cover image Follow the Money: How George W. Bush and the Texas Republicans Hog-Tied America

Follow the Money: How George W. Bush and the Texas Republicans Hog-Tied America

John Anderson. Scribner Book Company, $26 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-8643-5

Those looking to catch a glimpse of the past, present and future of America would do well to visit Houston, Texas. It's there, amid the sprawl of highways, strip malls and looming glass towers, that journalist and native Texan Anderson (Art Held Hostage) finds the nexus of money, power and politics that gave birth to the presidency of George W. Bush. Weaving together a narrative almost as vast and interconnected as the city of Houston itself, Anderson has a style and pace that make his accounts of men, money and scandal a real page-turner. From ""Casino"" Jack Abramoff and Tom ""The Bug Man"" Delay to the Enron collapse to the Alberto Gonzales Eight, Anderson enumerates considerable examples of fraud and atavistic behavior. Using primary sources (including private emails) and making use of Bush-era reportage, Anderson penetrates the Texas political scene and its outposts in Washington, producing a vivid portrait of a movement for which the Bush family is merely the most visible part.