Nixon had a rough childhood, poor and wretched. Some people would say “I don’t want anyone to go through that” and become a liberal. Some people say ” it’s okay with me if others suffer so I won’t” and that’s a modern Republican. Some people say “There will be suffering and I’m the one dishing it out!” and that’s Nixon. — commentor WereBear
Also most of the people around Nixon, and quite a few of those voting for him, in my experience. He may have been America’s foremost exemplar of Faulkner’s “The past is never dead; it’s not even past”.
Since at least four dozen people spoke up in favor of Nixonland, that will be our first “book group” selection. The fact that author Rick Perlstein volunteered to “participate in some way” would be a contributing factor, if that weren’t more likely to give some members of this anarchic blogmune a severe case of the shys than to encourage them.
So, Amazon has to ship me the copy I’ll order right after this. And I’ve got to stock up on my blood pressure medication, and dig out my copies of Unbought & Unbossed (Shirley Chisholm), Nixon Agonistes(Garry Wills), and Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 (Hunter S. Thompson). I’m planning on tackling NIXONLAND a chapter or two at a time, since that seems to work for other book groups on other blogs.
How about we all plan to start the first discussion sometime Sunday afternoon / evening, January 30?
Any other suggestions gratefully accepted…
suzanne
AWESOME.
Can you just tell us approximately how much to have read by each discussion? ‘Cause I’m reading other things at the same time.
wobblybits
Ca you all space your posts a bit better? We go hours with no new post and them BAM two or three in a row.
Nylund
All I have to say is this.
geg6
AWESOME!
Gotta call my sister and get my copy back.
General Stuck
BOOM!!
SiubhanDuinne
The post title made me laugh. Very clever.
This will inspire me to dig out my copy of Nixonland. I really hope to be able to participate frequently (and, d.v., intelligently). Thanks for taking this on, AL.
freelancer
Just hearing from Perlstein that he is going to be discussing it with us was enough to make be buy it for Kindle over my lunch break. Sweet.
Gus
Shit, I have way too many books to read, and I’ve already read it. I’m still going to check in, though. Can’t wait!
Mary Jane
I haven’t yet decided if I’ll participate, but if so, I won’t be buying from Amazon for awhile. It may be legal to sell these
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ISB2BW/ref=cm_rdp_product
but it digusts me and I regret throwing a lot of money their way at Christmas.
Barnes and Noble has the book for around the same price.
Omnes Omnibus
I guess I will go find a copy.
Sad But True
Just pulled it up on my Kindle: “Richard Nixon was a serial collector of resentments.” I had forgotten how much of the book ends up describing today’s Paul- and Palinites.
This is going to be awesome.
bk
Terrific book – love the idea. And I look forward to kicking it around
Anne Laurie
@suzanne:
Don’t have a copy here, so I don’t know how long each chapter is, but I was figuring maybe a chapter every weekend, or one on the weekend and one mid-week if people are that eager?
Anyone who’s already read NIXONLAND want to weigh in on how much it’s practical to tackle at a time?
slag
@Mary Jane: You could also go Powell’s: http://www.powells.com/s?kw=nixonland&class=.
Mnemosyne
@Mary Jane:
Did you make sure to e-mail or write a letter to let them know you won’t buy from them anymore and why? Amazon is usually very sensitive to customer pressure so you might have some luck.
John O
In my current emotional state no way can I read about Nixon.
Looking for something a little more uplifting.
I recommend a short story by DF Wallace: Good Old Neon. It’s pretty much about death and Time. A veritable laugh riot compared to reading about Nixon.
On the hot list I would’ve chosen Griftopia, because Taibbi cracks me up.
Mnemosyne
Alibris also has a lot of used copies available for under $5.
JenJen
Really, really looking forward to the book group! And Rick Perlstein himself possibly joining the discussions? Are we worthy?
freelancer
@John O:
Griftopia is a great read, Taibbi is acerbic and writes with great humor, but this is not the book you’re looking for. I was hypertensive the entire way through the book.
Stephen1947
I just ordered my copy from ABE Books – the first 3 that came up were already sold, so some BJ readers are already aware of it. Usually better than Amazon’s used book service, and cheaper too.
John O
@freelancer:
Ah. I can see that.
Still, isn’t laughing at them about all there is left?
Kathy
Darn, gave my copy away and can’t get it back. I will order on kindle and restart. The book wasn’t bad, just had a bunch of other things going on at the time. I really look forward to starting up and getting involved. FYI for future suggestions, I am reading “Tear Down this Myth” by Will Bunch. Could lead to an interesting discussion.
Mary Jane
@slag: I love Powell’s!
@Mnemosyne: Yes, Mnemosyne, I sure did. I’ve been a frequent customer of Amazon for years, mostly due to laziness. But I was serious when I wrote that I won’t buy from them again unless they change their policy. I’ll use the site only for the reviews.
John Cole
I will try to figure out how to set up a chat in WP.
srv
Richard’s plan for suffering.
18 years before Hillary and 34 years before Obama.
JGabriel
Anne Laurie @ Top:
If Rick’s joining us, how can I say no? Definitely looking forward to this.
As for the shys, I suspect we’re not a particularly reticent bunch here. The Loogies, for instance, clearly think we’re a bunch of vociferously profane and loud-mouthed crazies.
.
Sad But True
@freelancer:
Yeah, my s.o. started to get disturbed by how excitably angry the book was making me. Not much in the way of laughs in that one. Still, I couldn’t put it down, and the righteous anger approach Taibbi takes is much more appropriate than the “let’s get to know these interestingly wacky characters” style Michael Lewis likes to employ.
Taibbi’s Rand-Greenspan chapter is jaw-dropping and his chapter on the subprime issue is the best, most readable synopsis of the crisis I’ve run across yet.
freelancer
@John Cole:
But then we’ll bitch about the minutaie of BJ Chat. And you’ll bitch about us bitching!
Ahhhh, White People Problems…
kdaug
@bk: Nice.
morzer
In my guts, I know y’all are nuts, but I guess I’ll drag out the tome and reread it over the next day or so.
jh46inaz
This may be ancient history, but I’m just about finished with Shock Doctrine, and think it should be required reading for every American. Any chance of putting that in the mix? (Although, to be honest, there’s not a lot of commentary to throw around with it. It’s pretty straight forward about who the evil bastards in this world are…).
Steeplejack
@John Cole:
Don’t knock yourself out. If we get the responsiveness of an average NFL open thread we’ll be fine.
slag
@Stephen1947: I always wish sites like ABE and Alibris would make it easier for me to search for multiple books from the same vendor to save on shipping. Although maybe they do and I don’t know it. But I always end up doing multiple “find more from this vendor” searches before I end up with my ideal combination of price and title availability.
Samnell
On reading this post I immediately got up, drove to my locally-owned bookstore (great people, great service, replaced a Waldenbooks in the mall as the only bookstore in the county when that place closed) and put in an order for it. I might be a day or two late in joining in, but I’m very excited.
RoonieRoo
Oh! If Nixonland was the final choice I will definitely be joining in. I haven’t read it yet but it’s been on my list. I’ll pick up a copy this weekend.
Josie
Sounds like a plan. I have a suspicion that reading the details of Nixon’s political plans may give us insight into what’s coming for the next few years (as if we didn’t know).
Felonious Wench
I’m in. Got my Kindle copy and cracking open the e-binding tonight. Thanks for joining in, Rick!
Gardenvarietygator
I can’t believe no one has mentioned addall for book price comparison searches. put in your state and it calculates which vendor has the book cheapist including shipping. The used book subsite only does vendor price comparisons, not including shipping but still. I don’t always pick the cheapist, as sometimes I want a nice copy, and other times just readable.
http://www.addall.com/
singfoom
@Mary Jane: Oh jesus. Go boycott Amazon if you want, but that is just silly.
I’m very liberal and have been called a firebagger here, but I am gun-friendly. I really don’t get why people get hung up on the fact that he had a 33 round clip. Guess what, if you outlaw them, you can just jury rig them.
33 Round Magazines don’t kill people, people kill people. I get really tired of people getting caught up on the object and not realizing that it doesn’t matter and that they can be fabricated, so outlawing them is useless….
Ok, I’ll stop shitting on the book club thread, I just can’t stand this specific strand of logic lately.
And then I’ll go buy Nixonland on my Kindle.
R-Jud
Sounds fine to me. I’d be happy to re-read this book with a group. I gave it to my Dad for Christmas in the hopes that we could talk about it together, and his response was: “Are you trying to KILL me? I’ve got high blood pressure and I’m pissed enough about the assholes we currently have, I don’t want to be reminded about Granddaddy Asshole.”
I sent him “Newton and the Counterfeiter” instead, which he likes much better.
stuckinred
A few thoughts about Amazon. For all you community minded folks.
From its humble beginnings, Amazon was crafted to be a company that would skirt its obligations to suppliers and customers. I won’t even get into how much they bully publishing companies (even the tiny, indie presses), but I will mention how much money we are NOT getting in Georgia because of people’s decision to shop on Amazon. Amazon deliberately sets up its warehouses and distribution centers in states with the lowest tax rates or easiest-to-skirt rules. They ripped open a pre-Internet loophole, finding a way to get a major market advantage by not collecting sales tax in states where they are not headquartered.
merrinc
Good deal. Thanks for suggesting this, Anne Laurie.
BTW, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail is one of my all time favorites. I have a very beat up paperback copy around here somewhere.
Svensker
Check out addall.com. It’s a bookseller consolidator, so you can see all the books listed on Amazon, Abe, Alibris, Biblio, ZVAB, Half, etc. and find the best price and closest shipping
Oh, and you don’t buy through addall — the link takes you to the bookseller site if you decide to buy. Of course, if you DO buy from Amazon, remember to get through from Cole’s link. :)
Edited to add, I see addall.com’s already been suggested. Well, ditto. Also, too, support your local library for even cheaper price and no shipping charge.
R-Jud
@Svensker: bookbutler.com isn’t bad, either.
Alice
Excellent, my book arrives on Friday. Will crack it open this weekend. Perhaps with copious amounts of booze.
schrodinger's cat
So what did we decide, how many chapters before the weekend do we read? How does this book club thing work, I have never done this before.
morzer
@schrodinger’s cat:
Make yourself a tub of gruel and a spoon, fill large tank with water, procure drinking mug, place book on desk, strap yourself into self-flogging machine calibrated to act when insufficient pages are turned or comments posted, open book… and away you go.
Mnemosyne
@singfoom:
Believe it or not, 90 percent of the people in this country have absolutely no idea how to jury rig themselves a 33-round magazine. This is why we think that the shooter probably wouldn’t have bothered and would have stayed with the standard magazines that would have given people a chance to tackle him sooner.
Just because you can make it easy for people to commit mass murder doesn’t mean you should.
Violet
That’s cool. I might have to go find a copy somewhere.
morzer
@Mnemosyne:
What, no open thread on how to jury-rig the necessary magazine? What is BJ coming to?
Phyllis
Count me in. I read this over a year ago and have wanted to dip back into it because I think some stuff I should have taken in just got lost in the sheer magnitude of the book.
South of I-10
Just got it on the iPad. I am really looking forward to this.
Gin & Tonic
I’ll chime in to compliment your mention of Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, the best book about US politics ever written by anyone.
BGDaniels
For those who asked about how much you could tackle at a time…it’s a pretty dense book with an incredibly large amount of detail about many different things – Perlstein tries to paint a very detailed picture of America during the timeframe he writes about (I believe primarily the mid-60’s to ’72), so some chapters focus less on Nixon and more on Nixonland. The rub of the book is that it’s really about the country as much as it is about Nixon himself, and it makes for a fascinating read.
It might take slower readers a little longer to plow through it since it’s such a big, sprawling piece. It will definitely shines some light on where America is today (Tea Party, etc.) And for someone like me, who’s 27 and didn’t know a whooooole lot about Nixonland, it was very, very enlightening.
Nutella
I checked the paperback version and there are 34 chapters in 745 pages. I’d say one or possibly two chapters a week would be a reasonable pace.
kdaug
@morzer: Shut UP! If people find out about duct tape and inverted magazines, we are all doomed!
RSR
for ipad, iphone, ipod touch folks–
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/29/entertainment/main6724928.shtml
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/nixonland
[video trailer and demo at links]
“Nixonland” Re-Released as Enhanced E-Book
Video Segments from CBS News Will Integrate with Original Text in New Version of Best-Selling Book
(CBS) The bestselling “Nixonland” has been re-released in a partnership as an “enhanced” book which will add visual elements into the original text.
The new version will include 27 historic video segments from CBS News, placed within the book to add visual context to the text.
It will also feature an original interview by CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent and “Face the Nation” anchor Bob Schieffer in which he discusses the book with author Rick Perlstein.
.
.
The enhanced version of the book costs $15.99, and is available at Apple’s iBookstore and Amazon’s Kindle store. The book cannot be read on the Kindle’s e-reader, but can be read on the Kindle app on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
RSR
ooh, good suggestion for “Tear Down This Myth.” It’s been on my waiting list for a while.
And Will Bunch is probably amenable to participating is some way too.
That has my vote for book # 2.
Now off to find a ebook version of Nixonland for the nook,
newhavenguy
I’ve been looking for an excuse to read Nixonland again.
@Anne Laurie:
A chapter or two at a time seems about right, but I read fast/have no respectable social life/think Nixonland is a remarkable book.
Curious about how an online book club works, and can’t think of a better place to start. I look forward to it.
morzer
@kdaug:
I’ve had a lot of fun with duct tape and magazines for inverts….
Jane_in_Colorado
Frequent lurker, infrequent poster here. But I would like to take part in this. I’ve found that for this kind of book it helps to have a discussion group.
Chad N Freude
Joining the party. I picked up a near-pristine copy of the hardcover for $2 at my local branch library book sale (books contributed by library patrons specifically for the quarterly fund-raising sales), but it’s too big and heavy to schlep around, so I am forced by the BJ culture ministry takeover of reading to buy the Kindle copy at an unreasonably inflated price. FY Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc! Well, I guess Rick Perlstein gets a few cents of that, and I owe it to him for picking up a second-hand copy, so I’m a little less resentful.
Re shyness resulting from author participation: Shyness isn’t an issue with Tom Levenson threads, why would it be an issue here?
ETA: I (almost) always get to Amazon by clicking through BJ.
NeverRepentAmarillo
Multiyear lurker here; count me in for this.
Midnight Marauder
Me and my hardcover copy eagerly anticipate January 30th.
+6
marshstars
I have been a lurker for years. Very rare commenter. Love this site. Given Nixonland’s length, I may decide to go the e-book route (how to loosen the “rust of education” and relinquish margin commenting/highlighting?)! The idea of an online book group is intriguing. Implementing it will be interesting to witness unfold and hopefully participate in.
Jane2
Can’t wait!
Batocchio
But compared to Atlas Shrugged, Nixonland’s sex scenes are so much better written!
Sputnik
I think Sunday evenings are a great time to do this. I may not be able to participate in the first one, which is fine by me as I have already read the first few chapters a while ago and don’t remember it all. By the second discussion, I should be caught up.
rickstersherpa
I had read books about sixties before (much like Wordsworth wrote about another Revolution that had mixed results), in 1965-1967, it often felt:
“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive
But to be young was very heaven.”
Several themes I noted in the book:
Resentment (Nixon’s own personal resentment, but also the resentment felt by a large class of people that eventually led them to see Nixon as their champion.)
Condescension (Post WWII an evolution of an liberal elite opinion that felt superior to and disconnected from majority of the middle class white Americans people who they felt they could manipulate)
Hubris and Incomprehension (the Kennedy-Johnson administration could not comprehend Vietnam or the Vietnamese but in their pride believed they did, they could not comprehend Black anger after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and they could not comprehend or address the backlash in the late sixties aganist both the Civil Rights and Anti-War movement from 1966-1978.)
Perhaps because of my particular circumstances, I really enjoyed reading the account of the 1966 Douglas/Percy Senate campaign in Illinois, something I still vividly recall. From the murder of Charles Percy’s daughter to vile death threats sent to Senator Douglas, it was and still is a remarkable election.
jayackroyd
Jesse Walker’s interview with Perlstein
http://reason.com/archives/2008/06/10/the-age-of-nixon
WereBear
Yay! I’ll be ready!
kay
I bought the book and I’m looking forward to reading the comments. I don’t know if I can participate in “real time” but it really doesn’t matter.
Thanks for doing this, Anne Laurie.
Phoebe
@singfoom: Somebody might have said this already, but “jury rig” is to actually rig a jury. The expression you mean is “Jerry rig” which is a demeaning anti-German immigrant term coined in the olden days [when people actually looked down on German immigrants] meaning to patch something together in a half-assed way.
So: Chapter 1 by Jan 30?