Best American Political Writing 2009 [Paperback]

Royce Flippin (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Best American Political Writing | Publication Date: October 13, 2009

A must-have anthology for political junkies, Best American Political Writing compiles the year’s best political stories from a variety of publications and points of view, in a single, comprehensive volume. Culling from the most memorable reporting of what promises to be a thrilling political year, the 2009 American Political Writing edition will include incisive coverage of the new Obama presidency and its impact nationwide, as well as the most pressing political concerns facing America today—from the depressed economy to our participation in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A tumultuous year yields a trove of political journalism in this anthology of magazine pieces. Leading off are sharp accounts of the Obama, McCain and Clinton campaigns, as well as Adam Sternbergh's smart look at how baseball statistics can inform election prognostications. A section on the economic meltdown features incisive analyses—and consistently dire forecasts—by Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and James K. Galbraith. Profiles of the incoming Democratic regime include Michelle Cottle's savvy take on Obama's laboriously constructed, Gatsbyesque veneer of cool. Foreign-policy dispatches range through Christopher Hitchens's memoir of being waterboarded, Mark Danner's harrowing investigation of CIA torture methods and disquieting reports from Michael Hastings and Dexter Filkins on America's sputtering war against Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Editor Flippin doesn't seem very widely read: the pieces are mainly culled from the New Yorker, New York magazine and the New York Times Magazine. (Brian Doherty chips in the lone conservative perspective in a sour piece on Obama as stealth dictator.) There are few surprises, but the compendium does showcase centrist flagship journalism at its most effective. (Nov.)
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Review

Booklist
“A mixture of the biggest names in political opinion journalism and others far less famed stake out a viewpoint, argue it intelligently, and collectively capture the issues and candidacies that energized the electorate in 2008.”

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; Original edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586487833
• ISBN-13: 978-1586487836
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)