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Primary Colors
The political BONFIRE OF VANITIES: a novel based on the Clinton campaign which has become the most controversial book for years.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 1996
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4105 people want to read
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 378 reviews
June 3, 2016
A relevant reading
ALL'S FAIR IN POLITICS AND WAR
I read this novel, back then in 1998, just live a month before of watching the film adaptation. Even at that moment was published as an "anonymous" work. (It was later than it was known that Joe Klein was the author of the novel.
I have to admit that I didn't went crazy about for the book or the movie, at that particular moment, but again I think that it was a "too serious" story in a moment in my life that I was reading and watching lighter stuff.
It's highly likely that nowadays I would "watch" in a different light the novel I'd read again. Maybe I'll do it someday.
However, the book is a more solid product with more details and development of the characters and events.
It's no secret that Primary Colors is a fiction novel based on the real presidential campaign of former President Bill Clinton.
It's a book well written and it gives a very amusing view of a Clinton-like presidency without saying in open way that it was the intention, but the similarities are obvious.
For readers who enjoy politics based books I am sure that this can be a great option to read.
The story doesn't hesitate to show something that maybe any voter in any country knows...
...a politician will do and will say anything if that helps him(her) to win an election...
...a brutally sad truth in an age where we are eager to have true leaders.
Politicians are human as any other person in any other job career, and I can understand their "character failures" in their personal areas. I am not saying that I support marital deception, but in a politician, I think that it's worse when they really don't believe in their political opinions and they are just saying them to gain the support of the voter. Political deception is worse in the sense of a voter, since I am not asking them to get marry, I am offering my vote.
A cheater husband is a loser to me, not matter their kind of jobs.
A cheater politician is a sad truth that each day, it's easier and easier to find in any candidate.
ALL'S FAIR IN POLITICS AND WAR
I read this novel, back then in 1998, just live a month before of watching the film adaptation. Even at that moment was published as an "anonymous" work. (It was later than it was known that Joe Klein was the author of the novel.
I have to admit that I didn't went crazy about for the book or the movie, at that particular moment, but again I think that it was a "too serious" story in a moment in my life that I was reading and watching lighter stuff.
It's highly likely that nowadays I would "watch" in a different light the novel I'd read again. Maybe I'll do it someday.
However, the book is a more solid product with more details and development of the characters and events.
It's no secret that Primary Colors is a fiction novel based on the real presidential campaign of former President Bill Clinton.
It's a book well written and it gives a very amusing view of a Clinton-like presidency without saying in open way that it was the intention, but the similarities are obvious.
For readers who enjoy politics based books I am sure that this can be a great option to read.
The story doesn't hesitate to show something that maybe any voter in any country knows...
...a politician will do and will say anything if that helps him(her) to win an election...
...a brutally sad truth in an age where we are eager to have true leaders.
Politicians are human as any other person in any other job career, and I can understand their "character failures" in their personal areas. I am not saying that I support marital deception, but in a politician, I think that it's worse when they really don't believe in their political opinions and they are just saying them to gain the support of the voter. Political deception is worse in the sense of a voter, since I am not asking them to get marry, I am offering my vote.
A cheater husband is a loser to me, not matter their kind of jobs.
A cheater politician is a sad truth that each day, it's easier and easier to find in any candidate.
September 3, 2022
This novel is as relevant now as it was back then. Primary Colors written by Joe Klein in the guise of Anonymous is a political novel with fictional characters (not so much) meant to represent real-life people. A southern governor decides to run for President of the United States and struggles to get out of his own way. (The character masking is purposely ineffective, more an attempt to hide the writer and cloak him in an attempt to avoid the anticipated blowback.) In many respects the candidate is his own worst impediment to the White House. He has big ideas with a stream of rhetoric that appears sincere, but in reality, is more an apparent shell game that involves a staffer that might actually hold sway over the conscience of the king. If you are a political junkie, you probably have already read this, like I did way back in the late 1990s. The attempt at masking truth with misdirection was not very effective at hiding the main characters, but I still believe it has something important to say in the current political climate.
July 28, 2013
I read this when it came out in 1996, even before Joe Klein was outed as the author. I love a good behind-the-scenes political story, and if that's what you like, this novel delivers it in spades. It follows the presidential campaign of Southern governor Jack Stanton, and the events are loosely based on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. Stanton is a notorious flirt and frequently gets into trouble with women. He is skilled at telling stories and manipulating people. We see the campaign through the eyes of idealistic staffer Henry Burton, and as events unfold, he grows more disenchanted with Stanton's behavior.
While this is an enjoyable novel, I would recommend pairing it with George Stephanopoulos' memoir, All Too Human, which describes his experiences on the Clinton campaign and working for him in the White House. Both books are interesting reads and I highly recommend them for political junkies.
While this is an enjoyable novel, I would recommend pairing it with George Stephanopoulos' memoir, All Too Human, which describes his experiences on the Clinton campaign and working for him in the White House. Both books are interesting reads and I highly recommend them for political junkies.
June 4, 2009
I thought I may have waited too long to read this one, but since it was for sale at a library book sale, I thought, why not take a chance? I'd always wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The book was interesting, especially given the recent Hillary/Barack dust-up. Loosely disguised as fiction, this book offers an inside peek at the Clinton primary run way back in the 90s. I was amazed at how long ago it all seemed.
Susan and Jack Stanton (read Hillary and Bill) are shown in a very negative light as political animals who will do anything, and throw anyone under the bus, in order to get elected. Back when Bill was president, I probably wouldn't have believed it, but after seeing Hillary's recent campaign and their sense of entitlement, it rings true. I still think they're both brilliant and quite an interesting power couple, but Primary Colors certainly tarnishes their luster.
Moving slowly, the book reflects the way things get done in a real campaign. Miracles don't happen overnight. Elections aren't won in a single chapter. The book's supporting characters are well-drawn and it gave me plenty to think about. Even though in many respects, I would prefer not to. The truth here isn't pretty.
Susan and Jack Stanton (read Hillary and Bill) are shown in a very negative light as political animals who will do anything, and throw anyone under the bus, in order to get elected. Back when Bill was president, I probably wouldn't have believed it, but after seeing Hillary's recent campaign and their sense of entitlement, it rings true. I still think they're both brilliant and quite an interesting power couple, but Primary Colors certainly tarnishes their luster.
Moving slowly, the book reflects the way things get done in a real campaign. Miracles don't happen overnight. Elections aren't won in a single chapter. The book's supporting characters are well-drawn and it gave me plenty to think about. Even though in many respects, I would prefer not to. The truth here isn't pretty.
April 30, 2010
When I bought this book the name on the cover was still "Anonymous" and the book was getting tremendous buzz because it was obvious Henry and Susan Stanton stood for Bill and Hilary Clinton and everyone was speculating someone close to them had to have written the book. But the reason I picked it up was simple. Back then I worked as a campaign staffer--in a presidential campaign no less, only on the state, not national level. And a fellow staffer told me I had to read this book--that it had the best description of what it's like inside a political campaign he had ever read.
He cited a particular passage about the ferocious pace and momentum of campaigns, and I skimmed through the book trying to find it, and this might have been it:
We moved into all of this so quickly that it was difficult to comprehend. It was as if we were being borne, actually propelled, through our schedule by a lunatic tide--we were sucked out of high school auditoriums. Kiwanis club luncheons, all the other stations of the cross, sucked into this narrow vortex, a combination of gauntlet and undertow.
But yes, this took me back--back to the land of coffee and donuts and no sleep, to all the cussin.' (I had been a rather priggish girl who wouldn't say even the mildest of oaths, a few months into campaign work I was lobbing F-bombs and S-words left and right. It has taken years to scrub my language clean of casual obscenity and I haven't completely succeeded.) But most of all the book gets right both what whets your taste for politics and for many causes distaste and disillusion. How Americans will forgive anything if you're charming and likable. That in politics you sell your soul for power and it's all good because you'll make up for all the reprehensible, dirty things you've done because you'll change the world! But what changes is you.
Note, I'm not involved in politics anymore.
He cited a particular passage about the ferocious pace and momentum of campaigns, and I skimmed through the book trying to find it, and this might have been it:
We moved into all of this so quickly that it was difficult to comprehend. It was as if we were being borne, actually propelled, through our schedule by a lunatic tide--we were sucked out of high school auditoriums. Kiwanis club luncheons, all the other stations of the cross, sucked into this narrow vortex, a combination of gauntlet and undertow.
But yes, this took me back--back to the land of coffee and donuts and no sleep, to all the cussin.' (I had been a rather priggish girl who wouldn't say even the mildest of oaths, a few months into campaign work I was lobbing F-bombs and S-words left and right. It has taken years to scrub my language clean of casual obscenity and I haven't completely succeeded.) But most of all the book gets right both what whets your taste for politics and for many causes distaste and disillusion. How Americans will forgive anything if you're charming and likable. That in politics you sell your soul for power and it's all good because you'll make up for all the reprehensible, dirty things you've done because you'll change the world! But what changes is you.
Note, I'm not involved in politics anymore.
April 27, 2009
It starts out slowly, ploddingly, irritatingly. Just like most election campaigns. You see things develop bit-by-bit inch-by-inch, see characters begin to define themselves, see conflicts begin to emerge, and find yourself wishing time or the pages would go faster so you could get to the end.
Then it suddenly explodes into a frenzy of kinetic energy as though the author went on an amphetemine binge, chasing the whole thing down with a vat of red bull. Which, my half-baked mind believes, may well be the breakfast of champions of many election aides.
This is where Primary Colors is at its best. When it ignores its own self referential nature, when it forgoes the obvious parrallellism to the Clinton campaign of 1992, when it simply revels in the primary process, frantic, chaotic and almost wholly without conscious.
Most surprisingly of all, when it slows down again, into a slow, embarassed recounting of mudraking cruelty, is when it reaches perhaps the zenith of its story telling. The ideals and dreams that flow into a heart whenever the strains of The West Wing opening credits play, the hopes and dreams of people who want to make a difference or change the political system, turn to foul, putrid, ashes. Your heroes, if you had any while reading it, fall, your dreams end not in nightmares, but in the slow, tremulous opening of eyelids to find the same walls, the same alarm clock, the same vapid conviction-free career politicians spouting nonsense, just like always.
Yet, oddly, the book ends with a whimper. Feebly limping into the last pages, before presenting a complex, near-Faustian choice for its protaganists. But all it does is present it. And while you want your eyelids to be heavy, while you want to wash out the ashes with a Listerine waterfall, you're too jaded to want to know how it ends.
But just jaded enough, to be glad you don't have to deal with politics...until you go home again.
Then it suddenly explodes into a frenzy of kinetic energy as though the author went on an amphetemine binge, chasing the whole thing down with a vat of red bull. Which, my half-baked mind believes, may well be the breakfast of champions of many election aides.
This is where Primary Colors is at its best. When it ignores its own self referential nature, when it forgoes the obvious parrallellism to the Clinton campaign of 1992, when it simply revels in the primary process, frantic, chaotic and almost wholly without conscious.
Most surprisingly of all, when it slows down again, into a slow, embarassed recounting of mudraking cruelty, is when it reaches perhaps the zenith of its story telling. The ideals and dreams that flow into a heart whenever the strains of The West Wing opening credits play, the hopes and dreams of people who want to make a difference or change the political system, turn to foul, putrid, ashes. Your heroes, if you had any while reading it, fall, your dreams end not in nightmares, but in the slow, tremulous opening of eyelids to find the same walls, the same alarm clock, the same vapid conviction-free career politicians spouting nonsense, just like always.
Yet, oddly, the book ends with a whimper. Feebly limping into the last pages, before presenting a complex, near-Faustian choice for its protaganists. But all it does is present it. And while you want your eyelids to be heavy, while you want to wash out the ashes with a Listerine waterfall, you're too jaded to want to know how it ends.
But just jaded enough, to be glad you don't have to deal with politics...until you go home again.
March 27, 2014
A novel set in the heated 1992 Presidential campaign, "Primary Colors" is the thinly disguised story of Bill Clinton's unlikely victory in the Presidential race of that year. For years this book was attributed to an anonymous author, eventually Joe Klein fessed up to writing it. It is a very uncomplementary view of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and a great look inside the excitement and passion of a presidential campaign.
Written from the point of view of a Governor's aide turned campaign manager, this story discusses the entry of a southern governor into a hotly contested Presidential campaign in a media dominated election. The southern aspect of this story reminded me of "All the King's Men", and in fact the politician who is portrayed in the novel is very much like the corrupted Southern Governor of "King's Men". I wonder how much "King's Men" influenced Klein in writing "Colors". The story is interesting, since it covers the campaign of an unlikely candidate and witnesses a corruption of that candidate and his family during the campaign. The speculation that the subject of this novel was really Bill Clinton really did not interest me much. But despite that, I thought this novel was good.
One of the most interesting aspects of "Colors" was the willingness of all candidates in the race to engage in character assassination and unethical practices in order to win. One of the main character's aids, who believes that her candidate is above such practices, learns otherwise toward the end of this novel, to her demise.
I would recommend "Primary Colors" to anyone interested in 20th Century politics and the nature of politics in the years leading up to the year 2000.
Written from the point of view of a Governor's aide turned campaign manager, this story discusses the entry of a southern governor into a hotly contested Presidential campaign in a media dominated election. The southern aspect of this story reminded me of "All the King's Men", and in fact the politician who is portrayed in the novel is very much like the corrupted Southern Governor of "King's Men". I wonder how much "King's Men" influenced Klein in writing "Colors". The story is interesting, since it covers the campaign of an unlikely candidate and witnesses a corruption of that candidate and his family during the campaign. The speculation that the subject of this novel was really Bill Clinton really did not interest me much. But despite that, I thought this novel was good.
One of the most interesting aspects of "Colors" was the willingness of all candidates in the race to engage in character assassination and unethical practices in order to win. One of the main character's aids, who believes that her candidate is above such practices, learns otherwise toward the end of this novel, to her demise.
I would recommend "Primary Colors" to anyone interested in 20th Century politics and the nature of politics in the years leading up to the year 2000.
January 24, 2010
This book was too over-the-top for my tastes, political fantasy that was extremely difficult to swallow. The characters were all greasy and self-satisfying, leaving everything to be desired from the reader's perspective. Primary Colors did not contain a single challenging thought. It was like reading an awful political soap opera with unbelievable characters. I tried and tried to connect with even the remotest strand of humanity in the characters and alas -- nothing! I kept reading and reading, hoping that I might be able to find even one morsel worth savoring; well, I did discover one thing -- that I don't ever want to read the book again -- and it is already lying in the Goodwill bin waiting for the next victim of utter disenchantment.
May 24, 2013
A strangely nuanced and under-rated book. It could just as easily be called, 'A Study of Charisma'. I'm too young to really be familiar with the Clintons (I do follow American politics pretty closely, but I was only four years old in 1992) so I cannot comment on that aspect of the book. Perhaps that lack of baggage aids my analysis of this book, because I see it as it is. Charisma is a very rare quality. Most politicians don't have 'it'. That rare, winning formula. That thing that Clinton had that so few others could ever come close to.
The politics is quite interesting, the denouement adds pathos, and overall I was gripped by this book.
The politics is quite interesting, the denouement adds pathos, and overall I was gripped by this book.
August 11, 2016
Henry Burton—a Democrat too young for Kennedy, unfamiliar with magic—is our entree into the psychodrama-filled world of the Clintonian Jack and Susan Stanton.
Libby Holden—a brilliant but unpredictable friend from the Stantons' activist days—takes us even deeper, hilariously and then tragically embodying the wildest swings of our adoration and disappointment with the Baby Boomer power couple.
Klein in parts of Primary Colors demonstrates a better feel for character ("Her strength in the face of this embarrassment was strange. She was drawing attention to her perfection, which only served to remind people of her husband's imperfection—it was, I realized, a vengeful act"), dialogue, meaningful plot development, a good turn of phrase ("It felt like the quiet scene just before the monster comes"), and literary imagery ("the roadsides were the color of a squeezed fingertip") than many full-time novelists.
However, what makes the underrated Nichols/May film adaptation even better than its source material is that it is an undiluted love story between a nation and the Clintons. Nichols doesn't bore us with a single relationship conversation or scene between Henry and ad guru Daisy—hilariously we just see them in bed together when Henry gets a campaign crisis call. It's a great visual joke—this is just a campaign romance, not to supersede the one between candidate and country.
Reading this novel makes one appreciate their restraint even further as Klein's obsession with the exceptionally stupid love story between Daisy and Henry knocks him two stars. About 40% of the way through the book the Stantons disappear, with Jack, our once "larger than life" politician reemerging every so often as an angry, uncharismatic boss who spouts the profanity-laden obvious.
Instead, we get lots of this:
There is very little great in Primary Colors the movie that was not lifted directly from Klein's book. You've got to be truly brilliant to have Nichols and May steal from you verbatim. But how could he not see that the real love story was between Henry/America and the Stantons/Clintons?
Libby Holden—a brilliant but unpredictable friend from the Stantons' activist days—takes us even deeper, hilariously and then tragically embodying the wildest swings of our adoration and disappointment with the Baby Boomer power couple.
Klein in parts of Primary Colors demonstrates a better feel for character ("Her strength in the face of this embarrassment was strange. She was drawing attention to her perfection, which only served to remind people of her husband's imperfection—it was, I realized, a vengeful act"), dialogue, meaningful plot development, a good turn of phrase ("It felt like the quiet scene just before the monster comes"), and literary imagery ("the roadsides were the color of a squeezed fingertip") than many full-time novelists.
However, what makes the underrated Nichols/May film adaptation even better than its source material is that it is an undiluted love story between a nation and the Clintons. Nichols doesn't bore us with a single relationship conversation or scene between Henry and ad guru Daisy—hilariously we just see them in bed together when Henry gets a campaign crisis call. It's a great visual joke—this is just a campaign romance, not to supersede the one between candidate and country.
Reading this novel makes one appreciate their restraint even further as Klein's obsession with the exceptionally stupid love story between Daisy and Henry knocks him two stars. About 40% of the way through the book the Stantons disappear, with Jack, our once "larger than life" politician reemerging every so often as an angry, uncharismatic boss who spouts the profanity-laden obvious.
Instead, we get lots of this:
"...we don't have to talk about it anymore, Henry. Or say any of the words. We can wait till this is over and we can think clearly, but I'm really feeling kind of quivery and gelatinous over you."
There is very little great in Primary Colors the movie that was not lifted directly from Klein's book. You've got to be truly brilliant to have Nichols and May steal from you verbatim. But how could he not see that the real love story was between Henry/America and the Stantons/Clintons?
August 18, 2017
Primary Colors has a great opening, describing the candidate as he might be seen by the public, projecting the image of strength, empathy, intelligence. It is what is so often compelling about politics. We see some glimpse of what we wish we were.
It doesn't take long though for us to start seeing behind the scenes, and Klein--whose political columns I often find to be boring reflections of the Washington consensus--does an great job of bringing out the day to day drudgery of working on a campaign. The way one event after another starts to look the same; how you begin to get a feel for the candidate on a personal level; how personality differences can be as important as policy arguments.
Klein is good with these characters. For once, we feel Bill Clinton's pain, instead of him feeling ours. We also feel Henry's pain, and Susan's, and most of the rest. Some of the nuts and bolts of campaigning have changed since 1992, but many of the personality types involved are the same, and obviously the goal--winning--is still there.
Primary Colors feels light and fun while you're reading it, but has a pleasing kernel of truth buried in there too. Frankly, I can't believe I didn't read it sooner, but it is far from out of date.
It doesn't take long though for us to start seeing behind the scenes, and Klein--whose political columns I often find to be boring reflections of the Washington consensus--does an great job of bringing out the day to day drudgery of working on a campaign. The way one event after another starts to look the same; how you begin to get a feel for the candidate on a personal level; how personality differences can be as important as policy arguments.
Klein is good with these characters. For once, we feel Bill Clinton's pain, instead of him feeling ours. We also feel Henry's pain, and Susan's, and most of the rest. Some of the nuts and bolts of campaigning have changed since 1992, but many of the personality types involved are the same, and obviously the goal--winning--is still there.
Primary Colors feels light and fun while you're reading it, but has a pleasing kernel of truth buried in there too. Frankly, I can't believe I didn't read it sooner, but it is far from out of date.
February 1, 2015
Having seen the movie more than once, I was driven to read the book. That, and the numerous copies at the free book venue in town. So I grabbed it, and I read it. And it was a struggle.
It's not that the book is badly written, because it's not. But the film adaptation was so close that there wasn't much room for more in the book. There's one love story line that's not in the movie, but otherwise the vast majority of the movie is just like the book, thus removing the idea that the book is somehow superior.
If I hadn't seen the film, this might have been riveting, and it must have been revalatory when it came out. But now it just seems a little dated and a little trite.
It's not that the book is badly written, because it's not. But the film adaptation was so close that there wasn't much room for more in the book. There's one love story line that's not in the movie, but otherwise the vast majority of the movie is just like the book, thus removing the idea that the book is somehow superior.
If I hadn't seen the film, this might have been riveting, and it must have been revalatory when it came out. But now it just seems a little dated and a little trite.
November 10, 2013
Wow, I can totally remember hearing about this in those big-people magazines (Newsweek! Time!) when I was but a pup and seeing it on my living room table and devouring the sucker. Oooh la la! is this what it was like to be on a political campaign? Is this what real political people in the know are all about? Is this what Bill Clinton's like in person?
W-O-A-H. I'd really like to give this a re-read, and soon. It'll be well-nigh Proustian, I wager.
January 3, 2010
'by Anonymous' as a marketing tool? Genius. Or dumb luck. I hope the latter. There was no way this was an 'insider' book. After all the hype, I read it and was truly disappointed. (In fact I am changing my rating from 2 stars to 1 star right now.) Then the world discovered it was a journalist who wrote it, not James Carville or the like. No shizzle Sherlock.
November 14, 2024
This book is intriguing from start to finish and never a bore. Very intriguing and fun to get through. Hard to predict. Overall a good ride.
Messy dialogue and strange formatting make it easy to lose track of who's dialogue belongs to which character during conversation heavy moments.
Messy dialogue and strange formatting make it easy to lose track of who's dialogue belongs to which character during conversation heavy moments.
May 26, 2018
Primary Colors is a strange beast of a political thriller, a novel based on the 1992 Clinton campaign, where the names have been changed and some events altered. Jack Stanton is a charismatic governor of a southern state, a new kind of democrat who blends populist politics with Ivy League credentials. Jack Stanton can light up a room, but he's got feet of clay. He avoided serving during the Vietnam War, and he can't stop sleeping around.
Our viewpoint is campaign manager Henry Burton, the grandson of a legendary civil rights leader (think Martin Luther King), and a consummate political staffer. Burton is brought on as deputy campaign manager, and joins the slog through the retail politics of the New Hampshire primary. Challengers arise, various flavors of strange cold Northeasterners, along with scandal, as Susan Stanton's hairdresser publicly accuses Jack Stanton of an affair, and the teenage daughter of the owner of Stanton's favorite BBQ joint accuses him of impregnating her. Burton, meanwhile has his own romance with media whiz Daisy, and teams up with the bipolar and aggressively queer "dustbuster" Libby (partially based on Vince Foster) to kill threats to the Stantons, and dig up opposition research on the other candidates, including a strange story of sex, drugs, and corrupt real estate deals.
When this book is good, it's very good, capturing the frenetic amphetamine rush of politics, the excitement of the game, and the larger-than-life quality of those who play it. Primary Colors gets the thrill of the great American experiment in democracy, what it means to be a Candidate, why people work such long hours for these people, the sordid deals and lies of what politics is, and the soaring ideals of what it might be.
But two things bring this down. The first is that the narrator is Black, and author Joe Klein so very White. I really do not need some white dude in TYOOL 2018 to pontificate about Blackness in America. And the second is that Henry is more a witness than a protagonist. I'm not sure if he makes a single real choice in the novel. He witnesses horrible things, he sees people destroyed by ambition, he finds love, loses it, regains it, but who is he? The political animal, a bag of reflexes watching C-SPAN, the ultimate empty suit.
Our viewpoint is campaign manager Henry Burton, the grandson of a legendary civil rights leader (think Martin Luther King), and a consummate political staffer. Burton is brought on as deputy campaign manager, and joins the slog through the retail politics of the New Hampshire primary. Challengers arise, various flavors of strange cold Northeasterners, along with scandal, as Susan Stanton's hairdresser publicly accuses Jack Stanton of an affair, and the teenage daughter of the owner of Stanton's favorite BBQ joint accuses him of impregnating her. Burton, meanwhile has his own romance with media whiz Daisy, and teams up with the bipolar and aggressively queer "dustbuster" Libby (partially based on Vince Foster) to kill threats to the Stantons, and dig up opposition research on the other candidates, including a strange story of sex, drugs, and corrupt real estate deals.
When this book is good, it's very good, capturing the frenetic amphetamine rush of politics, the excitement of the game, and the larger-than-life quality of those who play it. Primary Colors gets the thrill of the great American experiment in democracy, what it means to be a Candidate, why people work such long hours for these people, the sordid deals and lies of what politics is, and the soaring ideals of what it might be.
But two things bring this down. The first is that the narrator is Black, and author Joe Klein so very White. I really do not need some white dude in TYOOL 2018 to pontificate about Blackness in America. And the second is that Henry is more a witness than a protagonist. I'm not sure if he makes a single real choice in the novel. He witnesses horrible things, he sees people destroyed by ambition, he finds love, loses it, regains it, but who is he? The political animal, a bag of reflexes watching C-SPAN, the ultimate empty suit.
January 20, 2018
It's worth the read for the ending, and I find that rare in books. Most of the novel is the day-to-day chaos behind the curtain in a political campaign. And while it's fascinating, the way watching a car crash or a butcher at work is fascinating, it's not particularly literary or enlightening. By the end, though, the author has dragged us through enough muck to start to wax poetic about the nature of man and sin and will to power... And it's good.
I mean, this is stuff that just never loses its relevance. Not since All the King's Men, not now.
I mean, this is stuff that just never loses its relevance. Not since All the King's Men, not now.
Only certain kinds of people are cut out for this work—and, yeah, we are not princes, by and large. Henry, you know this better than anyone. You've watched Larkin, you've watched O'Brien, you've watched me do it. Two thirds of what we do is reprehensible. This isn't the way a normal human being acts. We smile, we listen— you could grow calluses on your ears from all the listening we do. We do our pathetic little favors. We fudge when we can't. We tell them what they want to hear—and when we tell them something they don't want to hear, it's usually because we've calculated that's what they really want. We live an eternity of false smiles—and why? Because it's the price you pay to lead. You don't think Abraham Lincoln was a whore before he was a president? He had to tell his little stories and smile his shit-eating, backcountry grin. He did it all just so he'd get the opportunity, one day, to stand in front of the nation and appeal to ‘the better angels of our nature.' That's when the bullshit stops. And that's what this is all about. The opportunity to do that, to make the most of it, to do it the right way—because you know as well as I do there are plenty of people in this game who never think about the folks, much less their ‘better angels.' They just want to win. They want to be able to say, ‘I won the biggest thing you can win.' And they're willing to sell their souls, crawl through sewers, lie to the people, divide them, play to their worst fears—
October 29, 2019
I originally wanted to give this book 4 stars out of five but the problem was and always will be the slow start, the first 60 pages were very dragging which is such a pity because the last 306 pages were super interesting and entertaining especially if you follow American politics.
The way the writer was able to change the names of the people and yet leave particular news, characteristics, etc just shows how skillful he is at writing and kinda makes you feel as if you were a part of the campaign itself with all of these different inside information things.
Now I want to compare the film and the book, I saw the film first and it was probably more than 12 years ago, I enjoyed the film and I loved how they made the actors John Travolta and Emma Thompson look like both Bill and Hillary Clinton and at that time I really enjoyed the ending because it gave you answers. Now with the book what I liked most about it was the ending it’s way different from the film, it doesn’t give you the answers it actually allows the reader to analyze the character and the situation and decide what the ending actually is based on their own analysis and I feel that really makes the book more superior than the film, but again this should have gotten 4 stars but the dragging start really killed it for me.
The way the writer was able to change the names of the people and yet leave particular news, characteristics, etc just shows how skillful he is at writing and kinda makes you feel as if you were a part of the campaign itself with all of these different inside information things.
Now I want to compare the film and the book, I saw the film first and it was probably more than 12 years ago, I enjoyed the film and I loved how they made the actors John Travolta and Emma Thompson look like both Bill and Hillary Clinton and at that time I really enjoyed the ending because it gave you answers. Now with the book what I liked most about it was the ending it’s way different from the film, it doesn’t give you the answers it actually allows the reader to analyze the character and the situation and decide what the ending actually is based on their own analysis and I feel that really makes the book more superior than the film, but again this should have gotten 4 stars but the dragging start really killed it for me.
September 8, 2019
The appeal of Primary Colours lies in its conjuring of real people, in its picture of the actual figures behind this roman a clef, in its supplying of a flavour of the nerve-shredding, often nasty reality of American political campaigning.
But as a novel it's clumsy, right from the offset; compared to the gold standard of the American political novel, which I would say is All the King's Men, its language is laborious and the imagery hackneyed. It reads like it was written as a longform piece of journalism - so I was less than surprised when I learned its author is indeed primarily a journalist.
I'm not saying I didn't find it enjoyable and gripping, and reading it I can't help feeling that the writers of Veep must have cribbed a few ideas from its pages. The tone is certainly one anybody who has watched Veep or its British forebear The Thick of It will recognise and relish.
But if I was a book snob I'd ask whether you could really call this 'Literature.' Oh wait, I am a book snob, and the answer is barely, but as a critique of politics and the associated machinations, it's absolutely thrilling.
But as a novel it's clumsy, right from the offset; compared to the gold standard of the American political novel, which I would say is All the King's Men, its language is laborious and the imagery hackneyed. It reads like it was written as a longform piece of journalism - so I was less than surprised when I learned its author is indeed primarily a journalist.
I'm not saying I didn't find it enjoyable and gripping, and reading it I can't help feeling that the writers of Veep must have cribbed a few ideas from its pages. The tone is certainly one anybody who has watched Veep or its British forebear The Thick of It will recognise and relish.
But if I was a book snob I'd ask whether you could really call this 'Literature.' Oh wait, I am a book snob, and the answer is barely, but as a critique of politics and the associated machinations, it's absolutely thrilling.
June 26, 2011
Picked this up at a library sale as I'd heard so much about it. Political intrigue isn't really my normal reading interest as I generally find all the characters and their machinations rather unlikable, and this wasn't an exception. The governor and his wife - Jack Stanton and Susan - are said to be very thinly veiled references to Bill and Hilary Clinton, which no doubt boosted this book's popularity back when it first came out. As a story itself, it wasn't hugely gripping; I can't judge it's accuracy as an insider look at a political campaign. Overall this book seems to have more value as nonfiction than as fiction.
November 10, 2013
Sometimes I read something I feel I should be reading. This one I heard about for years. While reading I felt like I was with a crafty caricature of Bill Clinton. There were scenes that jumped of the pages and got deep in my minds eye - well done. I enjoyed Primary Colors more than expected probably because it's so far out of date. It took me two months of lunch breaks to read but it was worth it.
January 12, 2021
I read this for the 2021 Popsugar Challenge prompt "a book that was published anonymously". It's one of those books I've heard about forever, but never read and it was the first thing that came to mind when I read that prompt. I was amazed how well the story evoked the Clinton campaign, although eventually the plot diverged from reality. It's a good read. 3.5 stars
October 10, 2011
Very informative, entertaining.
December 18, 2021
I don’t miss the 90s.
December 13, 2022
It is a little funny that a 90's era send-up of the Clintons feels so quaint nowadays. After Trump and the Qanon era of Clinton kill lists and adrenochrome factories, the idea that the worst thing people think about them is that their marriage is one of convenience, or that Clinton has a wandering eye, is almost nostalgia-inducing. That isn't to say the book doesn't still have teeth—I think it does, and all the stuff with Henry and Libby at the end worked for me—or that I can't see why it caused such a controversy (it's funny that the suicide of a campaign aide comes up in the book; you can almost see the ripple effect this will have on the larger, conspiracy-addled mythos of the Clintons in the brains of people like Alex Jones and Roger Stone), only that you can feel the book's age
Its idea of an ideal politician in Fred Picker is still someone who is willing to compromise or, indeed, is simply someone who doesn't want to be king (it's certainly not someone with deeply held beliefs or who wants to actually break the system) and its description of the worth ethic of the politicos is straight out of the also dated West Wing. Although this also means the book never feels the need to abandon its nuanced portrayal of Jack Stanton. You can tell Joe Klien admired Clinton in at least some regard and thought he could have done more had he not been so self-compromising. The book never (quite) strays into out-and-out parody.
In fact, what it reminded me of most of all was Bonfire of Vanities in that way. Klien isn't Tom Wolfe, but I still enjoyed it for the same reasons. An old-timey-cynicism, back before wall street did actually burn the house down and before a Clinton in the white house would've been the best of two options.
Its idea of an ideal politician in Fred Picker is still someone who is willing to compromise or, indeed, is simply someone who doesn't want to be king (it's certainly not someone with deeply held beliefs or who wants to actually break the system) and its description of the worth ethic of the politicos is straight out of the also dated West Wing. Although this also means the book never feels the need to abandon its nuanced portrayal of Jack Stanton. You can tell Joe Klien admired Clinton in at least some regard and thought he could have done more had he not been so self-compromising. The book never (quite) strays into out-and-out parody.
In fact, what it reminded me of most of all was Bonfire of Vanities in that way. Klien isn't Tom Wolfe, but I still enjoyed it for the same reasons. An old-timey-cynicism, back before wall street did actually burn the house down and before a Clinton in the white house would've been the best of two options.
July 23, 2020
This one was hard to rate. I didn't read it when it first came out because it sounded like an overblown fad that was made popular solely because it was authored anonymously, and people were trying to figure out who wrote it and what was real in it. But it is a lot better than that, and I'm glad I read it, especially with the distance of time since the Clinton administration.
I will admit that I looked up the career dates of many people while reading this book because many characters sounded like real live politicos. And I suspect I was usually correct about who the character might be based on, even if sometimes not consciously by the author. Given the time now - summer 2020 - when current NY governor Andrew Cuomo is having a press conference almost every day - it was amusing to read the descriptions of Orlando and Jimmy Ozio, who almost certainly were Mario and Andrew Cuomo.
Some of the scenes and language didn't age well, and the reader may cringe at some of the scenes. On the other hand, I suspect that a lot of this really does happen in the scrappy world of political campaigning, even now.
I will admit that I looked up the career dates of many people while reading this book because many characters sounded like real live politicos. And I suspect I was usually correct about who the character might be based on, even if sometimes not consciously by the author. Given the time now - summer 2020 - when current NY governor Andrew Cuomo is having a press conference almost every day - it was amusing to read the descriptions of Orlando and Jimmy Ozio, who almost certainly were Mario and Andrew Cuomo.
Some of the scenes and language didn't age well, and the reader may cringe at some of the scenes. On the other hand, I suspect that a lot of this really does happen in the scrappy world of political campaigning, even now.
December 5, 2020
I enjoyed the political satire, and the insanity of a presidential campaign, but found myself pretty uninterested in most of the characters. I also felt that the beginning and end were strong, but the middle kind of dragged on a bit. I also wish the chapters had been shorter.
Also the scandals are less shocking in the current political climate. Overall, still an entertaining political novel, even almost 25 years after it was first published.
Also the scandals are less shocking in the current political climate. Overall, still an entertaining political novel, even almost 25 years after it was first published.
Did not finish
January 29, 2026I read the first chapter and was not impressed enough to continue. I didn't like the characters and didn't care what happened to them. I really like the author, Joe Klein, and subscribe to his Substack, but I would just rather read something else!
January 20, 2026
3.5 rounded up
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