“It’s the greatest spectator sport in the country,” says Gov. Frank Skeffington of the game of politics in Edwin O’Connor’s classic 1950s novel, The Last Hurrah. “People begin as strangers and in a little while they know the names and numbers of all the players.”
Yet things have changed since O’Connor eyed the political scene. The “names and numbers of the players” are all too well-known to the general public, in many cases thanks to books they have published (several onetime bestselling authors are running for president). As we enter the teeth of the primary season, however, publishers are aware that the field is quickly diminishing. By late summer, a group of candidates that once numbered more than 20 will be down to two tickets. Care to be landing your Duncan Hunter book in August?
As our list of political books being published through August shows, there are few political biographies and none on any current candidate; instead, and by design, the focus is on the issues, which, no matter the final contenders, will be on people’s minds and in the news.
“Policy books and books by pundits are doing better than ever if they have strong points of view,” says Thomas Dunne, publisher of Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin’s. “I look for substance, of course, and promotability. I avoid wishy-washy titles that avoid a real point of view.”
Jonathan Karp, publisher of Twelve and, with his recent pricey acquisition of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s book, now a major player in political books, says he hasn’t noticed a lot of difference in the titles being offered in 2008 from the ones offered four years ago. “There’s still a lot of anger toward the policies of the Bush administration, and a lot of concern about terrorism and the environment.” This season’s titles will cover the usual topics—Iraq and the Middle East, global warming, immigration; the usual pundits and journalists will be heard from—Dana Milbank, Bob Woodward, Douglas Feith, Barbara Ehrenreich, E.J. Dionne and Bill Moyers. Academics’ perspectives will be heard, too—on gender bias in the media, for example, and on the history of the vice-presidency. A few names from the past emerge: Jim Hightower has another book with a clever title; former senator Lincoln Chaffee laments a spineless Congress; and former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan wants to speak for himself. By end of summer, when Thomas Franks, who wrote the 2006 bestseller What’s the Matter with Kansas, issues his new book in August, the American public will be ablaze with election fever, their vision reduced to two candidates. Will they want to read Franks’s The Wrecking Crew?
No doubt, publishers will proceed with caution for a while thereafter. “As a rule,” says Dunne, “I try to avoid publishing political books in the fall of a presidential election year, when most media want to concentrate on the horse race, and the stores are inclined to return political books immediately after the election.” Next year at this time, Washington will be a different place.
JanuaryUpstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism by Alfred S. Regnery (Threshold)The founder of Regnery—the publishing house that strikes fear into the hearts of liberals—finally speaks.50,000-copy first printingTruth or Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration’s War on American Values by Keith Olbermann (Random)MSNBC’s official thorn-in-the-side of the Bush administration puts it to paper.65,000 copies in print; major publicityLeaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century by Marc Sageman (Univ. of Pennsylvania)“Sageman’s background as a forensic psychiatrist has afforded him a completely unique insight into the emergence and operation of Islamic terrorist groups in the 21st century.” —Bill Finan, editor20,000-copy first printing; author appearancesHomo Politicus: The Strange and Barbaric Tribes of the Beltway by Dana Milbank (Broadway)The Washington Post political columnist takes no prisoners: “A desperate nation cries out its need to understand why its leaders are so friggin’ weird, and Dana Milbank answers the call.” —Bill Thomas, senior v-p/editor-in-chief75,000-copy first printing; nationwide publicityCaught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism by Richard C. Longworth (Walker)“This is the first book to focus on how the country is already changing—radically, and in certain ways alarmingly—from the inside out.”—Nick Trautwein, editorRegional publicity tourFrom Berlin to Baghdad: America’s Search for Purpose in the Post—Cold War World by Hal Brands (Univ. Press of Kentucky)“Brands shows how the end of the Cold War shaped American foreign policy, from containment to 'the war on terror.’ ” —Stephen M. Wrinn, director2,000-copy first printing; author tourFebruary
The Collapse of Fortress Bush: The Crisis of Authority in American Government by Alasdair Roberts (NYU)
A counterintuitive critique of why the Bush administration collapsed, both internationally and domestically.
7,500-copy first printing; radio/print campaigns
Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics After the Religious Right by E.J. Dionne Jr. (Princeton)
“Washington Post columnist Dionne argues that the dominance of the religious right is at an end and maps out the future of religion and politics in America.” —Fred Appel, editor
15,000-copy first printing; publicity tour
Sissy Nation: How America Became a Culture of Wimps & Stoopits by John Strausbaugh (Virgin)
“Strausbaugh reveals in furious, funny and ferocious strokes how Americans became sissified, soft and scared, and offers gutsy solutions on how to snap out of it.” —Ken Siman, publisher
30,000-copy first printing; online promotion
Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren’t Fair by William Poundstone (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
“Poundstone exposes a fundamental flaw in our electoral system, which makes it increasingly vulnerable to 'spoiler’ candidates.”—Joe Wisnovsky, editor
50,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution by Scot M. Faulkner (Rowman & Littlefield)
“A behind-the-scenes, eyewitness exposé of how raw partisan political power was coveted, captured, corrupted and eventually lost.” —Christopher Anzalone, executive editor
25,000-copy first printing; national radio/TV
Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power by Fred Kaplan (Wiley)
The Slate.com columnist casts a jaundiced eye on the foreign policy adventures of the Bush administration.
75,000-copy first printing; major promotion
Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns by Erika Falk (Univ. of Illinois)
“This book could hardly be more timely. Already we’re seeing more attention to Senator Clinton’s hair and wardrobe than to her health plan.”—Willis Regier, director
5,000-copy first printing
Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne (Zondervan)
A fresh look at Christianity and empire.
Publicity tour
The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby (Pantheon)
Jacoby, in a very serious and at times very funny book, explores the “epidemic of junk thought” that America has become.
35,000-copy first printing; 9-city author tour
Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap by Amy Sullivan (Scribner)
“Explains how Republicans became the party of faith and how Democrats are winning back religious voters.” —Nan Graham, v-p/editor-in-chief
100,000-copy first printing; national publicity; first serial to Time
After Iraq: Anarchy and Renewal in the Middle East by Gwynne Dye (St. Martin’s/Dunne)
“Clearly maps out what lies in store for the Middle East and the part our country might play in its future.” —Peter Joseph, editor
20,000-copy first printing; national publicity
March
What Liberals Believe, edited by William Martin (Skyhorse)
This is the largest collection of quotations by progressives thinkers ever published.
15,000-copy first printing; publicity
His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S. by Geraldo Rivera (NAL/Celebra)
By the Fox News correspondent formerly known as Jerry Rivers: “The most hard-hitting book to tackle today’s pivotal questions about illegal immigration.” —Raymond Garcia, publisher
150,000-copy first printing; national publicity
God in the White House: A History—1960—2004 by Randall Balmer (HarperOne)
Balmer explores the role of personal piety and public displays of faith in each of the modern presidencies.
35,000-copy first printing; author publicity
The Warm Bucket Brigade: Drunks, Hacks, Crooks, and Oddballs—The Story of the American Vice Presidency by Jeremy Lott (Thomas Nelson)
Where do we find these guys?
35,000-copy first printing; national media
Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Just Go with the Flow by Jim Hightower with Susan DeMarco (Wiley)
The Texas populist is at it again.
75,000-copy first printing; major publicity/promotion
Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress by Patrick J. Murphy with Adam Frankel (Holt)
From Iraq to freshman Democratic congressman: “This is an inspiring, fast-paced, and sometimes bare-knuckled memoir.” —David Patterson, senior editor
50,000-copy first printing; publicity
Strange Bedfellows: How Late-Night Comedy Turns Democracy into a Joke by Russell L. Peterson (Rutgers)
“Peterson was uniquely situated as a former stand-up comic to show us in detail and with humor what we may have suspected about the malign influence of late night comedy on the political process.”—Leslie Mitchner, editor-in-chief
10,000-copy first printing; national advertising
War and Decision by Douglas Feith (HarperCollins)
Feith, one of the prime neocon architects of the Iraq War, was called the “dumbest f@&%ing guy on the planet” by Gen. Tommy Franks. “I think it’ll be the most important book on Iraq published in 2008—and the start of a new debate about what went wrong and right, and why.” —Cal Morgan, executive editor
100,000-copy first printing
Leave Us Alone by Grover Norquist (Morrow)
From Jack Abramoff’s antitax pal: “Norquist has his finger on the pulse of political thought and his book will be a lightning rod.” —Mauro DiPreta, executive editor
75,000-copy first printing; national publicity
America: The Next Chapter by Sen. Chuck Hagel (Ecco)
“This is a deeply felt and deeply reasoned account of how we got where we are—and how we can maintain our status as a world power in the years ahead.” —Daniel Halpern, senior v-p/publisher
100,000-copy first printing; national publicity campaign
April
Great American Hypocrites: Shattering the Big Myths of Republican Politics by Glenn Greenwald (Crown)
The outspoken Salon.com columnist tears into the right.
75,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Your Government Failed You by Richard A. Clarke (Ecco)
The Against All Enemies author is back with another book about the government and 9/11.
250,000-copy first printing; national publicity tour
Just How Stupid Are We?: Why the American Voter Keeps Getting It Wrong—and How We Can Get It Right by Rick Shenkman (Basic)
“A courageous book in challenging our fundamental faith in the wisdom of the American people.”—Lara Heimert, v-p/executive editor
50,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Madam Speaker by Mark Marcsandalow (Modern Times/Rodale)
Former San Francisco Chronicle’sWashington Bureau chief looks at the first female Speaker of the House
National publicity campaign
Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President by Lincoln Chafee (St. Martin’s/Dunne)
“The author stood bravely as an iconoclast within the Republican Party, dissenting from the Bush administration’s agenda for the Iraq War.” —Rob Kirkpatrick, senior editor
75,000-copy first printing; national media
What Happened by Scott McClellan (Public Affairs)
Bush’s former press secretary comes clean? “McClellan was a trusted insider who feels that the time has come to be searching and candid about what exactly happened to take the presidency he served off course, for the sake of our country.” —Lisa Kaufman, editor
Nationwide media
Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House by Carol Felsenthal (Morrow)
“Felsenthal’s book shows what he’s been doing—in public and behind-the-scenes—and why it’s important to today’s political climate.” —Henry Ferris, editor
50,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Al Qaeda in Its Own Words, edited by Gilles Kepel and Jean-Pierre Milelli (Harvard Univ.)
“Kepel and his team of Islamic scholars provide unparalleled access to the key ideas and doctrines of al-Qaeda and the assumptions of militant Islam.”—Joyce Seltzer, senior executive editor
10,000-copy first printing; major publicity
I Lost My Love in Baghdad by Michael Hastings (Scribner)
“A tragic love story as well as a devastating war story.”—Nan Graham, v-p/editor-in-chief
125,000-copy first printing
The Media and John McCain by David Brock and Media Matters for America (Anchor)
“A useful textbook study of how it’s possible for the media to fall in love with a candidate, buy his spin, ignore his shortcomings, and then propel him almost to the Republican nomination.” —Andrew Miller, editor
20,000-copy first printing; national media
May
Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders by Jason L. Riley (Gotham)
“Riley is a young public intellectual, African-American with a conservative bent who is ardently in favor of immigration reform, so he has a very fresh perspective.” —Bill Shinker, president/publisher
11-city publicity tour
The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power by Gene Healy (Cato Institute)
“Long before the Bush administration, the power of the executive branch was elevated far beyond the founders’ intentions by an American electorate that expected the presidency to take care of all national issues.” —David Boaz, executive v-p
8,000-copy first printing; 8-city author tour
Moyers on Democracy by Bill Moyers (Broadway)
“Moyers forcefully and eloquently speaks for the progressive political tradition that is at the heart and soul of our democracy—and calls its betrayers to account.” —Gerry Howard, v-p/executive editor at large
Major promo/publicity
The Uprising by David Sirota (Crown)
“Offers the best kind of immersion journalism, taking us from the Mexican border, where he camps out with Minutemen, to the trenches of the antiwar movement.” —Rachel Klayman, senior editor
50,000-copy first printing; national publicity
A Time to Fight by Sen. James Webb (Broadway)
Maverick Democrat Webb pulled the biggest senatorial upset of 2006, beating George Allen in Virginia: “This is the most anticipated political book of next summer.” —Charles Conrad, executive editor
150,000 first printing; 5-city national publicity tour
Not Keeping Up with Our Parents: The Decline of the Professional Middle Class by Nan Mooney (Beacon)
“Mooney’s is the first book to exclusively target the struggles of the professional middle-class... as they talk candidly about their sense of economic, and hence emotional security, and their plans and fears about what’s to come.”—Gayatri Patnaik, executive editor
10,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen (HarperCollins)
Sorensen was JFK’s chief speechwriter. “It’s a remarkable role that gave him a front-row seat to what was probably the most exciting presidency of all time.” —Tim Duggan, executive editor
150,000-copy first printing
Ending the Iraq War: A Primer by Phyllis Bennis (Interlink)
A clear and accessible explanation of what’s likely to happen when U.S. troops pull out and the impact on the Middle East.
Publicity
June
What Every American Should Know About the Middle East by Melissa Rossi (Plume)
“Will give Americans a crash course in the historical, political and religious development of the entire region.” —Emily Haynes, editor
75,000-copy first printing; national publicity
War Journal by Richard Engel (S&S)
Engel, NBC’s man in the Middle East, “has written the most vivid, bravest, poignant and darkly humorous account of war on the ground since Michael Herr’s Dispatches.” —Alice Mayhew, editorial director
175,000-copy first printing; nationwide publicity tour
The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America by Thurston Clarke (Holt)
Bobby Kennedy will be dead 40 years on June 6: “The definitive account of a history that is especially relevant now as the nation continues to struggle with issues of war, peace and justice.” —David Patterson, senior editor
50,000-copy first printing; New York, Boston, L.A. publicity campaign
Unintended Consequences by Peter Galbraith (S&S)
“This is a breathtaking and dismaying description of the storm the next president will inherit from this misguided Bush war.” —Alice Mayhew, editorial director
100,000-copy first printing; 8-city author tour
The Pornography of Power by Robert Scheer (Twelve)
“Scheer has written a manifesto for enlightened reform, bringing a lifetime of wisdom and experience to one of the most overlooked and dangerous issues of our time—the destructive influence of America’s military-industrial complex.”—Jonathan Karp, publisher/editor-in-chief
National publicity
Untitled on Bush, Vol. 4 by Bob Woodward (S&S)
“Woodward continues to pull back the curtain to show the Bush administration, now in its waning days, maneuvering to try to offer a definition of this presidency.” —Alice Mayhew, editorial director
Embargoed; 750,000-copy first printing; national publicity
Untitled by Ron Suskind (HarperCollins)
“Suskind’s book will reveal some uncomfortable truths about the direction our nation is heading in.” —Tim Duggan, executive editor
500,000-copy first printing
The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation by Steven M. Gillon (Oxford)
“Tells the behind-the-scenes story of how two of the most powerful men in the world came together to try to forge an unlikely alliance.” —Susan Ferber, editor
8-city author tour
July
Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella (Oxford)
“A clear-cut, evenhanded analysis of the right-wing media’s influence on American politics.” —David McBride, editor
National publicity
This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan)
From the author of Nickel and Dimed: “An engaging and hilarious stocktaking of America in the aughts—the cruelest decade in memory.” —Sara Bershtel, associate publisher
100,000-copy first printing; 10-city author tour
August
The Wrecking Crew by Thomas Frank (Metropolitan)
From the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: “A jaw-dropping investigation of the deliberate and far-reaching devastation conservatives have visited on our government.” —Sara Bershtel, associate publisher
250,000-copy first printing; 20-city publicity tour
Open House by Nancy Pelosi with James Kaplan (Doubleday)
The Speaker speaks out.
Publicity
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