Customer Reviews

Primary Colors: Anonymous

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is easily one of the finest pieces of literature I have ever read. Whether or not it is an account of Bill Clinton's road to the White House is irrelevant, the story is amazing. I read this book twice because, to this day, I wonder what the main character, "Henry Burton" thought of "the Candidate."

"The Candidate," Jack Stanton, was the enigmatic southern governor, "of a state no one has heard of," who happened to be running for the presidency. He was a brilliant but flawed man, who truly loved people. He really cared about "folks," as he needed them to survive both politically and just plain physically. He fed off the energy of the people with a charisma that was infectious to all those around him. It had its advantages and disadvantages. The fact that he was wonderful people helped, the fact that he was promiscuous did not.

The characters were so vivid and well told. Richard, the campaign manager, Daisy, the media person, and subsequently Henry's girlfriend, and Libby. . .Who could ever forget Ms. Olivia Holden? She was amazing. The Stantons were amazing too. Susan, the Governor's wife, was so strong and intelligent.

Now, this book could be taken from one of two perspectives. The first is conviction. This book suggests terrible things about the governor and if you are looking for an open attack on "The Candidate," you have got it. The second perspective is to look at it as a book by a staffer who really loved his employer, even though some of his traits were less than admirable. Henry said early on in the book, that he looked too favorably the Governor, and felt he could not do his job as best he could.

Whoever this book is about, whatever it is about, it doesn't matter. It is a great story about a man who, though not perfect, feels the people, and truly wants to help them in an effort to give them a better life.

epc

After starting the 1990s by publishing "Bonfire Of The Vanities," Tom Wolfe wrote an essay decrying the state of fiction, how too many authors wrote convoluted, esoteric novels designed to win elitist approval and be ignored by the masses: Why oh why can't some journalist swoop in and write a novel that's really about life and people we know, like the great Frenchman Zola had?

Joe Klein seemed to notice this, if "Primary Colors," the book he had published under the moniker "Anonymous," is any indication. This was a book taken so directly from life that it became a parlor game figuring out who was who. Sure, Jack Stanton was really our then-president, and his wife Susan was Hillary Clinton, but who was that crazy Libby woman supposed to be? Or the shadowy narrator, Henry Burton?

The buzz gave "Primary Colors" most of its popularity, but one wonders just how interested people are in the book now that Bill Clinton is retired. Probably not much, which is a shame, because "Primary Colors" deserves better than being a '90s time capsule.

If you haven't read "Primary Colors," one thing you need to know about it is it's not a note-by-note recitation of the Clinton road to power. It takes some similar turns, and some prescient ones (Monica was not news when this came out in 1996), and in general Jack and Susan Stanton are recognizably Clintonesque, but there are some liberties taken that make the real First Couple seem like the saintly Carters by comparison. The plot takes some jaw-dropping turns, in a sort of shameless "Desperate Housewives"-way that makes for fun reading.

The other salient thing about the book is that it is a clever satire not of one specific administration but the whole way politics is done in our time, the way passion and practicality come together and threaten to do each other harm. One campaign leader cautions our narrator about getting TB, True Believerism, and "Primary Colors" sells its weary cynicism with sharp humor and pungent observation.

It has the feeling of reality, too. Klein has followed a lot of political campaigns, and invests his narrative with a sense of how things really play out when the candidates aren't in front of the cameras. One staff worker is unhorsed not by anything she says but what she doesn't say, a slight but noticeable pause when talking about another candidate's giving blood that reveals her knowledge about - and discomfort in - the candidate she's working for.

The novel isn't perfect. The main romance isn't really well-defined, there's too much Libby and not enough Richard Jemmons, the crazy cracker Carville stand-in. Klein throws a lot of balls in the air, and doesn't catch all of them, but I think the variety of ideas and atmospheres you get in the space of 500 pages has a lot to do with its readability, and the satisfying sense you have when you are done.

"Primary Colors" reminds me a lot of Tom Wolfe, vibrant, flashy, but well-thought out all the time. Waggish, too; Klein even uses "mau-mau" as a verb. Most important, it's entertainment at its highest level, and something worth remembering long after the rest of the circus has passed us by.

I read this book a few months after it was published, and found it very hard to put down. Never mind working out who all the characters were supposed to be (although with some there wasn't much difficulty!), it was a fascinating insight into the murky world of political campaigning, of the reality that there are no perfect people out there - and if there were, they probably wouldn't want to be president.

It was a novel approach to take the perspective of an idealistic campaigning lawyer drafted in to help with the Stanton bid; someone steeped in the political process and 'how to,' but who had rarely been exposed to the murkier sets of compromises and deals which candidates and their teams engage in.

I loved it, and now I'm waiting for Klein's sequel, The Running Mate, to arrive in paperback.

What is politics in the modern age besides the pursuit of a momentary rush? "Primary Colors" works because it depicts a lot of folks in a big hurry, and the mess they make of their own morality and vision because of it. If it takes a lifetime of experience to build an ideal, it's inconceivable that it can be executed in the course of a presidential campaign, and Klein's book is about the shedding those ideals, and the residual effects of what remains. Gov. Jack Stanton has won his primary by book's end, but it is unclear by that point what he's won for.

It's important to remember that Henry, the narrator, joins the campaign because he's worked/lived inside two so called "revolutionary" political machines and been disillusioned by both: That of his civil rights activist grandfather, whose lessons from the 1960s are more held as artifacts than used as themes to live by; and his first boss, a black senator, whose concept of victory in Congress had becoming forcing presidential vetos. Henry finds a man in Stanton with the mainstream charisma and skin tone to forge a Kennedy's touch on political history. Henry then discovers the perils of having mainstream charisma, both in his own man, and the late challenger who nearly steals the crown, Freddy Picker.

The book has its weaknesses. The sexual liasons are a bit too evened out when Henry sleeps with Stanton's wife. There is little time for introspection. In choosing a nearly insane women as the book's eventual conscience, Primary Colors edges too close to "only the mad are truly sane" paradigm. That this woman, a close friend of the Stanton's and a campaign advisor, commits suicide at the end is a ripoff, considering so little time was devoted to her troubles in the book.

Quibbles aside, Primary Colors is dark and cynical and a lesson: Nobody in the book is happy, and yet they keep on forging ahead, because they cannot imagine anything else making them happy, either. Politics at this level is the premier participatory drug of argumentative intellectuals: You want it, you get the high off the rush of the moment, you come down, you self-loathe, you go back to get high, all in the name of public service. Nothing else like it. Truly.

Joe Klein, no not of NBA infamy, takes a poke or two at the political foundation of America - in a humorous manner. Told in 1st person narration by Henry Burton, a young African American with political and civil rights lineage, Primary Colors proves to be a satirical look at the election process, the genuineness of the political candidate, the many faults of the system itself, as well as the intricacies of running a campaign from the inside - the staffers' points of view.

Having read All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, I felt compelled to pick up Primary Colors and have a look-see. Although not on the Pulitzer Prize winning level of its predecessor, Primary Colors provides for biting political satire and insight as well as just pure entertainment. I must admit that despite the lack of redeeming value that the book provided, I read it tirelessly as I found it entertaining & humorous.

This "fictional" account of the primary process involving a Southern governor (Stanton=Clinton) was written by Joe Klein, a magazine reporter assigned to the Clinton campaign. This books intrigue lies mostly with the "inside" account of the Clinton campaign: the affairs, the ideals, the lesbians.

In the big picture, this book ranks slightly below the movie "The War Room" in its account of the Clinton campaign, and way below "Boys on the Bus" in its account of presidential politics.

Still, it is a highly entertaining read. For political junkies, the book is probably a must read. As we get further and further away from the Clinton years, this book will either become more dated or more historically interesting. Wait and see!

Primary Colors is supposed to be a novel of politics, but it also creates interesting characters and a wonderful story about choosing right from wrong, and love over a career. It begins with Henry, who finds himself involved in the Presidential campaign of Jack Stanton, an unknown southern governor. Through the course of the book, Henry has to deal with the moral issues raised by the campaign and his budding love with another worker named Daisy. He must decide if he wants to ruin the life of another candidate who is a good man that has made some mistakes, or stick to his morals and quit Stanton's campaign. I can't say that I've read a lot of political novel's or any of Joe Klein's previous work, but based on this book, I would. I am an avid reader and Klein does an excellent job of showing a behind the scenes look at a campaign, as well as creating an intersing and humanistic plot. This book was really well written. It is a novel of politics, but also included the feelings and aspirations of normal people. It was written to entertain as well as to raise questions in the readers mind about the direction of politics in America today. It makes one think about the validity of today's debates and news articles, whether or not a candidate should really promise things to the people. It also makes one think about all of the mud slinging that goes on during a presidential race. Is it really necessary? Does the American public have a right to know all of the mistakes a candidate has made? The author uses simple methods of writing to get his message across. He doesn't use extravagantly large words, or complex political terms. It was written for the average citizen, so that he can have a better understanding of American politics and make better choices and ask more questions about the morality of campaigns. Klein also uses imagery and flashbacks to get to a hidden meaning in the story. "It reminded me of a time at the beach when I was very young. I was with my father... He had me in the waves; he was behind me, holding me by the shoulders, walking me - pushing me - out, deeper, chuckling...Calm, casual, sort of mocking - as if my fear were a silly thing, a kid thing. But the waves that capped his knees crashed me chest; to me they were scary, brute explosions, a buckshot of sand and shell fragments." Throughout the book Henry often flashes back to times with his father, and then relates these stories to what is going on in the campaign, or how Stanton may be using him like a slave. There are times when the book can be a little vulger. Klein is not afraid to use inaproprate words or have his characters make obscene metaphors out of situations in the campaign. At one point a campaign worker compares something going on in the campaign to going to the bathroom in the woods and encountering a bear. If the reader doesn't like vulgarity and is offended by it, I wouldn't recommend this book. However, I feel that it adds to the atmosphere Klein created with the campaign; the cut-throat do or die attitude that most everyone involved has about winning. I liked this book. It helped me understand more about a presidential campaign as well as making me think long and hard about the way things are going in America today. It raised questions that I hadn't thought about as well as helping me become a more intelligent voter.

When Primary Colors came out it was a Washington D.C. sensation for its not-so-subtle parody of the battle Bill Clinton went through to win his party's nomination in 1992. The remarkable praise the book garnered was well-deserved. Bill Clinton's path to power had all of the elements of high drama- the tragic hero, noble in his aspirations but flawed in his personal life; the eclectic mix of supporting characters; and the trials they all endured.

All of it is here, but Primary Colors presents the story in a fresh way that readers will find interesting. Familiar, but not too much so.

"Primary Colors" is a great political novel for any political junkie as it relates to the election of a southern governor to the presidency of the United States. Ultimately, the book's theme is that if we keep politics clean without all of the mudslinging, the American populace and electorate will win in the end by getting the best possible candidates.

I won't say much because it's already been said. But I will add that this is one of the best works of fiction I have ever read. While worth reading for the craft alone, the subject is at least as riveting.