A Time to Run: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Barbara Boxer (Author), Mary-Rose Hayes (Contributor)
Key Phrases: Shirley Lester, Carl Satcher, Children's Alliance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The three-term senator from California—newly and handily re-elected in 2004—offers a debut novel to relate "a story I had long wanted to tell." Aspiring political activist Josh Fischer and aspiring journalist Greg Hunter are best friends and roommates at 1970s Berkeley; Josh is dark, sensitive and liberal; Greg is blond, gregarious and leans right. When the two meet Ellen Downey, a petite redhead with a steely determination to make the world a better place, romantic entanglements ensue, with Ellen ultimately marrying Josh shortly after graduation. Josh runs for political office, Ellen heads a mentoring program for at-risk kids, and Greg, married to a wealthy socialite but still in the picture, works as a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. When Josh dies during his Senate campaign, Ellen assumes his candidacy and scores an upset victory; the book opens on the eve of a vote regarding a controversial Supreme Court nominee, with Greg appearing in Ellen's office holding incendiary documents that could alter the course of history—or level her career. All of this is by-the-numbers stuff, but Boxer brings been-there nuance to the backbiting, hazardous personal disclosures and naked power mongering of California and Washington politics. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
On the eve of the nomination of an ultraconservative Hispanic female Supreme Court justice, liberal Senator Ellen Fischer of California is given the perfect weapon: sensitive documents that could wreck the nomination. With less than 24 hours to take action, Ellen is bombarded with advice from her aides. But she doesn't trust the source of the damning information, Greg Hunter, darling of the right-wing conservatives, a former lover, and a longtime friend of hers and her deceased husband, Joshua. It was Joshua's accidental death on the eve of his election to the U.S. Senate that propelled Ellen's reluctant career as a politician. Hunter's offer provokes memories of how the three became friends: Joshua and Greg were roommates at the University of California at Berkeley, destined for sterling careers in the law and journalism. She was a budding social activist for children's causes. They became fast friends until Josh's proposal redefined their relationships. The ensuing years brought challenges to youthful idealism and the lure of power and wealth as the three made lives and careers for themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area. Across the years and across the country, Ellen and Greg eventually come to a showdown in the nation's capital. Boxer, a U.S. senator, brings an insider's knowledge of politics to this compelling novel of friendship, idealism, and corruption and the behind-the-scenes machinations that go into political deals. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition ~ 1st Printing edition (October 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811850439
• ISBN-13: 978-0811850438
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #917,147 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very fun read! , October 24, 2005

By	Nina (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

I was a bit skeptical when I picked this up but I was drawn into the book almost immediately. It's fun story with engaging characters and the action unfolds quickly enough to keep you interested. But what makes this book really worth reading is that you feel like you are getting an insider's view of DC politics, power brokers, campaigning, and the Supreme Court nomination process. And of course you ARE getting an insider view since this written by Barbara Boxer, but because it's fiction and not a political memoir you get it without all the rhetoric and politicking!

50 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read unless you're a Cheney fan, October 29, 2005

By	Amy, a reader (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

...and who's going to admit to being a Cheney fan these days??
It seems like a couple of the reviews here are about Boxer, not her book. Yes, I bought it because I am a fan--and then I read and got totally into it. Her personality really shines in this book. It's knowledgeable about the scene, witty, sharply insightful, fast-paced. Like the Senator herself. A great plane read, full of the colorful behind-the-scenes politicking and some interesting characters, I just had an enjoyable time reading it. And if you are a Cheney fan, well, that's your issue to grapple with. Just enjoy the book, okay?

43 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars worth reading, November 13, 2005

By	S. Hayes (MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'd say it's actually more like 3 1/2 stars. It's definitely worth the read. It won't win any literary awards, but then neither will a lot of the popular novels out there. I think she did a good job with this, and can't help but wonder if some of the negative reviews have more to do with people not liking Boxer herself as well as her liberal leanings.