Molly Ivins: Letters to The Nation

Molly Ivins: Letters to The Nation PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: The Nation Co. LP
ISBN:
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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Book Description
Writing in her native “Texlish,” Molly Ivins planted herself squarely in the tradition of plain-spoken and earthy American humor, the big river that runs from Mark Twain straight through to Will Rogers, Ring Lardner and George Carlin. Between 1982 and 2007, Ivins contributed seventeen consistently sharp and funny articles to The Nation, starting with what might be described as her “Letters From Texas,” in which she discussed political developments in the Lone Star State, whose zany politics were full of exotic people dubbed “The Gibber,” “The Breck Girl” and “Governor Goodhair.” Despite their humor, however, Ivins’s pieces always delivered trenchant political commentary. And she could also write highly accomplished and fascinating cultural essays and book reviews (such as “Ezra Pound in East Texas,” included in this eBook).

Molly Ivins: Letters to The Nation

Molly Ivins: Letters to The Nation PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: The Nation Co. LP
ISBN:
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 103

Get Book

Book Description
Writing in her native “Texlish,” Molly Ivins planted herself squarely in the tradition of plain-spoken and earthy American humor, the big river that runs from Mark Twain straight through to Will Rogers, Ring Lardner and George Carlin. Between 1982 and 2007, Ivins contributed seventeen consistently sharp and funny articles to The Nation, starting with what might be described as her “Letters From Texas,” in which she discussed political developments in the Lone Star State, whose zany politics were full of exotic people dubbed “The Gibber,” “The Breck Girl” and “Governor Goodhair.” Despite their humor, however, Ivins’s pieces always delivered trenchant political commentary. And she could also write highly accomplished and fascinating cultural essays and book reviews (such as “Ezra Pound in East Texas,” included in this eBook).

Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?

Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0679741836
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Whether she's writing about redneck politics in her native Texas or the discreet charms of Bushwazee, Molly Ivins in never less than devastatingly honest—and hilarious. Our toughest, funniest, and savviest columnist delivers the goods on: -Texas politics: "Well, our attorney general is under indictment. He ran as 'the people's lawyer'; now we call him 'the people's felon.'" -The flag burning debate: "Bush's last birthday cake was in the form of the American flag, and he ate it—stars, stripes, and all. Think about where that flag wound up—I call that desecration." -Beign a woman in Texas: "There are several strains of Texas culture: They are all rotten for women... One not infrequently sees cars or trucks sporting the bumper sticker "Have fun—beat the hell out of someone you love."

Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins

Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins PDF Author: Ellen Sweets
Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM
ISBN: 0292738749
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
“A rendering of a deep and lasting friendship . . . Dozens of anecdotes about Sweets and Ivins and their rollicking adventures in cooking and eating.” —Denver Post You probably knew Molly Ivins as an unabashed civil libertarian who used her sharp wit and good ole Texas horse sense to excoriate political figures she deemed unworthy of our trust and respect. But did you also know that Molly was one helluva cook? And we’re not just talking chili and chicken-fried steak, either. Molly Ivins honed her culinary skills on visits to France, often returning with perfected techniques for saumon en papillote or delectable clafouti aux cerises. Friends who had the privilege of sharing Molly’s table got not only a heaping helping of her insights into the political shenanigans of the day, but also a mouth-watering meal, prepared from scratch with the finest ingredients. In Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins, her longtime friend, fellow reporter, and frequent sous-chef Ellen Sweets takes us into the kitchen with Molly and introduces us to the private woman behind the public figure. She serves up her own and others’ favorite stories about Ivins as she recalls the fabulous meals they shared, complete with recipes for thirty-five of Molly’s signature dishes. Friends who ate with Molly knew a cultured woman who was a fluent French speaker, voracious reader, rugged outdoors aficionado, music lover, loyal and loving friend, and surrogate mom to many of her friends’ children, as well as to her super-spoiled poodle. They also came to revere the courageous woman who refused to let cancer stop her from doing what she wanted, when she wanted. This is the Molly you’ll be delighted to meet in Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins. “Ms. Sweets’s anecdotes about the cast of characters who roundtabled Ms. Ivins’s home are as satisfying as the Texas pistol’s concoctions.” ―The Wall Street Journal

You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You

You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307434753
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
In her long-awaited new collection, the Colt Peacekeeper of American political humor draws a bead on targets that range from the Libido-in-Chief to Newt Gingrich, campaign funny-money to the legislative lunacy of her native Texas--and hits a bull's-eye every time. Whether she's writing about Bill Clinton ("The Rodney Dangerfield of presidents"), Bob Dole ("Dole contributed perhaps the funniest line of the year with his immortal observation that tobacco is not addictive but that too much milk might be bad for us. The check from the dairy lobby must have been late that week"), or cultural trends ("I saw a restaurant in Seattle that specialized in latte and barbecue. Barbecue and latte. I came home immediately"), Molly takes on the issues of the day with her trademark good sense and inimitable wit.

Shrub

Shrub PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1400033136
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger. A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job. With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya's winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush's likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with 'the vision thing,' wait till you meet this one." Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American. From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush " The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record." ¸ Bush's welfare record: "Texas pols like to 'git tuff' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month." ¸ Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment." ¸ Bush's environmental record: Since Governor Bush's election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants. ¸ Bush's military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard's anti-drug poster boy, one of life's little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. 'George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,' reads a Guard press release of 1970. 'Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.'"

Red Hot Patriot

Red Hot Patriot PDF Author: Margaret Engel
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
ISBN: 0573698953
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
First produced by Philadelphia Theatre Company in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 19, 2010.

Bill of Wrongs

Bill of Wrongs PDF Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588366588
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Throughout her long career of “afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted,” the cause closest to Molly Ivins’s heart was working to protect the freedoms we all value. Sadly, today we’re living in a time when dissent is equated with giving aid to terrorists, when any of us can be held in prison without even knowing the charges against us, and when our constitutional rights are being interpreted by a president who calls himself “The Decider.” Ivins got the idea for Bill of Wrongs while touring America to honor her promise to speak out, gratis, at least once a month in defense of free speech. In her travels Ivins met ordinary people going to extraordinary measures to safeguard our most precious liberties, and when she first started writing this book, she intended it to be a joyous celebration of those heroes. But during the Bush years, the project’s focus changed. Ivins became concerned about threats to our cherished freedoms–among them the Patriot Act and the weakening of habeas corpus–and she observed with anger how dissent in the defense of liberties was being characterized as treason by the Bush administration and its enablers. From illegal wiretaps, the unlawful imprisonment of American citizens, and the undermining of freedom of the press to the creeping influence of religious extremism on our national agenda and the erosion of the checks and balances that prevent a president from seizing unitary powers, Ivins and her longtime collaborator, Lou Dubose, co-author of Shrub and Bushwacked, describe the attack on America’s vital constitutional guarantees. With devastating humor and keen eyes for deceit and hypocrisy, they show how severe these incursions have become, and they ask us all to take an active role in protecting the Bill of Rights. In life and on the printed page, Molly Ivins was too cool to offer a posthumous valedictory (or even to take a victory lap for her many triumphs over inane, vainglorious, and addlepated politicos). But in Bill of Wrongs, her final and perhaps greatest book, the irrepressible Molly Ivins really does have the last word.

What's the Matter with Kansas?

What's the Matter with Kansas? PDF Author: Thomas Frank
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1429900326
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
One of "our most insightful social observers"* cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In asking "what 's the matter with Kansas?"—how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union—Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where's the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism—the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat—and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders' "values" and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy. A brilliant analysis—and funny to boot—What's the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People. *Los Angeles Times

The Betrayal of America

The Betrayal of America PDF Author: Vincent Bugliosi
Publisher: Nation Books
ISBN: 9781560253556
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
Argues that the December 12, 2000, ruling of the United States Supreme Court effectively handed the election and the presidency to George W. Bush.

Viper Rum

Viper Rum PDF Author: Mary Karr
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0142000183
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
In her third collection of poetry, Viper Rum, Mary Karr delves into autobiographical subject matter; various beloveds are birthed and buried in these touching lyrics, some of which, as the title suggests, deal with drink: I cast back to those last years I drank, alone nights at the kitchen sink, bathrobed, my head hatching snakes, while my baby slept in his upstairs cage and my marriage choked to death Precise and surprising, Karr's poems "take on the bedevilments of fate and grief with a diabolical edge of their own" (Poetry). Also included is Karr's controversial and prize-winning essay "Against Decoration," in which she took aim against the verbal ornaments that too often pass for poetry these days-the "new formalism" that elevates form to an end itself.