Customer Reviews

Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush

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Every human endeavor has its masters. There are leading physicists, writers, teachers, architects, carpenters and chefs.
The demi-monde also has its corp of top pick-pockets, pimps, snitches and flimflammers. It is to this latter list that we can write the name of Karl Rove. His talents add nothing useful to the world; to the contrary, he and his cabal of mayberry machiavellians' efforts are directed toward finding people's weaknesses and exploiting them, tearing down peoples lives and putting any skeletons on public display, so that "their" guy might win. "Boy Genius" depicts the political career of Karl Rove, how he honed his skill and applied them to the benefit of conservative Republicans and especially to George W. Bush.

The authors do give some background information on Rove and briefly describe how he came to embrace right-wing politics.
As a young man, he is described as a "nerd" and one can well imagine that he was the boy who gotten beaten up on the playground at school. But no thorough psychological profiles are hazarded in this work. We learn only that Rove is a rather emotionless person. The authors offer a couple of "Oprah moments" that hint that their subject might harbor some modicum
of humanity. Despite a couple of these excursions into sentimentality, Dubose et al. stick mostly to the political highlights that mark Rove's life. And that is just as well, because we intuit that if we extracted the electoral machinations from this biography, there would be almost nothing left.

But reading this book reveals as much about we Americans and our times as it does about Rove. We would hope to be titilated by some of Rove's underhanded schemes to win elections, but instead find ourselves rather bored with the enterprise. We are used to this sort of dirty dealing and know that both major parties engage in these activities. It's old hat. Karl Rove just happens to be the best and the scummiest at the game that goes on all the time. The victors in political affairs are not those who present the best ideas but rather those who know how to manipulate through the electronic media. We are given in this book an introduction to the Cardinal Richelieu of the Nouveau Regime, Karl Rove.

I expected a more insightful, more personal exploration of a genius political consultant -- Karl Rove -- what makes him tick, what motivates his Machiavelli-like agenda, what personal inconsistencies belie his political agenda etc. What I got was more of a "complaint" against the Republicans in general and "W" in particular. The authors seem to be writing from the point of view of sore losers who want to diminish the validity of the Republicans' political victories in Texas and on the national stage by painting Rove as an amoral Machiavelli/Svengali who has maninpulated an entire party (and country) to fit to his whims. As gossip, it's pretty good -- a lot of juicy tidbits and "could be true" explanations. As a study of a political genius, the authors don't really get at the heart of Karl Rove. Yes, he's brilliant. Yes, he's "The Man With The Plan" for the Republican party. Yes, he's sitting pretty right now. But that's all presupposed. We could get that from a New York Times article. The authors don't give us more than that -- nothing to explain or demystify the man behind the mystery. There are very few attempts at a more in-depth analysis. For example, the authors' mention briefly Rove's lack of religious inclination. It is a fascinating point considering Bush's moral compass. Yet, the authors don't really go anywhere with this information. It's left there to dangle in the wind.

Too bad, Rove is such an interesting subject. Maybe someone else will pick up where this book left off . . . .

This is an excellent primer to the illustrious career of "Bush's Brain" as he is called. Of the two books presently popular ("Bush's Brain" is the other) this is the more balanced and thorough; indeed, it often times seems that the authors of Bush's Brain had used this for their source, and there is very little information in that book that is not in here. Don't bother to read both, if you're just looking for an introduction to the subject. A careful portrait of the crafty man that learned his tricks (and even instructed others in the same) during the time of "Tricky Dick" Nixon himself. Must read if you are at all interested in learning how Bush Jr. got to the oval office and why all the "big money" lined up behind him as miraculously early as it did.

This is a fair and thoughtful account of George Bush's ascendency and the GOP takeover of Texas, both masterfully executed by Karl Rove. This is a must read for any political junkie of either political party. Rove comes off as part madman, part genius, part Machiavellian mastermind and also a man of somewhat questionable character. Nonetheless, he decimated the Democratic Party in Texas and concocted the strategy that put a man in the White House who, at the time, was clearly not ready for primetime. I found that I couldn't put the book down, always eager to find out what Rove's next political chess move would be.

This book is particularly relevant concerning the current election and how things are done in this White House. It is difficult to believe someone with Karl Rove's track record is a close presidential advisor, and it says a good deal about a president who chooses a confidant who has exercised the techniques Rove has used.

Love him or hate him, this book is a fascinating historical account of Rove's ascendancy from Texas political consultant to White House policy maker woven in with that of W's. Because of its publication date, it doesn't cover the Iraq war debacle, though the authors hint at the duo's motivations for the invasion. Great read for political junkies on either side of the spectrum.

I found "Boy Genius" to be insightful, compelling and humorous. The book is written by three journalists, two of whom followed Karl Rove throughout his days in Texas and a third who writes for the National Journal. The outline of the book is a chronological history of the campaigns and administrations Rove has managed or contributed to. The book is full of interesting antecdotes that really give you an idea of what Rove is all about and his motivations for the directions in which he takes his advisees. Most importantly, after reading this book I would describe Karl Rove as a winner, which makes this an interesting read no matter what your politics.

Two things the potential reader should know are 1) the majority of the book is about Texas politics and Rove's work in that state, and 2) the authors demonstrate definite left leanings in their storytelling, although it mainly shows through in their humor and when they point out the irony that George W. Bush never fails to provide for them. These caveats are fairly minor, I think most political readers will enjoy this one.

The latest batch of big selling books about our president are shamelessly laudatory and the covers of the books tell you how much the authors are keen on the prez. From looking at the cover of this book you might get the impression that it was taking aim at Bush instead. No such luck. While the book doesn't continuously glorify Bush / Rove there is a LOT of dirt they glib right over. All in all, an unsurprising,speedy and light mainstream press (and yes, that's a bad thing) account of of the adventures of Bush and Rove.

After reading the book "Boy Genuis" I have came to the conclusion that it is a bad thing that John Kerry is leading in the polls. Rove will go dirty fast because he simply hates to lose. HE has transformed Texas into what he hopes America will become, an unabashed Republican stronghold. His pandering to the religous right by being the liason between the White House and those groups is so laughable considering Rove himself has said religion is unimportant to him. That may be true except on one day every four years, on that day, his role as the Republican party's greatest asset comes in handy. Rove knows that economic conservatives and moral conservatives despise what they "perceive" the Democratic Party stands for: big government, tax hikes, loose morals, diversity, and weak foreign policy. Karl Rove has exploited these perceptions with a "whatever it takes" mentality. He blew through the streets of Austin leaving only like minded conservatives in his wake. He has been in Washington for almost four years, four more and the divide and hate in this country will reach a fevered pitch. Lets hope Nixon and Lee Atwater won't be proud this election cycle. After reading this book, I'm sure they will though.

If America were to ever have a Prime Minister at the White House it would be my good friend Karl Rove. Mr. Rove at age 52 is the very brilliant and remarkable political advisor to President George W. Bush.
When you read the biography of Karl Rove you will be reading the life story of what the American dream is all about.
As one who is honored to call Karl Rove my friend I would highly recommend this wonderful book.
Karl Rove is one of 'the best and the brightest' in modern day American politics.