In 2001, following the abolishment of the Electoral College and subsequent election of Willy Mackenzie, America's youngest and most radical president ever, an eccentric tale recounts Willy's ancestry and the impact of the American press on the course of history.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In the year 2000, American voters fed up with politics as usual have elected as president William Conrad MacKenzie, age 32. Descended on his father's side from a long line of capitalist robber barons and on his mother's from Mohawk Indians who have kept traditional ways, MacKenzie came to the nation's notice by "mooning" the White House incumbent, whom he blames for his wife's death during a protest against a dam project. Now it's Inauguration Day, and "Willy" promises to put ecology before technology. Can network newsman Jack Steel make the incoming president's goals comprehensible to his listening public? Will MacKenzie survive the handful of hours until the inauguration? Will readers care? Simpson telegraphs his plot, and the stark contrast he draws between exploiters and preservers of nature lacks the nuances necessary for effective satire. In addition, while the author successfully presents-largely through extensive flashbacks-his hero's development as a "holy fool," his admiration for a leader answerable only to his own inner light is naive, as well as subversive of his own apparent reverence for democracy. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Once again, Simpson (The Gypsy Storyteller, 1993, etc.) takes a popular form--previously the family dynasty saga, here the political biography--and tweaks it to produce giggles but few belly laughs. The novel opens on January 20, 2001, with political reporter Jack Steel standing outside of the rustic island home of 32-year- old president-elect William Conrad Brant MacKenzie. Steel explains ``into the camera'' that there are several controversial factors surrounding MacKenzie's election and promises to delve into the background of ``The Last Innocent Man in America.'' What follows is a mix of reporting on MacKenzie's family background (beginning with his foul-mouthed fat-cat great-grandfather, who once sent a postcard from New Zealand reading, ``I have come halfway around the world...Big fucking deal'') and excerpts from the journals that MacKenzie has kept since he was 10, as well as the occasional exchange between Steel and his subject. Simpson perfectly re- creates the tone of modern, and presumably future, television journalism; his Steel both takes an overly familiar air and insists that he has played no part in the story itself, which turns out to be patently untrue. MacKenzie, however, is never clearly rendered and resembles various political figures at different points in the book. He is alternately portrayed as a political blank slate (Quayle); a wealthy family's son (Bush); a loose cannon running on an independent ticket (Perot); and the author of a book on the environment (Gore). His journals also reveal his single-minded devotion to his now-deceased wife, Dawn, and a childhood friend notes that she expected Dawn, not her husband, to be president some day (guess who). Clearly this slippery hold on MacKenzie's personality is meant to reveal something about the intersection of politics and journalism, but it reveals nothing interesting and instead weakens the satire. Original concepts that fizzle, from an author whose best work is probably still to come. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Young Bill Clinton?,
This review is from: Full Moon Over America (Hardcover)
I read this book over a year ago and don't recall details such as the names of the characters. A friend suggested it and the only reason I kept reading it and finished it was to try and see what she liked about it.The setting is the back country up north, like Up-State New York or Mass. or maybe New Hamphshire or Vermont. The main characters father was the son of a rich tycoon and was a Senator for years. The Grandfather made all the money and is the most interesting character. The story never really tells you exactly where it occurs which becomes frustrating because the story is told in a way that makes it sound like a real place and real events. Most of the story is about the fight to stop the federal government from putting up a damn right in the middle of Grand-daddy's country estate (which he basically stole from the Indians - the damn would put his "little piece of heaven" under water, and which has become the home of most of the family clan, sort of like the Kennedy's Cape Cod compond. The main character and his girl-friend/wife eventually prevail but the woman dies in what is only understood as a suicide involving the damn. The main character then "moons" the President (who was the Governor of the State when the fight over the damn was brewing) and then runs for President himself, as the fresh face in Washington, the real "people's canditate". The book takes the form of entries in the main character's journals both past and present so there is a lot of jumping around and too much unnecessary detail. It's just too long to get to the point. The book begins and ends with a constitutional crisis being reported by the "Dan Rather" of the country at this time - the Election of 2000 (I think). The problem is the people's candidate who bares his but as a form of political protest is not 35 years old (the minimum age required by our Constitution). No one in power wants this "kid" with no experience and no manners (sounds like Slick Willie to me) to be sworn in as President. I still don't know what my friend saw in the book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
