Eyes Shut Tight: A Life Addicted to Fast Horses, Expensive Booze, and Longshot Politicians [Paperback]

B. Kenneth McGee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2007

As a reporter in Cleveland in the 1960s, I knew a lot about what was going on behind the scenes in politics. But Ken McGee's revelations blew me away. His journey through dark corridors of politics, gambling and alcoholism is bluntly honest. James M. Naughton James Naughton is a former White House and national politics correspondent for The New York Times. web site: www.eyesshuttightmcgee.com

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ken McGee lives in the woods of North Carolina with his wife Lee and various "walk on" and rescued canines. From the sixties through the eighties he was a political campaign manager, consultant, and speech writer starting with the history making candidacy of Carl Stokes in Cleveland, Ohio, the first Black Mayor of a major American city. This is his first book and at age seventy-six he thinks life is just starting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (June 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434308073
• ISBN-13: 978-1434308078
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,848,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Luther, Martin

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It left my eyes WIDE OPEN..., July 14, 2007

By 

Randall V. Vlahos - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eyes Shut Tight: A Life Addicted to Fast Horses, Expensive Booze, and Longshot Politicians (Paperback)

... and perhaps a tad wrinkled from laughing so hard. It also wet them with tears of pain - and joy. Ken McGee entertains as he informs, tracking his roller-coaster ride as a political "hired-gun" through the turbulent 60s and 70s. The author has earned my respect - for the brutally honest self-examination that produced this valuable, insightful, work. If you're interested in rise of Black political power in the US, or if you just want to know what really happens behind the "closed doors" in American politics, read Eyes Shut Tight. A guaranteed page-turner!

4.0 out of 5 stars Open Your Eyes! The World Was A Changing, September 28, 2009

By 

Stephanie Lynch (Shreveport, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Eyes Shut Tight: A Life Addicted to Fast Horses, Expensive Booze, and Longshot Politicians (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. The author was brutally honest and courageously self-reflective. He shared a side of politics that few "outsiders" will ever learn about, much less see. A great read for political junkies. The author's seemingly innocuous relationships with key African-American officials, namely Mayors Stokes and Jackson, ended on sour notes for reasons he yet fails to understand, let alone rationally explain. In a nutshell, although he was with them, he was not one of them and reminded them of that daily in his comments, disposition, attitude, and actions. He tried to "act Black" while maintaining White privilege during a very explosive time in America. He exploited those relationships (as did they with his). The relationships could not, and never would, be sustained under such conditions.

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh and Cry, September 22, 2009

By 

Allison Burnett (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eyes Shut Tight: A Life Addicted to Fast Horses, Expensive Booze, and Longshot Politicians (Paperback)

This book is a chronicle of glorious mistakes. The author drank, caroused, gambled, squandered, and, perhaps most ill-advised of all, worked in big -ity politics. What makes the story such a delight is that the author, Ken McGee, never for an instant indulges in self-pity or even self-recrimination. Like a good Irishman, he celebrates life, even at its worst. The book is also enlightening, an education in the workings of mayoral politics, as the author helps to get Carl Stokes elected mayor of Cleveland. The greatest affirmation of all is that Ken McGee survived to tell the tale.