Friday, September 07, 2012

Top 10 books to read for the election season

David Masciotra is the author of Working On a Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen. He is at work on his second book, Faith That Won’t Die, a work of literary journalism about life in the rust belt.

At The Daily Beast, he named ten of the best political campaign classics, including:
The Boys on the Bus
by Timothy Crouse

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, political campaign operatives found it difficult to deceive the press, and “spin” was not as routine in politics as affixing a flag pin to a lapel and taking photos in costume like hunting gear, flight suits, shirtsleeves, and baseball caps. Crouse’s classic gives a brilliant line-by-line, play-by-play account of the 1972 presidential race when the Nixon and McGovern campaigns originated the art of spin—and with newfound boldness and dedication, attempted to control the narrative of the campaign. As a journalist for Rolling Stone, Crouse spent time with the press following the candidates around the country, and he had the observational skills and insight to capture the changes in the media and in politics that would eventually dominate the discourse decades later.
Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue