Stuart StevensRezensionen

Nothing earthshaking or new at this point. The Republican Party is a power hungry cartel that uses racism to hold its shrinking constituency: white men. But it is interesting to read an insider view and disillusionment story. Also, apparently a known truth is that the more conservative the politician the gayer the staff. Hypocrites, all.

A book that every American who cares about the Constitution, democracy, and the future of America, should read. #VOTEBLUE

This goes perfectly with some of the books I've read lately and it's easy to read and well written. It's even better to hear these grievances come from the Republican side of the aisle since I usually get a one-sided conversation when it comes to any political science/government book. It was just over 200 pages and took me 3 days to finish it and I never at one point wanted to put the book down and not finish it. Thats always a good indicator to me that I fully enjoyed a book.

This goes perfectly with some of the books I've read lately and it's easy to read and well written. It's even better to hear these grievances come from the Republican side of the aisle since I usually get a one-sided conversation when it comes to any political science/government book. It was just over 200 pages and took me 3 days to finish it and I never at one point wanted to put the book down and not finish it. Thats always a good indicator to me that I fully enjoyed a book.

A rant by an ex-campaign strategist for Republicans that outlines the hypocritical shedding of all conservative principles in order to "win" by supporting Trump. Also makes the case even before Nixon the conservative Republican movement has been about suppressing voting rights of non-whites, and particularly Blacks. He believes this will be end of the Republican party as America's demographics are changing rapidly. One intriguing fact he states: Obama was the first candidate to reject the $80M pubic campaign financing (and raised $330M).

I got a couple of chapters into this and started to feel like I'd heard it before, then I realized he was treading the same ground as Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics which I read a few months back and it was a way more entertaining and better written chronicle of this topic. So I doubt this will be worth my time to finish.

What an insightful book. Every U.S. citizen should read this. Republicans especially.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stuart Steven’s It Was All a Lie is well worth the read. Based upon a lifetime of experience as political operative Stuart details the inside machinations of the Republican Party. Learn how Republicans package and sell themselves to a naive public. Republicans sole objective is power. To rule people rather than govern them. I think Mr. Steven’s has taken very brave steps in publishing this book but still has a way to go on his journey to self-discovery and admitting a few tenets he still clings to are lies too. Recommendation: Read it and follow up with The Impostors by Steve Benen By: @KatoJustus4

This goes perfectly with some of the books I've read lately and it's easy to read and well written. It's even better to hear these grievances come from the Republican side of the aisle since I usually get a one-sided conversation when it comes to any political science/government book. It was just over 200 pages and took me 3 days to finish it and I never at one point wanted to put the book down and not finish it. Thats always a good indicator to me that I fully enjoyed a book.

Interesting and sad read, this. Stuart Stevens, longtime political consultant for the Republican party, writes his "I didn't leave the party, the party left me" tale:

This was my tribe. I did not think them perfect; no man may be a hero to his valet or political consultant. I never pretended to see even glimmers of greatness in most of them, but I did hold out for an assumption of decency. They have proven me wrong, and the sadness I feel is difficult to express.

Main takeaway is that Republicans won't give up their authoritarian racist ways until they start losing elections. Let's see what happens.

Finally, an honest Republican.

I'm so tired of all the deceit and rampant misinformation coming from politicians and political pundits these days, and to say it's coming from both sides would be utterly disingenuous. The Republican party is hopefully undergoing a reckoning to purge the worst of themselves and rebuild. Let's also hope this course correction is swift and doesn't drag on for decades or, god forbid, generations. Smart liberals should see this Trumpocalypse, a word Atlantic columnist David Frum coined, as a good thing because both parties need the checks and balances of the other to survive.

I understand there's a lot more going on in the world that's affecting the political sphere in ways we're only beginning to understand. Ground-shifting events such as the internet, social media and globalization have magnified discourse by exponential degrees, and these are degrees to which our species has never had to deal with before in all our history. This reckoning with the alt-right is both unprecedented but also unsurprisingly common if you're a student of history. The mediums of communications are far more advanced so who's to say how this will all resolve itself.

My favorite part of the whole book is the ending. I won't go into the details but while Mr. Stevens suggests ways to beat back the authoritarians (the answer: steal their power) he never once offers up any hope that this is possible. I don't think he believes it's impossible. I just think he left the question open-ended. We the people get to provide the answer.½

Stuart Stevens was a Republican Party insider who had made TV advertisements for countless republican candidates. He came to the conclusion that everything those candidates had said was really a lie proven by their obsequiousness to Donald Trump.

it wasn't always clear what "year" the author was writting about as it jumped around, sometimes from one paragraph to the next. still, a nice easy read, especially if you like football or reliving the glory the days of the past. living in Syracuse, we haven't had much to celebrate as far as football goes, only having our one winning/undefeated season as well (1959).

Stuart Stevens' timely novel about the shenanigans surrounding a GOP convention in New Orleans is mostly humorous and often educational, but unfortunately not enough of either. It reminds me a bit of a politically infused Carl Hiassen story, with a couple solid characters, a few goofy ones, a pretty funny plot that has touches of realism embedded, and a strange ending. It's just not quite wacky enough to make up for the parts that drag. If you're into politics, you'll find enough here to like. If you're not, you won't.

The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear, Stuart Stevens, author; Dan John Miller, narrator

This is a very timely book that ridicules our elections and how they are conducted. Two Republican candidates are pitted against each other. Both are running unorthodox campaigns in order to be nominated by their party for the Presidency; both campaigns and their campaign managers think nothing of using underhanded methods to achieve that goal. As the campaigns are explored, the corruption that exists across the spectrum is exposed. There is a constant set up of good cop, bad cop, and no one is actually innocent in this book. The author pretty clearly seems to be presenting the case that everyone has a price and everyone can be bought once it is agreed upon. Campaign operatives care only about winning. Media cares only about capturing a juicy headline.
I found the book to be biased since it concentrates on demonizing only one party, the Republicans. It could easily have explored the campaigns of Democrats and Republicans in an election, but it chose to shine the spotlight only on the GOP. It is fairly obvious from the descriptions of the characters, their backgrounds and lifestyles, that the author wants you to think of certain candidates running today, in 2016. He has merged many of the most negative characteristics into one male candidate while casting the other one as one who seeks to rise above the fray. She, actually, in many descriptions, resembles a Democrat in our current race, which further stresses the author’s political views and one-sided approach. In many ways, since it was written prior to the actual nomination of the Republican candidate, it was prescient about the broader tactics used in campaigns, and in the rhetoric and rancor that is displayed currently.
The crude language used and the vulgar scenes described, place ethics and morality in the background, lost in the dust of the greed and power grabbing by all. It seemed as if everyone felt mistreated or short changed for one reason or another. What I found particularly disturbing in the book, was the pointing of fingers at only one side, when, by and large, the left is engaged in gutter politics, as well, and some might even believe, to a far greater extent, than the right. Once again, I felt as if I was being confronted by an author who was trying to influence the reading public to follow his particular political views by demonizing the party he disagreed with and presenting them in the most awful light. Most often, as the author tried to manipulate the reader and tried to portray the dishonesty and offensive practices of that party he chose to highlight, he stooped to the very same odious behavior in order to drive his point across.
Since it seems to be set sometime in the future, in a time when Google has been broken up into smaller pieces, perhaps it was truly intended to simply be a spoof on our current Presidential race, and in that case I would give the author the benefit of the doubt and not judge him too harshly for being biased. The characters certainly were intended to resemble and exhibit the personality traits of some very recognizable current candidates, even though their names were not directly mentioned. On the other hand, if it was meant to demonize one side over the other, giving the left the upper hand, then I find the book’s premise personally indefensible because it presents only one side. As a spoof, I take no offense, but if it is a political statement, I find it to be nothing more than blatant hypocrisy and favoritism, if not outright prejudice.
The author refers to the Republicans with insulting comments, and he even questions the female candidate’s sexuality. The utter blindness and devotion of the ideologues is emphasized in various ways throughout the narrative. The anger and bitterness that pervades the political atmosphere is obvious and in that way authentically represents today’s current political environment. The news media is portrayed as mere headline seekers, and pretty much nothing more, with the presentation of actual honest news truly sitting on the back burner. At all costs, the author portrays winning and gaining power as everyone’s main ambition.
Did I like the book? I have to admit, not very much. The one-sided presentation, foul language and cheap sexual references detracted from what could have been an interesting and humorous presentation of our political process which, unfortunately, seems to be slowly deteriorating under the weight of power hungry, arrogant candidates and their acolytes.

This novel by Stuart Stevens is a wonderful novel about politics in the final days before the convention and into the convention. Whether Republican or Democrat the machinations and goings on, will undoubtedly amuse you and keep you entertained through the book. The characters are well described and the plot twists and turns throughout. A good job.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" " Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and 'Tell Me About the United Methodist Church"

The political dark comedy was engaging and atmospheric, and I enjoyed it a lot, but the ending felt a little bit rushed, like all the groundwork laid leading up to it didn't quite payoff. It's a great mood piece if you're caught up in the political hoopla of the 2016 presidential race, but oddly it feels a little bit on the whole less substantial than his last book, a memoir about going to football games with his aging father.½

Really wonderful. A memoir that works is a memoir that has magic, some appeal that embraces nostalgia and those special moments that shape people.

I'm not a football fan, but it is still a beautiful book for those who are or aren't because the words 'memoir' and 'father-son' bonding over the sport captures the magic of the game, which even a non-fan could appreciate. This isn't a book about football - it's a book about the bonding of father and son through tradition and indulging in something they share, an everyday occurrence that speaks volumes when introduced into their lives and their relationship. The author looks back with fond memories, comparing the present with his father through the game, finding the love and joy still existing. They have changed, they have aged, but the bond is real and true.

As I kept reading, I saw it wasn't so much the game but the moment, that special something a person can't put into words, a touching history and connection the game brings to the families who share it.

Above football, it captured the connection of families and fans from all over, recognizing each other at different games, or meeting strangers and binding on this similarity alone, with no awkwardness, no hesitation, just a connection immediately understood. Stuart Stevens, from Mississippi, went through the book with the catchphrase repeated, Hotty Toddy, the spirit of Ole Miss. He dug into the old southern feel and tradition, not leaving out the racism slant that troubled him as he grew up during integration of the school system. Sometimes I thought this was delved on a little too much, almost to the point of dividing the book into two points instead, but it ultimately blends together to bring a lot of pieces into one large picture.

The author acknowledges how fortunate he is to have the upbringing he had, the parents he has to this day, the life and changes he was blessed with, making a note that it is not always so for others:

"That I had this chance was a pure accident of my birth, being lucky enough to have parents who gave me options. We say that in America anyone can become anything he desires, which is probably more true for us than most countries, but that still doesn't make it true."

The author made the transition painless when going from the past to the present, perhaps because they were already so intertwined and connected. Sometimes its tiresome to me to try continuous time shifts but I didn't notice in this book, for it was done that well. Stevens writes beautifully, wordy when it should be, to the point and on focus other times.

"But that night in Oxford, first in the soft dusk of a hot Mississippi evening and then in the darkness that seemed to last too long, the rioters didn't want the world to watch; they wanted the world to go away."

This isn't a book that will cause a long review, other than to say it was wonderful and beautiful, told through real characters and touching moments. Again, there's magic in memoirs.

I received from Penguin Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

An unlikely journey across a cultural divide. Stevens' humor is infectious and it seems to infuse every mile they travel.

Given the presidential campaign that Stuart Stevens was a part of in 2012 - he and I probably differ on many, if not most, political issues. When I heard a TV interview of his, however, I knew I had to read this book - and I am very glad I did.

The book is mostly about a season of Ole Miss football that Stevens attends with his 95-year old father...but politics - both local and national, both present day and of the civil rights era - are woven throughout this thoughtful and heartfelt memoir.

Many of Stevens fondest memories of childhood involve football. Watching football on TV and in person - and specifically - the Ole Miss football team. Stevens was raised in Mississippi - in a state and a family that was steeped in football. His father, who he clearly idolized (and still does, I think), was the main person teaching him about the game they loved, and through the game, a great deal about life and of the troubled times they lived in.

“We say that in America anyone can become anything he desires, which is probably more true for us than any country in the world, but that still doesn’t make it true. And nowhere in America have circumstances of birth been more defining than Mississippi. With my parents, I won the lottery: loving parents, every possible advantage, and, yes, born white. All Mississippi stories are eventually about race, and mine is no exception. The path of my life wasn’t fully determined the day I was born, but the choices I might be afforded were certainly a gift of birth and nothing I had earned.” (His acknowledgement of this, and the fact that both of his parents were Democrats in 1960's Mississippi makes me shake my head as I try and figure out how he ended up on Romney's campaign.)

As the football season plays on, Stevens and his parents travel around for various games and meet others even more intense about the game than they were. When they were on the road at the same time as the Alabama/Auburn game, a woman in a retail store chided Steven's mother about joking about the rivalry. “Honey, we don’t joke about that sort of thing,” the woman said flatly. She didn’t smile. “This ain’t casual like Ole Miss and Miss State.” “I wouldn’t call that casual,” my mother said, laughing. “I would, sweetie,” the woman said, staring coolly at my mother.”

The book makes it clear that football is a religion in the South. A religion that Stevens tries to explain to those not of the south - even while he makes it clear that he know that anyone not raised there would never truly understand. Would never truly feel the passion, the heartache, the wild joy that a southern fan did.

“All those years of games with my dad had taught me the lesson all true fans painfully learn, that the essence of sport is disappointment masked by periodic bursts of joy nurtured by denial.”

There is a great deal of humility, appreciation and quiet joy in "The Last Season". Many times, Stevens is able to take a step back and take a mental snapshot of a moment. Sometimes it is a moment that is beautifully similar to a good one he experienced as a boy, sometimes it is a moment that starkly shows the differences between the times...and many times it is a moment with his father that he knows may be one of the last ones.

I loved this book. The descriptions of the fans, the schools, the party atmosphere before the game (and the quite atmosphere after a loss), the season changes and the fierce love this man has for his father were wonderfully evocative. And the football - the descriptions of games (even for a fair-weather fan like myself) was simply gripping.

“The interception was only one play, early in a long game, but it was enough to let you believe that tonight had a shot to be one of those magical games when luck and chance had decided to bless our side, if only for a few hours.”

Stevens now has many of those magical hours of memories that he won't forget - and neither will I.

I picked up Stuart Stevens' "Night Train to Turkistan" because both of the book-related websites I visit recommended it for me. I have no idea why. I made it about half-way through before I got so bored I gave it up.

Stevens' book details his travels through China along the Silk Road. He mostly carps and complains about the conditions of the hotels, conditions of the train, conditions of the roads... you get the general gist. He also seems to have a great dislike for every single person he encounters.

This is a good contender for one of the worst travel books I've ever read.½

A very interesting travelogue that starts in CAR and ends in Algeria. A trip that could not be repeated today. It was a fun book.

This was a pretty typical travel/adventure book focusing on corruption in Africa.

I did not find it especially memorable, but it did hold my attention enough to finish it.½

I'm not sure if Dervla Murphy's endorsement of this book (on the front cover no less - usually a sign of a desperate editor) as 'hilarious' isn't a little 'off the mark'. Dark, Kafkaesque, self deprecating in an engaging way, and perhaps even humorous come to mind, but hilarious suggests a certain shallowness which wouldn't give the reader a fair impression. For whatever reason Stevens finds himself in Central Africa he soon seems to have plenty to get out of there, but for reasons he doesn't share with the reader he decides to drive to the Mediterranean across the Sahara. With perhaps the calculated intent of writing about it afterwards - which would make him a commercially driven travel-writer rather than a whimsical traveler who writes occasionally. Nevertheless, the experiences are genuine, and get behind the various facades and prejudices to sample the real experience of Africa - at least the white man's experience of it. Steven's descriptions of everyday corruption, do-goodery and the everyday scrabble for existence in Africa have an air of authenticity about them, nicely balanced by his observations about his own naivety, cynicism and incompetence. All in all this is a worthwhile book, a real story of Africa that didn't really have to be packaged as a comedy to succeed. For those with a long reach, this would make an excellent companion to Peter Pinney's two books about traveling through Africa in the 1950's ('Who Walks Alone' and 'Anywhere but Here'). Recommended.½

A contender for the title of worst travel book ever written on China, but there's intense competition for that title, and even if the field is narrowed to Chinese Central Asia, there's yet one worse still.