The Running Mate

Senator Charlier Martin is in love with a dazzling, unconventional woman. But he's also running for the presidency, and he's finding out that it's almost impossible to be a good man and a good politician in an era of spin and vicious attacks. A decorated Vietnam war hero, honourable and dashing, he's accused of sexual harassment, has secrets from his past raked up and finds himself with some very difficult decisions to make. Is loyalty to a friend more important than public service? And how can he reconcile the woman he loves with the rough and tumble of politics and the glare of the public eye?

Literature & Fiction

Klein, Joe

Contemporary

Vintage

The Natural : The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton

History

Americas

Coronet

Chronicles the harsh, sometimes tragic, ultimately triumphant life of the great American folk hero, focusing on his songs and the circumstances behind them, his influence on other songwriters and singers, and his impact on his audiences

Woody Guthrie: A Life: Singer, Songwriter, Restless Spirit

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Ballantine Books

Intimate profiles of five Marines who fought together in a bloody battle called Operation Cochise portray, in large part in the searing language of the veterans themselves, the pain and squalor of the war and its indelible after-effects

Payback

Woody Guthrie: A Life

Chronicles the harsh, sometimes tragic, ultimately triumphant life of the great American folk hero, focusing on his songs and the circumstances behind them, his influence on other songwriters and singers, and his impact on his audiences

Hailed as "astonishingly powerful" by The New York Times, and "written perfectly" by The Washington Post, Primary Colors, with over one million hardcover copies in print, was the most- talked-about political novel of the past century. The brilliant portrait of a charming, ambitious, amoral young Southerner on his way to the White House struck an instantly recognizable chord, and catapulted Anonymous--aka New Yorker Washington correspondent Joe Klein--into the public eye as a novelist of the first rank. Now, in The Running Mate, Klein takes the reader on an exuberant, wicked, and unerringly wise political journey with Senator Charlie Martin, a decorated veteran of the war in Vietnam. The experience of combat and his easy dominance of home-state politics have made Charlie fearless. He's a hot, if occasionally reckless, political property--dashing, honorable, and irreverent. And then Charlie's life begins to fall apart. He campaigns for the presidency and fails. The wacky father of a volunteer decks him--in front of the cameras; a well-kept secret from Charlie's Vietnam days is revealed; he reluctantly finds himself at the center of a friend's cliff-hanging confirmation process for Secretary of Defense....And Senator Martin begins to learn that politics in an era of spin, marketing, and vicious personal assaults can be as treacherous--and life-threatening--as combat was. Finally, Charlie Martin must confront the two greatest challenges of his life--a political opponent who has no scruples and a dazzling, unconventional woman who loves him but is appalled by his life's work. Charlie's dilemma is one that has come to haunt contemporary American politics: Is it possible to be a good politician and a good man? Can you live in the public glare and still construct a habitable life? No observer of contemporary politics has a clearer eye than Joe Klein, or can so effortlessly show the moral complexities that arise when public and private lives intertwine. Here, in his superb new novel, he takes a good man's attempt to come to terms with the harsh new realities of the modern political arena--and gives us a book that reverberates with truth about ourselves.

The Running Mate (Random House Large Print)

Random House, Large Print

A biography of the influential American folk singer, Woody Guthrie, who lived a life on the edge of tragedy but inspired a generation of songwriters, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Few artists have captured the American experience of their time as wholly as folk legend Woody Guthrie. Singer, songwriter, and political activist, Guthrie drew a lifetime of inspiration from his roots on the Oklahoma frontier in the years before the Great Depression. His music—scathingly funny songs and poignant folk ballads—made heard the unsung life of field hands, migrant workers, and union organizers, and showed it worthy of tribute. Though his career was tragically cut short by the onset of a degenerative disease that ravaged his mind and body, the legacy of his life and music had already made him an American cultural icon, and has resounded with every generation of musician and music lover since. In this definitive biography, Joe Klein, nationally renowned journalist and author of the bestselling novel Primary Colors, creates an unforgettable portrait of a man as gifted, restless, and complicated as the American landscape he came from. Praise for Woody Guthrie: A Life “One of the finest treatments of an American 20th-century performer ever written . . . Not merely a biography . . . it is a social history . . . written knowledgeably, in a brilliant style.”—San Francisco Examiner “A really great book.”—Bruce Springsteen

Humor & Entertainment

Random House Publishing Group

The Dial Press

Hailed as "astonishingly powerful" by The New York Times, and "written perfectly" by The Washington Post, Joe Klein's #1 bestseller, Primary Colors, was the most-talked-about political novel of the past century. Now acclaimed journalist and author Joe Klein returns with another brilliant and slyly subversive novel set in the gladiatorial arena he knows so well: politics in modern-day America. U.S. senator Charlie Martin is a hot political property, dashing, honorable, irreverent -- and a decorated Vietnam veteran. The Running Mate follows this brash hero on a wild, exhilarating ride through the minefields of politics as usual. But as Charlie quickly learns, combat is a cakewalk compared with the battles waged by free men in pursuit of glory and power. For Charlie's political star is beginning to wane ... a bid for the presidency ends in failure ... a young campaign volunteer's father decks him -- in front of the cameras ... a well-kept secret from Charlie's Vietnam days is revealed ... and a woman has entered his life -- one who loves him but is appalled by his life's work. Suddenly Charlie must confront the two greatest challenges of his life -- a political opponent who has no scruples and a dazzling, unconventional woman who may force him to choose between love and politics. Charlie's dilemma is one that has come to haunt contemporary American politics: Is it possible to be a good politician and a good man?

The Running Mate: A Novel

Literary

DIAL PRESS

Joe Klein, best-selling author of Primary Colors and one of our most brilliant political analysts, now tackles the subject he knows best: Bill Clinton. Astute, even-handed, and keenly intelligent, The Natural is the only book to read if you want to understand exactly what happened–to the military, to the economy, to the American people, to the country–during Bill Clinton’s presidency, and how the decisions made during his tenure affect all of us today. Much has been written about Clinton, but The Natural is the first work to cut through the gossip, scandals, media hype, and emotional turbulence that Clinton always engendered, to step back and rationally analyze the eight years of his tenure, a period during which America rose to unprecedented levels of prosperity. Joe Klein puts that record into perspective, showing us what worked and what didn’t, exactly what was accomplished and why, and who was responsible for the successes and the failures. We see how the Clinton White House functioned on the inside, how it dealt with the maneuvers of Congress and the Gingrich revolution, and who held power and made the decisions during the endless crises that beset the administration. Klein’s access to the White House over the years as a journalist gave him a prime spot from which to view every crucial event–both political and personal–and he sets them forth in an insightful, readable, and completely engrossing manner. The Natural is stern in its criticism and convincing with its praise. It will cause endless debate amongst friends and foes of the Clinton administration. It is a book that anyone interested in contemporary politics, in American history, or in the functioning of our democracy, should read.

The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton

DOUBLEDAY

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Books by Klein, Joe

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Klein, Joe. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Running Mate

The Natural : The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton

Woody Guthrie: A Life: Singer, Songwriter, Restless Spirit

Payback

Woody Guthrie: A Life

The Running Mate (Random House Large Print)

Woody Guthrie: A Life

The Running Mate

The Running Mate: A Novel

The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton