Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Deep Dish Book Book Selection for the current production of "State of the Union" is Primary Colors, by Anonymous (aka Joe Klein)
The Deep Dish Book Book Selection for the current production of "State of the Union" is Primary Colors, by Anonymous (aka Joe Klein). Publishers Weekly says this thinly disguised look at the first Clinton presidential campaign "stands as a definitive political novel for these uneasy times." A discussion of the book, free and open to the public, will be held at 6:30 p.m., prior to the performance on Thursday, March 6.
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For anyone interested in purchasing a copy of the current Deep Dish book selection, the Bull's Head Bookstore on the UNC campus will offer a 20% discount at the time of purchase if you mention that you are participating in the Deep Dish book group.
Lucinda Thompson
Choice of Primary Colors. When we were discussing what would be a good book to accompany the current Deep Dish selection of State of the Union, we kept coming back to Primary Colors as the best choice. When the book first came out in 1996 it received a lot of publicity as it was published anonymously and appeared to be based on the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign from an insider point of view. At that time I chose not to read it. The Clintons were the target of a lot of scandals and I didn't think I needed to read one more "attack", so to speak.
Time has passed and a new opportunity to read the book presented itself with the Deep Dish venture. When I finally read it, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's about the Clintons as a sort of roman a clef but the intent of the book is not an attack but an analysis of a political campaign from the perspective of one young pollitical professional, a sensitive young intellectual with some deeply ambivalent attitudes towards the candidate, called in the novel, Governor Jack Stanton. It's also a very absorbing novel, well written with a lot going on, some of which will be familiar.
The issues in the book parallel some of the issues in the play we will soon be watching. The candidates whom we want to love and follow blindly and enthusiastically are always flawed. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that has to take place. Political junkies love to position themselves behind the candidate and whisper strategy in his/her ear but the candidate has to make the choices and stand by the decisions. One reviewer called the book "an undeniable treat for political junkies." And for the rest of us as well. We are seeing a lively political presidential campaign this year. the book and the play will deepen our perspective of what's going on.
Come and talk about the book, the play, and politics in general - on Thursday, March 6, at 6:30. And/or post your comments, questions, thoughts here on this blog.
So much of political fiction, and our thoughts about politics in general, revolve around the clash between idealism and pragmatism. Both "Primary Colors" and "State of the Union" give us a host of "experts" who are quick to lay out what must be done and how to do it, and those instructions often drown out the ideas the campaigns are initially built upon.
The novel utilizes a narrator who is himself being introduced to the intricacies of the process, and Grant and Mary Matthews provide similar touchstones for us in the play.
One of the questions, as we look from the 1948 contest in the play to the 1992 "Stanton" campaign of the novel and our current Primary season, is how to assess the results. Does our electoral system ultimately work or just the opposite?
A couple of interesting parallels between book and play:
In both instances, the wife of the candidate is introduced by means of a phone conversation, with her side unheard, though understood to be somewhat hostile; subsequently, we get to know her on her own, more complex terms.
Also, Henry, the narrator of PRIMARY COLORS, makes much of how Jack Stanton connects personally with a crowd (e.g. at the Portsmouth union hall), just as Mary does when describing Grant's speeches in Act II of the play. Jim Conover largely discounts the value of such politicking, and one question would be are we moving away from such political activities or are they every bit as important now.
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