What do you think?
Rate this book
School Board
"School Board is a total joy to read, as full of sass and subversive brass as its 18-year-old hero, the political neophyte and Houston school board candidate Tucker 'Catfish' Davis ... I hope School Board is the first of many more to come from this gifted young writer."-Ben Fountain, author of National Book Critics Circle Award winner Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
“Into the riotous cavalcade of great American literary characters tumbles a new class clown, Tucker 'Catfish' Davis, high school senior and aspiring politician. One part Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces, one part Hazel Motes from Wise Blood, and several parts Willie Stark from All the King's Men, Catfish Davis is a singular presence on the page. Mike Freedman hasn't just written the funniest book about a school board election, he's written the kind of David-and-Goliath story that gets all of us 'little people' cheering and laughing in equal measure.”-David Abrams, author of Fobbit
Houston, Texas, 1999. Enter Tucker "Catfish" Davis, a high school senior with high-flying political ambitions as the self-proclaimed heir to populist Louisiana Governors Huey and Earl Long. Armed with idealism and a fedora, he embarks on a quixotic campaign to get elected to the local school board in an effort to help the "little people" of Houston.
In the wild days that follow, Catfish's long-shot bid gains traction through guerilla campaigning against a questionable tax deal supported by his opponent, a powerful executive at an Enron-esque energy company. With the help of his classmates, an indicted Louisiana governor, a gay journalist with nascent mayoral ambitions and an ex-Green Beret trained to wage unconventional warfare, Catfish makes it a race Houston will never forget.
Based on an actual 1999 news story, School Board is an entertaining but satirical debut novel that revels in the diversity, madness and absurdities of the Bayou City.
“Into the riotous cavalcade of great American literary characters tumbles a new class clown, Tucker 'Catfish' Davis, high school senior and aspiring politician. One part Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces, one part Hazel Motes from Wise Blood, and several parts Willie Stark from All the King's Men, Catfish Davis is a singular presence on the page. Mike Freedman hasn't just written the funniest book about a school board election, he's written the kind of David-and-Goliath story that gets all of us 'little people' cheering and laughing in equal measure.”-David Abrams, author of Fobbit
Houston, Texas, 1999. Enter Tucker "Catfish" Davis, a high school senior with high-flying political ambitions as the self-proclaimed heir to populist Louisiana Governors Huey and Earl Long. Armed with idealism and a fedora, he embarks on a quixotic campaign to get elected to the local school board in an effort to help the "little people" of Houston.
In the wild days that follow, Catfish's long-shot bid gains traction through guerilla campaigning against a questionable tax deal supported by his opponent, a powerful executive at an Enron-esque energy company. With the help of his classmates, an indicted Louisiana governor, a gay journalist with nascent mayoral ambitions and an ex-Green Beret trained to wage unconventional warfare, Catfish makes it a race Houston will never forget.
Based on an actual 1999 news story, School Board is an entertaining but satirical debut novel that revels in the diversity, madness and absurdities of the Bayou City.
220 pages, Hardcover
First published March 17, 2014
4 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Mike Freedman
2 books8 followersA native Houstonian and former Green Beret, Mike Freedman completed School Board while still an MBA candidate at the Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 8, 2022
Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded down
The Publisher Says: Houston, Texas, 1999. Enter Tucker "Catfish" Davis, a high school senior with high-flying political ambitions as the self-proclaimed heir to populist Louisiana Governors Huey and Earl Long. Armed with idealism and a fedora, he embarks on a quixotic campaign to get elected to the local school board in an effort to help the "little people" of Houston.
In the wild days that follow, Catfish's long-shot bid gains traction through guerilla campaigning against a questionable tax deal supported by his opponent, a powerful executive at an Enron-esque energy company. With the help of his classmates, an indicted Louisiana governor, a gay journalist with nascent mayoral ambitions and an ex-Green Beret trained to wage unconventional warfare, Catfish makes it a race Houston will never forget.
Based on an actual 1999 news story, School Board is an entertaining but satirical debut novel that revels in the diversity, madness and absurdities of the Bayou City.
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.
My Review: First, read this:
This is a sassy, Swiftian satire of turn-of-the-century Houston, Texas, and its far-too-rich, far-too-crazy political culture. The place that gave rise to both the Bushes that infested the White House. The culture that's given rise to many, many a ridiculous fad...moving their baseball team to the American League! building freeways not trams! nary a zoning law to be found!...is skilfully flensed by a native son who saw this plot play out in real life.
What makes books like this fun to read is the sense of absurdity and the fun they allow you to have laughing at, as well as with, the protagonist. The thing that keeps me reading in political satires is that sense of being outside the action looking at them make the stupid mistake or misread the room, a lot like y'all who watch The Office and Arrested Development do.
What didn't work for me, this time, was the sense that I, the one laughing at other people, wasn't laughing as hard or with as much contempt as the author was. He seems to have a really serious dislike for these characters. It's not like that's unheard of, of course, but it doesn't make me feel comfortable...I need to sense the author pulling his punches or I start sympathizing with the targets not the actors.
I won't shove it at you...but I won't say avoid it, either. In today's political climate, maybe this is just the thing for working through your emotional breakdown as the spectacle of Clinton versus Trump (!!) unfolds.
The Publisher Says: Houston, Texas, 1999. Enter Tucker "Catfish" Davis, a high school senior with high-flying political ambitions as the self-proclaimed heir to populist Louisiana Governors Huey and Earl Long. Armed with idealism and a fedora, he embarks on a quixotic campaign to get elected to the local school board in an effort to help the "little people" of Houston.
In the wild days that follow, Catfish's long-shot bid gains traction through guerilla campaigning against a questionable tax deal supported by his opponent, a powerful executive at an Enron-esque energy company. With the help of his classmates, an indicted Louisiana governor, a gay journalist with nascent mayoral ambitions and an ex-Green Beret trained to wage unconventional warfare, Catfish makes it a race Houston will never forget.
Based on an actual 1999 news story, School Board is an entertaining but satirical debut novel that revels in the diversity, madness and absurdities of the Bayou City.
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.
My Review: First, read this:
"I'm not wearing this."
"You are if you want to win tonight's debate," the political consultant said, holding up the picture of Walker in full polo regalia in the Chronicle that Tucker's campaign had planted in the morning edition. "Less polo playing, more goat roping."
"We live in Memorial, the richest area of town."
The political consultant showed a poll from The Pony Express with Walker trailing by twelve percent.
"That's Tucker's paper," Walker said. "What legitimate poll has a margin of error of eleven percent?"
This is a sassy, Swiftian satire of turn-of-the-century Houston, Texas, and its far-too-rich, far-too-crazy political culture. The place that gave rise to both the Bushes that infested the White House. The culture that's given rise to many, many a ridiculous fad...moving their baseball team to the American League! building freeways not trams! nary a zoning law to be found!...is skilfully flensed by a native son who saw this plot play out in real life.
What makes books like this fun to read is the sense of absurdity and the fun they allow you to have laughing at, as well as with, the protagonist. The thing that keeps me reading in political satires is that sense of being outside the action looking at them make the stupid mistake or misread the room, a lot like y'all who watch The Office and Arrested Development do.
What didn't work for me, this time, was the sense that I, the one laughing at other people, wasn't laughing as hard or with as much contempt as the author was. He seems to have a really serious dislike for these characters. It's not like that's unheard of, of course, but it doesn't make me feel comfortable...I need to sense the author pulling his punches or I start sympathizing with the targets not the actors.
I won't shove it at you...but I won't say avoid it, either. In today's political climate, maybe this is just the thing for working through your emotional breakdown as the spectacle of Clinton versus Trump (!!) unfolds.
February 19, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Librarything in exchange for an honest review.This is a very tough book for me to rate, because while it was well-written and had an interesting story, there were still a few faults that disengaged me and for the most part I just could not get into it.First, Tucker Davis is one of the most annoying and obnoxious characters I've ever encountered. He's more than just flawed; I can't think of any redeeming qualities about him. He's hypocritical, ignorant, ironically self-centered, and completely clueless. For someone wanting to help people, he sure doesn't treat his friends and family very well by manipulating them, using them, and not even considering their advice. This book was difficult to read, because I just could not stand the main character.Secondly, I'm not really into politics and that was the only thing driving the story. That's mostly my fault for picking a book about politics. However, as a book advertised as "a roaring comic allegory", I was expecting to laugh a little, or even crack a smile. But the only this this book did for me was confirm my dislike of politics. Despite the interesting concept, the text got very boring very quickly. The whole thing seemed to be really stretched out. The story felt slow the first three quarters of the book. While the ending was predictable, I could not help but be satisfied solely because the last page marked the end of my time with Tuck Davis.
March 15, 2019
Enjoyed this Houston read. Anyone who grew up around the memorial area in SBISD or inside the loop would enjoy this read.
April 23, 2020
Not a bad first novel, with some enjoyable depictions of Houston, and several surprising plot twists
April 10, 2014
By Mike Freedman
Chin Music Press, 227 pgs
978-0-9887693-8-0
Submitted by the publisher
Rating: 4 of 5
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Indeed. School Board is Mike Freedman's rollicking debut novel about eighteen-year-old Tucker "Catfish" Davis's chimerical campaign for a place on the school board in the Memorial Park area of Houston. Catfish is a devotee of the infamous brothers Governors Long of Louisiana; pen pal of the indicted current governor of the Pelican State, Bobby Boudreaux; and president of his high school class, thanks to the Share Our Wealth Coalition he assembled to defeat the water monopoly and get Dr. Pepper machines in the school cafeteria. Catfish bills himself as the Last Populist, champion of the little folk, his rallying cry "Every kid a king!"
There is so much going on in School Board that the org chart would resemble Enron's. There is the school board campaign, the mayor, Sam Houston, big business, the media, the Alamo, dirty tricks, the prom, unions, US Special Forces, tax incremental reinvestment zones (TIRZ - I like to think this rhymes with "tears," as in the tracks of my...), gay rights and a GPS-challenged manatee, just to scratch the surface. Catfish's opponent in the school board race is Walker B. Moore (the "Last Wildcatter"), president of the giant energy company Synergy. Moore begins this book as the familiar stereotype of a certain type of obtuse Texas bidnessman, mistaking an Iranian student as Hispanic, touting loyalty as the penultimate virtue. Fisher Hughes, whose jaded demeanor shields a hopeful heart, is the reporter who chronicles the story for the local newspaper.
There are times when Catfish lays on the populist patois so thick that I think the author should've dialed it back a bit but there are many more instances in which I laughed out loud. From page 161, a conversation between Moore and the political consultant Synergy hired for him:
"Less polo playing, more goat roping."
"We live in Memorial, the richest area of town."
The political consultant showed a poll from The Pony Express with Walker trailing by twelve percent.
"That's Tucker's paper," Walker said. "What legitimate poll has a margin of error of eleven percent?"
And this from page 223, the introduction of a few new scholarships Tucker convinced a benefactor to endow:
The audience applauded the recipients of the newly created district scholarships endowed by Donovan Kirby: the Huey P. Long Scholarship for Unconventional Academic Excellence..., the Earl K. Long Scholarship for the Asymmetrically Talented..., and the Bobby Boudreaux Scholarship for Clandestine Leadership...
Just as Confederacy of Dunces could only take place in NOLA, School Board could only take place in Houston. Freedman's novel is a love letter to the indomitable city of Houston, it's environs and it's characters. Locals will recognize their city: Montrose, the Petroleum Club, Hermann Park, the Ship Channel and Buffalo Bayou. From page nine:
Up through the undredged world, citizens of the Bayou City moved in the other direction. Never a town to look back, new pioneers explored waters and lands and space to be tomorrow's history. Begat in a coastal swamp, it grew in a fever, lost in a fever, and always rediscovered in a fever.
The author Mike Freedman is a native of Houston, Special Forces veteran (see page 207 - 'nuff said) and MBA candidate at Rice University. I give an enthusiastic tip of my hat (why did the political consultant have Walker Moore wear a black hat? hhmmm) to Freedman - what an imagination! All of the raw ingredients exist in the swamp but it takes something special to make this smooth and finely-spiced gumbo of them. School Board is a fine addition to the tradition of American satire refined by Mark Twain. Catfish isn't as smart as Tom Sawyer but he's crafty and you'll still end up painting the fence.
Chin Music Press, 227 pgs
978-0-9887693-8-0
Submitted by the publisher
Rating: 4 of 5
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Indeed. School Board is Mike Freedman's rollicking debut novel about eighteen-year-old Tucker "Catfish" Davis's chimerical campaign for a place on the school board in the Memorial Park area of Houston. Catfish is a devotee of the infamous brothers Governors Long of Louisiana; pen pal of the indicted current governor of the Pelican State, Bobby Boudreaux; and president of his high school class, thanks to the Share Our Wealth Coalition he assembled to defeat the water monopoly and get Dr. Pepper machines in the school cafeteria. Catfish bills himself as the Last Populist, champion of the little folk, his rallying cry "Every kid a king!"
There is so much going on in School Board that the org chart would resemble Enron's. There is the school board campaign, the mayor, Sam Houston, big business, the media, the Alamo, dirty tricks, the prom, unions, US Special Forces, tax incremental reinvestment zones (TIRZ - I like to think this rhymes with "tears," as in the tracks of my...), gay rights and a GPS-challenged manatee, just to scratch the surface. Catfish's opponent in the school board race is Walker B. Moore (the "Last Wildcatter"), president of the giant energy company Synergy. Moore begins this book as the familiar stereotype of a certain type of obtuse Texas bidnessman, mistaking an Iranian student as Hispanic, touting loyalty as the penultimate virtue. Fisher Hughes, whose jaded demeanor shields a hopeful heart, is the reporter who chronicles the story for the local newspaper.
There are times when Catfish lays on the populist patois so thick that I think the author should've dialed it back a bit but there are many more instances in which I laughed out loud. From page 161, a conversation between Moore and the political consultant Synergy hired for him:
"Less polo playing, more goat roping."
"We live in Memorial, the richest area of town."
The political consultant showed a poll from The Pony Express with Walker trailing by twelve percent.
"That's Tucker's paper," Walker said. "What legitimate poll has a margin of error of eleven percent?"
And this from page 223, the introduction of a few new scholarships Tucker convinced a benefactor to endow:
The audience applauded the recipients of the newly created district scholarships endowed by Donovan Kirby: the Huey P. Long Scholarship for Unconventional Academic Excellence..., the Earl K. Long Scholarship for the Asymmetrically Talented..., and the Bobby Boudreaux Scholarship for Clandestine Leadership...
Just as Confederacy of Dunces could only take place in NOLA, School Board could only take place in Houston. Freedman's novel is a love letter to the indomitable city of Houston, it's environs and it's characters. Locals will recognize their city: Montrose, the Petroleum Club, Hermann Park, the Ship Channel and Buffalo Bayou. From page nine:
Up through the undredged world, citizens of the Bayou City moved in the other direction. Never a town to look back, new pioneers explored waters and lands and space to be tomorrow's history. Begat in a coastal swamp, it grew in a fever, lost in a fever, and always rediscovered in a fever.
The author Mike Freedman is a native of Houston, Special Forces veteran (see page 207 - 'nuff said) and MBA candidate at Rice University. I give an enthusiastic tip of my hat (why did the political consultant have Walker Moore wear a black hat? hhmmm) to Freedman - what an imagination! All of the raw ingredients exist in the swamp but it takes something special to make this smooth and finely-spiced gumbo of them. School Board is a fine addition to the tradition of American satire refined by Mark Twain. Catfish isn't as smart as Tom Sawyer but he's crafty and you'll still end up painting the fence.
December 3, 2014
I received a signed, hard copy of Mike Freedman's novel, School Board via LibraryThing Early Viewers program and appreciated the opportunity. I will start by saying that I was impressed before I even started into the story. With it's soft blue dust jacket and gem of an illustration on the inside front cover, I was eager to delve in.
The author shares the story of Tucker "Catfish" Davis, an 18 year old champion for the "little folks", whose passion for politics takes him on a race for a seat on the local School Board. Having spent his childhood admiring the unlikely of political heroes, Tucker takes on the rich and vengeful conglomerates who dare to steal away hard-earned money from everyday Houstonians. Tucker may not be a Top-A student and his outlook on life is nothing short of "unique", but he knows how to rally the people for the "cause". He brings together an eclectic group of supporters in an honest attempt to unseat the status quo who have always used their "status" as their political weapon.
The story is chalked full of humor and wit. It touches on themes of political corruption, corporate greed and civil rights. Add in the energy of today's youth, vulnerable seniors, Vietnam Vets and new immigrants and you've got yourself a drama that is sure to entertain.
I recommend to any reader who is likely to cheer for the little guy! 4/5 stars and hoping for more of Mike Freedman's writings in the future!
The author shares the story of Tucker "Catfish" Davis, an 18 year old champion for the "little folks", whose passion for politics takes him on a race for a seat on the local School Board. Having spent his childhood admiring the unlikely of political heroes, Tucker takes on the rich and vengeful conglomerates who dare to steal away hard-earned money from everyday Houstonians. Tucker may not be a Top-A student and his outlook on life is nothing short of "unique", but he knows how to rally the people for the "cause". He brings together an eclectic group of supporters in an honest attempt to unseat the status quo who have always used their "status" as their political weapon.
The story is chalked full of humor and wit. It touches on themes of political corruption, corporate greed and civil rights. Add in the energy of today's youth, vulnerable seniors, Vietnam Vets and new immigrants and you've got yourself a drama that is sure to entertain.
I recommend to any reader who is likely to cheer for the little guy! 4/5 stars and hoping for more of Mike Freedman's writings in the future!
July 27, 2014
I received School Board in a GoodReads Giveaway. I received a small handsome hardback with a slate-blue matted cover concealing a hardback with a beautifully illustrated colored front cover. School Board is slightly over 200 pages of bright white paper with small scriptish font. It's a beautifully designed book for its size and stature.
I very much wanted to like School Board and I will begin my review by citing what I liked most about the novel. I liked that it was set in Houston; the city as its background was smartly portrayed. I liked that School Board was not about something preposterous, with our current over-proliferation of vampire romance novels. I like that it tackled politics from a high-school setting and thumbed its nose at the preposterousness of a lot of current modern-day paradigms.
What School Board suffers from is a lack of separation of author's voice from the narration. Consistently the book reads like a military debriefing, an incident report. Too frequently the voice on the page didn't match the setting of the scene it projected into imagination. I found myself in certain passages wishing there had been an editor, a writing coach, someone to say, "Match the flavor of the moment! Find the voice of this circumstance! Stop reporting, start writing!" But it never manifested, and in the end, though I wanted to appreciate the subject matter, though I wanted to support the characters, I found myself bored and not caring.
I very much wanted to like School Board and I will begin my review by citing what I liked most about the novel. I liked that it was set in Houston; the city as its background was smartly portrayed. I liked that School Board was not about something preposterous, with our current over-proliferation of vampire romance novels. I like that it tackled politics from a high-school setting and thumbed its nose at the preposterousness of a lot of current modern-day paradigms.
What School Board suffers from is a lack of separation of author's voice from the narration. Consistently the book reads like a military debriefing, an incident report. Too frequently the voice on the page didn't match the setting of the scene it projected into imagination. I found myself in certain passages wishing there had been an editor, a writing coach, someone to say, "Match the flavor of the moment! Find the voice of this circumstance! Stop reporting, start writing!" But it never manifested, and in the end, though I wanted to appreciate the subject matter, though I wanted to support the characters, I found myself bored and not caring.
October 20, 2015
I started reading "School Board" a while ago and it didn't appeal to me. Determined to read it, I picked it up and started from the beginning again.
I found it engaging and interesting this time.
A determined, 18 year old graduating class president, Tucker "Catfish" Davis, runs for School Board in a fight for the "little people" when he determines the present candidate is selling out the people of Houston. Unconventional, perhaps a little "crazy", he is not afraid to stand up and fight for what he believes in.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I found it engaging and interesting this time.
A determined, 18 year old graduating class president, Tucker "Catfish" Davis, runs for School Board in a fight for the "little people" when he determines the present candidate is selling out the people of Houston. Unconventional, perhaps a little "crazy", he is not afraid to stand up and fight for what he believes in.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
September 28, 2014
Is this the story of an idealistic young man with a somewhat questionable choice in political heroes, or the story of a political huckster in training? Freedman leaves that up to the reader to decide, but there are some definitive character decisions throughout the story and they don’t always follow the conventional narrative.
Free review copy.
Free review copy.
February 25, 2014
A love letter to the U.S of A's good old-fashioned democracy. Featuring the funniest kid to hijack high school since Max Fischer in Rushmore, Tucker "Catfish" Davis will have readers cheering for all the little people in this promising debut novel.
May 17, 2014
I won this book from Goodreads First Reads.
School Board by Mike Freedman was an okay read. The main character Tucker "Catfish" Davis was a likeable protagonist all about protecting the "little folks" of Houston. Freedman has good potential as an author for more politics related novels.
School Board by Mike Freedman was an okay read. The main character Tucker "Catfish" Davis was a likeable protagonist all about protecting the "little folks" of Houston. Freedman has good potential as an author for more politics related novels.
May 29, 2014
Very well written, but I am not at all a political person, so I did not enjoy the subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews