Advise and Consent
by Allen Drurypublished
June 1981
by Avon Books (Mm)
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binding
Paperback
literary awards
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1960)
isbn
0380010070
(isbn13: 9780380010073)
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Everyone
I love this book! I am so glad I was reminded of it. This was first published in 1959, and The Literary Guild (my book club at the time) chose it as a monthly selection. I enjoyed it at the time, but I wasn't terribly interested in politics 'way back then so I really didn't get the bigger picture during that first read.
If you are into politics (and who isn't these days?) and especially if you'd like to know how Congress -- the Senate in particular -- works, read this. It's a thumping good r...more
If you are into politics (and who isn't these days?) and especially if you'd like to know how Congress -- the Senate in particular -- works, read this. It's a thumping good r...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who likes to read.
This book details the workings of the senate in the early 60s, and it is fascinating, especially in an election year. One of my favorite parts of the book was how everyone who worked closely with the president hated his guts, but they all understood that he was working from a horribly lonely office.
Reading this book provided me with more insight into how our country is governed than any civics class I ever took. The characters were well-drawn, the action was well-paced and the atmosphere i...more
Reading this book provided me with more insight into how our country is governed than any civics class I ever took. The characters were well-drawn, the action was well-paced and the atmosphere i...more
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Read in January, 1968
Read this as a freshman in high school and was so strongly impressed by the statesmanship of the men in this political novel that I chose political science as a second major in college.
I have never missed a major election since I was 18 and only 2 primary votes, in all that time.
Makes you want to stand up and sing the National Anthem. I get goosebumps every time I read selections from it on a library shelf, rereading the best parts. Just like the feeling I get when Harrison Ford, get...more
I have never missed a major election since I was 18 and only 2 primary votes, in all that time.
Makes you want to stand up and sing the National Anthem. I get goosebumps every time I read selections from it on a library shelf, rereading the best parts. Just like the feeling I get when Harrison Ford, get...more
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
political junkies with a 50's fetish
I first read this book in high school, and then re-read it a couple years ago. I was amazed to see that it had lost none of it's impact. In a way, in spite of the dirty politics, it is an idealized version of government, and in many ways dated: the Senators from the Western states, for instance, are the most liberal in that chamber; standing up to the Russians even though they got the first man on the moon, et c. (this book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960, I am sure that when Drury was writing...more
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pulitzer prize winner. Hard to get into, but once i was past 100 page i couldn't put it down...once i got past the 1950's setting, the dirty politics reallly started to leap out at me.
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Read in July, 1979
I've been a Drury fan for many, many years. Our political views have seldom been the same, but that doesn't keep me from admiring his writing style. "Advise and Consent" was the first and the best of his political novels. And it led to a pretty good film starring Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, and Burgess Meredith.
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Read in November, 2007
Very long political fiction. The story develops slowly, but in the end I couldn't put it down. It is written during the heart of the cold war and seems to capture the politics of the time.
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