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Thomas Frank

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America Paperback – May 1, 2005

by Thomas Frank (Author)

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With a New Afterword by the Author

The New York Times bestseller, praised as "hilariously funny . . . the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests" -(Molly Ivins)

Hailed as "dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic" (Chicago Tribune), "very funny and very painful" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "in a different league from most political books" (The New York Observer), What's the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation's most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.

A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.

Print length

322 pages
Language

English
Publication date

May 1, 2005
Dimensions

5.64 x 0.89 x 8.31 inches
ISBN-10

9780805077742
ISBN-13

978-0805077742
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Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Kansas, once home to farmers who marched against "money power," is now solidly Republican. In Frank's scathing and high-spirited polemic, this fact is not just "the mystery of Kansas" but "the mystery of America." Dismissing much of the received punditry about the red-blue divide, Frank argues that the problem is the "systematic erasure of the economic" from discussions of class and its replacement with a notion of "authenticity," whereby "there is no bad economic turn a conservative cannot do unto his buddy in the working class, as long as cultural solidarity has been cemented over a beer." The leaders of this backlash, by focussing on cultural issues in which victory is probably impossible (abortion, "filth" on TV), feed their base's sense of grievance, abetted, Frank believes, by a "criminally stupid" Democratic strategy of triangulation. Liberals do not need to know more about nascar; they need to talk more about money and class.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

Review

“The best political book of the year.” ―Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times

“Frank is a formidable controversialist-imagine Michael Moore with a trained brain and an intellectual conscience.” ―George F. Will, The Washington Post

“Brilliant.” ―Barbara Ehrenreich, The New York Times

“Mr. Frank re-injects economic-class issues into the debate with sardonic vehemence.” ―Jerome Weeks, The Dallas Morning News

“A searing piece of work . . . one of the most important political writings in years.” ―The Boston Globe

“Dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic . . . Frank has made much sense of the world in this book.” ―Chicago Tribune

“Impassioned, compelling . . . Frank's books mark him as one of the most insightful thinkers of the twenty-first century, four years into it.” ―Houston Chronicle

“Very funny and very painful . . . Add another literary gold star after Thomas Frank's name.” ―San Francisco Chronicle

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 080507774X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; First edition (May 1, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780805077742
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805077742
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.64 x 0.89 x 8.31 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #81,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #329 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism
- #664 in U.S. Political Science
- #792 in Historical Study (Books)

Customer Reviews:
783 ratings

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Thomas Frank

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Questions frequently asked Thomas Frank.

- Kansas, really?

- Aren’t you one of these liberals that you’re always scolding?

- Is it true that President Trump uses “The Wrecking Crew” as a field manual?

- “The Baffler” – what’s that all about?

- You don’t look particularly cool. Why do you write about coolness?

- Why aren’t you, like, a college professor or something?

- Why all these books about politics? I mean, that’s hardly the right subject for a culture critic or whatever it is you call yourself.

Customer reviews

5 star		69%
4 star		18%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Lee KirbyTop Contributor: Batman

Frank answers his question by describing a blend of "us vs. them" and "bait-and-switch"

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

In "What's the Matter with Kansas?," journalist and historian Thomas Frank uses the example of his native state to ponder both how and why working-class and poor white Americans in the heartland vote for a party that advances policies benefiting wealthy individuals and corporations. In brief: Why do these people stand with Republicans when Republicans do not stand with them?

The answer, which Frank provides with the blend of extensive reporting and satiric wit that's become his trademark: Because of a 'divide and conquer' strategy in which Republican politicians and commentators use not only hot-button social issues such as abortion, gun control and gay marriage, but also trivial matters such as where one shops and dines, and what make of automobile one drives, to enrage these people and direct their rage toward snobbish "liberal elites" that supposedly control America-and hate conservative, poor whites. (Those elites, for example, don't shop at Walmart, don't eat at McDonald's, drive Volvos instead of American vehicles and sip lattes-or worse, tea-instead of drinking coffee.)

Absent from the above strategy, Frank notes, is any mention of issues tied to their dire economic circumstances.

However, once elected, Republican politicians avoid the explosive social issues they exploited to inflame the working-class and poor white into voting for them-and instead turn their attention to those economic issues, such as cutting taxes for the wealthy, undoing business regulations and undermining the social safety net. If questioned about why they haven't made progress on those hot-button social issues, they blame-you guessed it-those "liberal elites." In brief, the GOP operates-and thrives-by blending "us vs. them" and "bait-and-switch."

Frank adds that Democrats aren't free of blame in the situation, either. He accuses the party of deliberately turning its back on those working-class and poor white Americans whose causes they once championed-and dropping the class language it once spoke to distinguish themselves from Republicans-in order to remake themselves as a party just as pro-business as Republicans. He also accuses Democratic leaders of assuming the working class and the poor will vote for their party because there's nowhere else for them to turn. (Frank expands upon these charges in his later book "Listen, Liberal," which I've reviewed elsewhere on Amazon.)

As a subtle rebuke to this sort of thinking, Frank notes the example of Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, who won the governorship by focusing on economic issues and avoiding social issues.

The lone shortcoming of Frank's book is that it largely avoids the white-identity politics, the race-based sense of economic entitlement, and the anxiety and resentment that have played important roles in campaigns since this book's initial hardcover publication in 2004.

That aside, it will still give readers much to think about-especially regarding the current state of the nation.

52 people found this helpful

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SC

On the mark, but a condescending read...

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

The author is funny. But humor almost always has a victim, and the victim is his neighbor state (Frank was born in Kansas City, MO, apparently). Acerbic wit will make your friends laugh, but it will further alienate your non-friends.

While I see (and agree with) the majority of his points, what the author misses is an explanation of "why" are Kansans so evidently "irrational" in their choice of party to support, despite the evidence that they should do the contrary. Thus, the book seems to me more of a complaint about the direction of Kansas' (and American) political evolution, as opposed to any real understanding of root cause, and possible solution.

Parts of the book are condescending enough that I found it hard to read, overall.

10 people found this helpful

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CTshopper

Some great points but the tone is off-putting

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018

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I keep picking this book up and putting it down again. I probably share many of the author's political leanings and I think he has some great points, but the book is written in a very off-putting tone. It reads overly stereotypical and the arguments seem overly simplistic, as if only written to give the author a chance to brag about how much smarter he is than those he grew up around. I can't imagine this changing anyone's mind if they already equated Dems with the liberal elite, because this comes off very elitist - and I AM a liberal. Maybe it gets better, but it's a tough read in the early chapters.

28 people found this helpful

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Imperial Topaz

Provocative and Interesting Read that Is Hard to Put Down!

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2016

Verified Purchase

As an American who lives outside of my home country, I am regularly called upon to explain to my European friends how so many in America can be against health care, how so many "common" people are voting for the Republican Party, what has happened to pro-labor policies; and how so many poor seem to be aligned, rather than opposed to, the voting policies of the rich.

This book really answers those questions well. Furthermore, the writing style is fantastic. Every time one picks it up, it's nearly impossible to put down. I read the entire thing in just five days.

The quick answer here is that Democrats used to have the votes of the common man, and of blue-collar labor, because they concentrated on economic issues. Around 1990 the Democrats stopped talking about economic issues because they needed to RAISE MORE MONEY FROM BIG DONORS. They stopped talking about minimum wage issues and business practices that hurt small workers. Those small workers only gave small amounts of political contributions anyway; therefore no one was really interested in them as a constituency. As a result, the issues the Democrats are left talking about are things like legalizing gay marriage and keeping abortion legal.

According to this book, starting around 1990, the "new" Republican wing started talking about moral issues such as not dismembering babies, not teaching children about gay sex, in addition to capturing the whole part of the country which is "anti-intellectual" above all else. They captured the sentiment of "America has changed, and it's not the America I grew up with," angry white voters, who now define all problems in America as coming from "liberals who hate America and want to destroy it." Liberals are now defined as "educated 'experts' (scientists and professionals) who try to tell us what to think (on issues such as climate change and gay marriage), who drink wine, drive Volvos, and who are NOT LIKE US, THE COMMON PEOPLE." All these people who used to be the Democratic base are now voting Republican because the Democrats have forgotten them by taking economics out of what they talk about.

The book is a provocative and interesting excellent read.

71 people found this helpful

Helpful

jvm

The Intentional Wrecking of a State.

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2020

Verified Purchase

A Conservative writer outlines the train wreck that is the now Republican controlled state of Kansas. A warning unheeded. Take note that this travesty has been replicated nationally in other GOP legislatively controlled states.

3 people found this helpful

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Leo Fabbri

While certainly a easy and good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

While certainly a easy and good read, this book is far too partisan. I'm a liberal, so I can tolerate it; but to a Republican this must read like an Ann Coulter book does to me! It's also interesting, reading this book now, as Frank's tone is symbolic of the liberal holier-than-thou language that has been such a focus of the latest campaign, perhaps even a deciding factor in the election of that bigoted, half-melted gummy bear. While Frank illustrates the political history of Kansas and the United States well, his text always smacks of condescension: a style entirely unhelpful to the fruition of fair liberal politics. We need to really understand one another in order to engage in meaningful political conversations. This book only studies Middle America as an 18th century anthropologist would a pygmy tribe in Papua New Guinea.

3 people found this helpful

bbookham

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

superb.

Mijmo

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

brilliant classic which is also instructive to how Cameron's Tories try to manipulate the public in the uk.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

dull

SR Gor

Spannend

Reviewed in Germany on May 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

...nicht nur für den an amerikanischer Politik interessierten.
Ist das Buch zwangsläufig auch an speziellen amerikanischen Gegebenheiten orientiert, dem lahmarschigen Zwei-Parteien-System, so ist es doch interessant, die Parallelen zu der bei uns gerade entstehenden Tea-Party und ihrer vermuteten Wählerschaft
herauszusuchen.
Drüben die Koch Brüder, hier "elitäre" vom Steuerzahler durchgefütterte Professoren und Industrielle.
Hüben wie drüben entfesselte Wutbürger, vom Leben betrogen und stets auf Konfrontation bedacht gegen alles was anders ist - in den Staaten
die Feindbilder "Progressives", "Liberals", hierzulande die "68er" und "Gutmenschen".
Hoffentlich gibt es baldigst ein deutsches Pendant, welches mit vergleichbarer Tiefe auslotet, was die Deutschen verleitet konstant gegen ihre Interessen zu wählen (falls es das schon geben sollte, wäre ich dankbar für einen Link per Kommentar).

One person found this helpful

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