by results in public policy rather than scoring political points. Even to this day, in his very powerful position as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Frank remains true both to those ideals and to the practical approach to politics. Of course, the book is also peppered with endless examples of Rep. Franks wicked wit, which provides chuckles throughout.

Having proudly worked for Barney Frank, I can't claim to be objective about the book. But I can report on its accuracy, which is scrupulous. I was deeply involved with a particularly period in Rep. Frank's career and I could not find a single error of fact or even interpretation on things on which I had personal knowledge. I have to say, I was surprised by the candor I found in this authorized biography. This is a "warts and all" account that is very honest about some of Rep. Frank's personal struggles and, shall we say, challenging personality traits.

In the end, however, this is a story of a political leader who remains uncorrupted by the power he currently wields. He entered politics to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." Unlike many, he has stayed true to his original ideals and I believe the country is fortunate to have him at the center of our current economic travails.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "This is the saddest story I ever heard.", March 29, 2011

By 

SpectacledSpectator "FenrisBound" (Springfield, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman (Hardcover)

The missing star is for the somewhat slanted coverage in this biography, written by a personal friend of the congressman. As a Republican, I noticed some inaccuracies and demonization of Republicans. Some statements were hard to believe, for instance, that Barney Frank hated Newt Gingrich but not because Newt voted to censure him...oh no, that had nothing to do with it. Are we supposed to believe this? I also noticed an element of paranoia where conservatives are concerned, for instance, when a Catholic bishop denounced pro-abortion candidates on one of the Jewish holy days and Frank assumed that this was deliberately plotted to catch him flat-footed. Speaking as a Christian, I'm pretty sure that most non-Jews wouldn't even know it was a Jewish holiday unless someone told them. Throughout the book, the worst possible motives are ascribed to Republicans/conservatives.
The book was obviously written as a hagiography by a personal friend of Mr. Frank. However, Stuart Weisberg does make some effort to include both sides of every story from people who opposed Barney Frank. He also shows Frank's dark side (the temper tantrums, the conceit) while making every possible excuse for his friend. As hagiographies go, this is probably one of the most honest I have seen.
This book will be a great read for those who like to read about legislation/public policy but not for those who don't, because that is the main topic of the book. Also, some parts toward the middle of the book are very sad and depressing. It can be very difficult to read about a fellow human suffering and being humiliated, no matter how much he deserved it. Weisberg pulls out all the stops to make you feel sorry for Frank. If he gets tired of writing biographies, Weisberg could easily have a future writing Hollywood tearjerkers. The end of the book after Mr. Frank got his personal life straightened out has a much more cheerful tone. In fact, you could say this book would be a great promoter of gay marriage since it shows what bad things can happen to people who lack the option of getting married.
After the depressing experience of reading this book at the library, I just had to buy it so I could get depressed all over again. (Also to write snide comments in the margin, of course.) ;)
Some readers may be able to identify the source of the title of this review. Democrat readers probalby will not.;)