Blue State Blues - Hardcover

Slavitt, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0819568066 ISBN 13: 9780819568069

Publisher: Wesleyan University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In this witty and sharply observant memoir, David R. Slavitt recounts his day-to-day life on the campaign trail, describing the often surreal experience of being a pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage GOP candidate running against a pro-life, anti-gay-marriage Democrat. When Slavitt decided to make a run for the Massachusetts State Legislature in 2004, he knew the odds were against him. Though a well-respected writer, he was a political novice and a moderate Republican in a district where defeating any Democrat was next to impossible. But in the grandest of American traditions, hoping for the best and wanting to do some good, he threw his hat into the ring―and the result was a circus he could never have anticipated. From fundraising and door-knocking to angling for good press and mixing with nationally known candidates and officials, Slavitt navigates the choppy waters of state politics, learning as he goes. This is a fast and funny read that shows that American politics still has a heart.

About this title

About the Author:

DAVID R. SLAVITT is the author of more than 80 works of fiction, poetry, criticism, and literature in translation. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Bennington College.

From Publishers Weekly:

A prolific poet, novelist, translator, crank and intellectual elitist, Slavitt is the antithetical politician, but that didn't stop him from entering the 2004 Massachusetts State Legislature race to run against a long-time Democratic incumbent in a predominantly Democratic district. It is a given that Slavitt will lose, but what keeps the narrative engaging is Slavitt's confrontation with the demeaning task of political pandering and his efforts at maintaining the "likeable fellow" veneer: he has to wear a fake smile, glad-hand and try to convey his message during hasty interactions with voters at innumerable community events. Slavitt, a former Yalie debater, enjoys taking the podium opposite his opponents, and it is his oratorical abilities and acerbic wit that endear him to newspaper editors and a small portion of the electorate. During his campaign, enough people accept his signs and promotional bookmarks that it is surprising when he loses in a landslide. (His 13 percent of the vote was "catastrophic," he notes. "There was a Socialist Workers' Party candidate who did better.") A discouraging look at the politics game as played by the ultimate outsider, Slavitt's book will appeal to the politically jaded.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0819568066
• ISBN 13: 9780819568069
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 372