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The Boys on the Bus
by
Cheap booze. Flying fleshpots. Lack of sleep. Endless spin. Lying pols.
Just a few of the snares lying in wait for the reporters who covered the 1972 presidential election. Traveling with the press pack from the June primaries to the big night in November, Rolling Stone reporter Timothy Crouse hopscotched the country with both the Nixon and McGovern campaigns and witnessed t ...more
Just a few of the snares lying in wait for the reporters who covered the 1972 presidential election. Traveling with the press pack from the June primaries to the big night in November, Rolling Stone reporter Timothy Crouse hopscotched the country with both the Nixon and McGovern campaigns and witnessed t ...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
August 12th 2003
by Random House Trade Paperbacks
(first published November 1973)
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
I really fascinating look at the journalists responsible for covering the 1972 campaign which ended with Nixon beating McGovern and then later stepping down from the presidency due to watergate. I don't know if I've mentioned this but I want to be a reporter some day and I also am a bit of a political junkie so being a political reporter would be a dream job. I will admit right now that this book could be boring to people if this is not a topic they are interested in but I love this kind of thin
...more
Rolling Stone reporters produced two epochal books documenting the 1972 presidential campaign: Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" and Tim Crouse's "Boys on the Bus." I read this book while I was a totally green reporter -- as Crouse was in 1972 -- covering the 2008 McCain campaign and found myself relating completely. While it was a great read, it was a bit discouraging to find that Crouse already had every insight I was coming up with, precluding the need for me to
...more
Couldn't help draw some parallels to present day. I like reading about the press.
Interesting to see the parallels between campaigns today and back in the 60s and 70s, even as some things have changed so much. That said, I don't think this book has aged particularly well since it assumes a very high level of knowledge about the people and events of the time and preceding years, much of which isn't common knowledge if you didn't live through those years yourself.
My boss at work saw me reading "All the Presidents Men" and "Final Days" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein over the summer and thought I would like this book by Timothy Crouse, which details how the media, both print and television, but mostly print, covered the 1972 Presential Election. Gets very detailed, but never that slow except for a few chapters. Obviously the funniest parts seem to be with Hunter Thompson, but it's interesting to read about a younger Dan Rather and Connie Chung to name
...more
Sep 27, 2012
Jim
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
american-history
An account of the reporters who covered the Presidential Election of 1972. I really enjoyed this book because it gave a honest, mostly unbiased account of the candidates (Nixon and McGovern) and turned the eyes of the press on themselves. I'm sure many of those journalist highlighted - David Broder, "Johnny" Apple, Robert Novak, Haynes Johnson and Hunter Thompson cringe at the honest, albeit gossipy candor in which they were portrayed (well maybe not Hunter S.). Though there are numerous people
...more
Oct 31, 2009
Kate
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in journalism, politics, or the 1970s
Recommended to Kate by:
Mom
Shelves:
favoritereads
I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book, as I thought it would be kind of a nostalgic, wasn't-everything-great back in the good old days of reporting kind of tale.
But this account of the reporters covering the 1972 Presidential primaries and general election is anything but.
Author Timothy Crouse gives a superior analysis of problems -- the shallowness of campaign reporting, how reporters are often not allowed to give any intelligent analysis at all, the forced "balancing" of issue s ...more
But this account of the reporters covering the 1972 Presidential primaries and general election is anything but.
Author Timothy Crouse gives a superior analysis of problems -- the shallowness of campaign reporting, how reporters are often not allowed to give any intelligent analysis at all, the forced "balancing" of issue s ...more
Forget it; after 2 months and not making it more than halfway through this book (and repeatedly turning to lowbrow comic books to avoid reading it), I concede defeat. It's not that this is poorly written, it's just not particularly interesting to me -- and that's coming from a guy who loves the '70s.
I had high hopes for it going in, based largely on Hunter S. Thompson's strong recommendation (I believe he once called it the best book about political journalism he's ever read?). But it's time for ...more
I had high hopes for it going in, based largely on Hunter S. Thompson's strong recommendation (I believe he once called it the best book about political journalism he's ever read?). But it's time for ...more
Extremely detailed account of the experience of covering the 1972 presidential election. When it came out, it was probably a revelation. Now, it's more of a period piece that confirms what we already know about the politics and partying that were part of the press culture in the Nixon era. Does contain interesting insight into which reporters commanded the most respect from the corps. Also a good primer as to the ways in which information management was evolving in the period.
For being written in 1972, The Boys on the Bus did not seem like a dated campaign account at all. That says something since other standard political books of the time -- for instance The Selling of the Presidency, about Nixon's manipulation of television -- do show their age. One thing I kept thinking about...it seems ironic given today's vapid and understaffed media environment that someone would be bemoaning the state of the press as Watergate unfolded.
More lucid take on the same presidential campaign covered in Hunter S. Thompson's justly admired (but unjustly more admired) Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. You tend to learn more about the 'drink palsied' journalists than about the campaign they were sent to cover however.
Excellent piece of reporting on an era when the print media actually meant something
Amazing, and a somewhat frightening, how little has changed in journalism, and politics, in the 40 years since this book was published. Entertaining and insightful.
At the end of 2016 and 2017, I made a list of 10 books I wanted to read and own in the coming year. A few books appeared on both lists, one in particular I discovered while reading Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s brilliant Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. Written by Thompson’s Rolling Stone colleague Timothy Crouse, the book in question is 1973’s The Boys on the Bus. I’m a HUGE Thompson fan. He’s my literary hero. After reading many references to Crouse, I had to read his book for myself. I
...more
Possibly the best book I have read on Presidential campaigns, which is high praise as there as so many I have enjoyed.
Crouse was a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, and Hunter S. Thompson’s book on this same 1972 campaign (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72) makes an amazing 1-2 punch with this. Crouse’s book is more down to Earth, nuts & bolts, while HST’s book is, well.... more inspired, shall we say.
Crouse was a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, and Hunter S. Thompson’s book on this same 1972 campaign (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72) makes an amazing 1-2 punch with this. Crouse’s book is more down to Earth, nuts & bolts, while HST’s book is, well.... more inspired, shall we say.
Great non-fiction account of what it’s like to be covering political journalism in real time before the day of the interweb and citizen journalism. If you like this sort of thing it is a fast interesting read.
The brilliant companion to "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail".
The Nixon approach to the discredit the press sounds all too familiar.
There are all sorts of gems in this book, if you wade through all of the "behind-the-scenes" and "inside baseball" (both of which are often used as terms to describe "things which a 'general reader' will not sit for... which is odd because these are just the sorts of things I seek in books despite being the most general of readers) sections as well as the cameos from one Hunter S. Thomspon.
While this particular picture of the press on the campaign trail (and to a degree in the White House) is an ...more
While this particular picture of the press on the campaign trail (and to a degree in the White House) is an ...more
Oct 15, 2015
Troy Hill
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
long-form-political
An instant classic. "Boys" is a capstone to wave one of long-form political writing, which occurred in the latter half of the 20th century. The narrative is both fun and entertaining, while shining a journalistic light into the dark and dusty corners of the national media on the campaign trail.
The best way to read this work is hand in hand with Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Between the two, there is a lot of truth. In "Boys" the truth is presented in classic l ...more
The best way to read this work is hand in hand with Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Between the two, there is a lot of truth. In "Boys" the truth is presented in classic l ...more
There are surprisingly few great books about presidential campaigns. There should be more; we experience politics in daily micro-bits, but it's really the long-term trends and patterns that determine what happens. Hopefully, our era will one day produce a campaign book as magnificently insightful, hilarious, and damning as this one, which is an account of the reporters covering the 1972 presidential campaign.
What really is astonishing is how little has changed; for example, look at his critique ...more
What really is astonishing is how little has changed; for example, look at his critique ...more
Another rare reread for me. The companion piece to Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (Thompson and Crouse were both covering the '72 race for Rolling Stone), Crouse provides an insight into the sociology of journalism more than thirty years ago that's still eerily relevant today. Part of it might be that Nixon-McGovern and McCain-Obama contain similar undertones of establishmentarian conservatism versus youthfully energetic reformism; although I gleefully admit that M
...more
My first political memory was the presidential campaign of 1972. Though I do recall Bobby Kennedy's funeral, his coffin covered by the American flag, preempting my regular cartoon programming, it was the Nixon-McGovern battle that marked my civic awaking. My family are old-school democrats and I used to wear a McGovern for President button, but one of my friend's parents were divided along party lines, with competing campaign posters angling for space on this basement walls.
This is just to say ...more
This is just to say ...more
This book is every good thing that reviewers originally wrote about it. Some of it is dated, forty years later, sure, but the general idea of pack journalism is alive today as it ever was.
The funniest parts of The Boys on the Bus probably belong to Hunter S. Thompson, Timothy Crouse's coworker at Rolling Stone, but that should surprise no one. In some ways, this book is a making-of account of Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail from 1972.
The book's funniest line, too, belongs to T ...more
The funniest parts of The Boys on the Bus probably belong to Hunter S. Thompson, Timothy Crouse's coworker at Rolling Stone, but that should surprise no one. In some ways, this book is a making-of account of Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail from 1972.
The book's funniest line, too, belongs to T ...more
This book could almost be considered a companion piece to Hunter S Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72". Call it "Fear and Loathing in the Press Room". While the good doctor was writing about the candidates, Crouse (also working for Rolling Stone) was writing about the drinking, drugging, bitching, camp-following press who were crammed into the overcrowded second bus or the overstuffed Zoo plane. Most of these guys (mostly--there are a couple of talented and well-shat upon la
...more
this book is about the campaign press corps for the '72 election - and is a great companion read to hunter thompson's "fear and loathing on the campaign trail of '72" which i read a couple year ago.
as i read this book i found myself wondering if it was unproductive to be spending so much time learning the details of the '72 campaign when i surely know far less details about the '08 campaign...but just as soon as i would have this thought i would equally notice the overarching, relevant issues di ...more
as i read this book i found myself wondering if it was unproductive to be spending so much time learning the details of the '72 campaign when i surely know far less details about the '08 campaign...but just as soon as i would have this thought i would equally notice the overarching, relevant issues di ...more
1974 371 pages
if your are a political junkie or just like a little behind the scenes type of person, you will like this. it is a fast read.
this all took place during my young adult time
if your are a political junkie or just like a little behind the scenes type of person, you will like this. it is a fast read.
this all took place during my young adult time
1972 was my first presidential election. Having grown up in staunchly democratic family and cocooned in a college dorm, I was flabbergasted when Nixon was re-elected. After all, everyone I knew was voting McGovern. This book fills in some of my gaps in understanding the campaign by focusing on the reporters who covered it. Crouse does a good job at describing "pack" journalism and why the political coverage was bland and uniform. I enjoyed the portrait of Hunter S. Thompson (whom Rolling Stone h
...more
It is discouraging that despite being a fixture in political and journalism syllabi, not much seems to have been learned in the 44 years since Timothy Crouse’s seminal The Boys on the the Bus took place. Crouse’s book-length study of the press covering the 1972 presidential election highlights issues with campaign and White House journalism which has largely remained the same (and perhaps gotten worse) since. While the technological innovations have made things different, and the proliferation o
...more
Partly a fascinating look at the journalism business in 1971-1972, with political press criticism that still rings true today (too focused on who is going to win, not enough on who these people are and what they espouse).
Partly a bullshit love affair with Hunter S. Thompson and being Rolling Stone magazine and all this "we eschew your tired old ways, man." Yes, a lot of political journalism is a failure. The answer is not to be writing about candidates as campaigning like rats in heat. That kind ...more
Partly a bullshit love affair with Hunter S. Thompson and being Rolling Stone magazine and all this "we eschew your tired old ways, man." Yes, a lot of political journalism is a failure. The answer is not to be writing about candidates as campaigning like rats in heat. That kind ...more
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“But the Nixon Administration gave the press an identity of its own, separate from the public interest, and then began to characterize the press either as friendly or hostile or what have you.”
—
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“Cassie Mackin was the first, if not the only, member of the press to point out that the emperor had no clothes. She opened her report by observing that “the Nixon campaign is, for the most part, a series of speeches before closed audiences, invited guests only.”
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