Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House [Paperback]

Michael Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vintage | Publication Date: July 28, 1998

   Michael Lewis is a master at dissecting the absurd: after skewering Wall Street in his national bestseller Liar's Poker, he packed his mighty pen and set out on the 1996 campaign trail.  As he follows the men who aspire to the Oval Office, Lewis discovers an absurd mix of bravery and backpedaling, heroic possibility and mealy-mouthed sound bytes, and a process so ridiculous and unsavory that it leaves him wondering if everyone involved—from the journalists to the candidates to the people who voted—isn't ultimately a loser.

The contenders:

Pat Buchanan:  becomes the first politician ever to choose a black hat over a white one.

Phil Gramm: spends twenty million dollars to convince voters of his fiscal responsibility.

John McCain: makes the fatal mistake of actually speaking his mind.

Alan Keyes: checks out of a New Hampshire hotel and tells the manager another candidate will be paying his bill.

Steve Forbes: refuses to answer questions about his father's motorcycles.

Bob Dole: marches through the campaign without ever seeming to care.

   Losers is a wickedly funny, unflinching look at how America really goes about choosing a President.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Michael Lewis, the author of Liar's Poker, which Tom Wolfe called "the funniest book on Wall Street I have ever read," now turns his eye to the peculiar method Americans use to choose their president. Beginning with the 1996 New Hampshire primary, Lewis tagged along with players both major and minor. Keeping his eyes open to the nuances of how campaigns are so carefully managed today, Lewis is able to make some insightful, damning, and often hysterically funny observations. The reporting technique is eccentric--who else would spend so much time with Morry Taylor, a rich man who ran for president in what amounted to a vanity campaign--but it works. Lewis has written a very good book that could be shelved under both humor and public affairs. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Journalist Lewis's (Liar's Poker, LJ 9/1/89) chronicle of the 1996 presidential campaign examines the battle for the Republican Party nomination and the following general election. It differs from most campaign books in that its perspective is "from the bottom of the political food chain." Lewis argues that the leading candidates were so preoccupied with risk avoidance that they failed to address important concerns of the electorate. This meant that to the extent such matters were addressed at all, it was by the lesser candidates. Therefore, Lewis devotes more attention to such minor Republican candidates as Alan Keyes and Morry Taylor and to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader than to Clinton and Dole. His book is not comprehensive, but it provides a frequently humorous and occasionally insightful look into contemporary electoral politics for lay readers.?Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (July 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679768092
• ISBN-13: 978-0679768098
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Lewis, the author of Boomerang, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball, The Blind Side, Panic, Home Game and The Big Short, among other works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lewis' best book, December 10, 2002

By 

Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House (Paperback)

This Michael Lewis work got buried, but I think it's his finest writing. Yes, "Liar's Poker" will be called upon 50 years from now (along with 'Bonfire of the Vanities' and 'Den of Thieves') as one of the seminal works of the 80s. And 'The New New Thing' captured a lot of the flavor of the 90s (although revisionist history re. Jim Clark's 'success' is eating away at the book's premise). But in terms of insight, humor, cynicism, getting to the essence of people's characters...I think Lewis surpasses himself here.

I read the hardback version of this book, which was called 'Trail Fever." I never liked that title, but I think I like 'Losers' even less. Yes, it was a chapter title in hardback version, but the real losers in Lewis's book are the so-called winners, Clinton and Dole. By contrast, Lewis shows the strength of character of the putative losers, especially in compelling profiles of Morry Taylor, Alan Keyes, and even Pat Buchanan.

What I especially liked about the book was Lewis' fight not to get totally taken over by what seems to be his naturally skeptical and cycnical view of the world. In fact, the best writing in the entire book deals with John McCain (Lewis is an unabashed McCain fan here, four years before that sentiment became in vogue) and - in particular - McCain's relationship with Clinton advisor David Ifshin. This chapter is very far removed from a skeptic's view. In fact, the emotion of the McCain/Ifshin relationship brought me to tears, as I think it would anyone.

Lewis is also affected by the stark honesty and un-political-ness of Morry Taylor, who is a real revelation here. And despite being on an entirely different plane politically than Alan Keyes, Lewis never ceases to be amazed at Keyes' blindingly brilliant oratorical flights of fancy.

Here's another neat thing about the book (well, the hardcover version at least)...elliptical asides about Tabitha Soren (of MTV 'Choose or Lose' fame), a later reference to 'my houseguest at the time,' and an acknowledgement to the help of one 'Tabitha Sornberger' (Soren's real name). She became Mrs. Michael Lewis not long after the publication of this book.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political Reality, September 7, 2002

By 

Z. Blume (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House (Paperback)

This is probably Michael Lewis' least popular book, but it is also my favorite. Though it is now a little dated (it was about the '96 election) and focuses a little too much on the unlikely third party candidate Morry Taylor, it is a very honest portrayal of the mess that is presidential campaigning. Lewis was obviously not very experienced with the campaign trail and uses his sharp wit to highlight its unique and baffling characteristics (waving to no one from a plane stair case, having debates in front of now studio audience). It has great characters and Lewis does an excellent job of describing them, nd showing why it is so easy to fall for third party candidates and why they will never win. It is great political commentary and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes politics, Michael Lewis books, or just an interesting, easy book about current events.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, wildly subjective, and acutely observed, April 4, 2000

By 

Tim Benzedrine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House (Paperback)

I love this book. Still pick it up regularly and re-scan sections. It's partly the political junkie in me, but it's also Lewis's writing. Whether it is the subject, the editors, or just a confluence of things, I don't think Lewis has ever written better than he does in this book. (Read his current Paris diary entries over at Slate to see how far he has fallen.)

Yes, he does get a little loopy over Morry Taylor. But at least it is honest, a kind of magnificent obsession that tells more about personal politics than a hundred NYT and WP deathly-dull profiles of Dubya.

But every time things flag even slightly, Lewis proves that he can't write a page without at least one exquisitely turned phrase. It can be something drily humorous, like the bizarre St. Patrick's Day rally with Pat Buchanan. But it can also be that acutely-observed lunch with Steve Forbes, wherein Forbes meticulously and robotically arranges his vegetables.

It isn't anything like traditional political journalism, and in other hands it would been solipsistic and tiresome, but Lewis's writing brings this personal political journey alive.