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Fever Swamp: A Journey Through the Strange Neverland of the 2016 Presidential Race
By fall 2015, the rise of Donald Trump as the likely Republican nominee confirmed that, for better or worse, Americans had been transported to a strange new land populated by mysterious creatures, where the normal laws of the political universe no longer applied. Fascinated, amused, and appalled, bestselling novelist Richard North Patterson accepted an invitation to write one column per week for the Huffington Post about the presidential race. Those essays are collected here for the first time in a highly personal "journal" chronicling Patterson's observations in real time.
Before long, thousands of Americans were reading Patterson's weekly descriptions of the campaign, a gauntlet without rules in which the projected psyches of the candidates reflected--and stirred--the roiling emotions of a substantially disgruntled electorate. Smart, prescient, funny, and deeply informed by extensive background research, these pieces form a narrative that captures the race as it occurred--the bald-faced lies, the painful truths, the pivotal issues, and the astonishing personalities that made the election of 2016 utterly unpredictable and uniquely consequential. Best of all, in marginalia scattered throughout the book Patterson looks back to see where he was right, where he was wrong, and where events were so beyond human experience that no one could have predicted them.
In this bracing, funny book, Patterson brings to bear a novelist's piercing sensibility to the process of examining the election, moments that betray a candidate's character and inner life and hold up a mirror to the American population. Filled with fresh insights and indelible prose, Fever Swamp is a masterful take on a unique campaign filled with the pathos, humor, and important lessons of the liveliest playground shoving match.
Before long, thousands of Americans were reading Patterson's weekly descriptions of the campaign, a gauntlet without rules in which the projected psyches of the candidates reflected--and stirred--the roiling emotions of a substantially disgruntled electorate. Smart, prescient, funny, and deeply informed by extensive background research, these pieces form a narrative that captures the race as it occurred--the bald-faced lies, the painful truths, the pivotal issues, and the astonishing personalities that made the election of 2016 utterly unpredictable and uniquely consequential. Best of all, in marginalia scattered throughout the book Patterson looks back to see where he was right, where he was wrong, and where events were so beyond human experience that no one could have predicted them.
In this bracing, funny book, Patterson brings to bear a novelist's piercing sensibility to the process of examining the election, moments that betray a candidate's character and inner life and hold up a mirror to the American population. Filled with fresh insights and indelible prose, Fever Swamp is a masterful take on a unique campaign filled with the pathos, humor, and important lessons of the liveliest playground shoving match.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
400 pages, Hardcover
Published January 10, 2017
27 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Richard North Patterson
107 books688 followersRichard North Patterson is the author of fourteen previous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and women’s rights. He lives in San Francisco and on Martha’s Vineyard.
Macmillan.com Author Profile
Awards
Edgar Award, 1980, Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International Award, 1995 for Degree of Guilt
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
Macmillan.com Author Profile
Awards
Edgar Award, 1980, Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International Award, 1995 for Degree of Guilt
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 2, 2018
I have long been a fan of the fiction work of Richard North Patterson, which mixes the strength of wonderful narrative style with an attention to detail. When I first discovered that Patterson had written this book, I was sceptical and worried that one of my favourite authors had decided to kick out a soapbox to bemoan the political system in his own country. However, after reading the preface and early chapters, I remembered how detailed his books were on issues of politics, law, and elections. By the end of the first part, I was completely won over, as he retold many of the interesting stories from the eternal campaign Americans have to elect their leaders. These are not simply musings of a writer, looking back after the dust has settled, but actual opinion pieces published along the way in The Huffington Post. Patterson was asked to pen these articles and they were published at the time—dates included at the beginning of each chapter—to provide the reader insights into what was going on and his reactions. From the early bandying around of a slew of GOP candidates, to the ideological schism within the Democrats, through to the rise of xenophobia and racism in the latter portion of the primaries, Patterson offers the reader a front-row seat and foundational political commentary. Then, with the gloves off, Patterson takes the reader into the heart of the actual presidential election of 2016, with some of the key issues before the electorate. Patterson tried his best to lay out the issues for those with the power of the ballot box, contrasting and comparing the two behemoths, and meticulously documenting what he so aptly calls America’s slide in the fever swamp of a four-year miasma. Expressed well through his eyes and detailed to the point that the reader can almost feel they are back on the campaign trail, Patterson is to be applauded for his work. Recommended for those who want to take a walk down memory lane and see how America slid from greatness to the laughing stock of the United Nations.
This is a brilliant idea and I am glad to have taken the time to reading it. Had I known Patterson was writing along the campaign trail, I might have sought him out, but reading this collection did help bring me back to the months of racial epithets and accusations, all of which drowned out the policy speeches and attempts to keep America great. Patterson lays out his bias early on, that he is a strong-minded liberal, which will surely flavour the writings in such a way that some may not be willing to stomach all that is on the written page. I do not deny that the writing is tipped to one side, nor do I deny that I can see a number of parallels in the way Patterson thinks with my own views. The blunt style of Patterson’s writing is wonderfully sobering, especially as he touches on key issues of importance during the campaign and to be considered long-term for the voter: healthcare, the future of economic viability on the world stage, and even the choice of the next few Supreme Court justices. This latter topic weighs in most heavily, as laws and legal interpretation was sure to be be shaped in strongly ideological ways, depending who is in the White House. Generations of decisions rested on who made the picks that would shape the Court, which is sobering in a very un-Judge Kavanaugh manner. Patterson uses his well-grounded arguments to make poignant points that the electorate ought to have considered, if not provide help to sway them before they walked in to cast their choice for POTUS. That Patterson does not hide his bias will trouble some, though I am happy to hear a substantiated defence, rather than simply add a hashtag and troll reviews for the sake of doing so. Fact is an essential part of the argument and I am always up for a fact-driven discussion. Politics brings out the passions in us all, even those who choose not to play in the game. It is how we explain our sentiments that separates the informed voter from the bandwagon rider. Both parties—all ideologies—have them and so I cannot toss mud at any group. Patterson has tried to stick to the facts, even if he has a position on their presentation. From the fever swamp, Patterson leaves us all to wonder what will come in the lead-up to 2020. For now, we need to see how hard the political hammer will come down during the mid-terms. The spin from the Oval ought to be something for the ages. I’ll make the popcorn, you bring the drinks!
Kudos, Mr. Patterson, for an enlightening and thorough exploration of all things presidential in the 2016 campaign, even though much of it was defecating in the sandbox!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
This is a brilliant idea and I am glad to have taken the time to reading it. Had I known Patterson was writing along the campaign trail, I might have sought him out, but reading this collection did help bring me back to the months of racial epithets and accusations, all of which drowned out the policy speeches and attempts to keep America great. Patterson lays out his bias early on, that he is a strong-minded liberal, which will surely flavour the writings in such a way that some may not be willing to stomach all that is on the written page. I do not deny that the writing is tipped to one side, nor do I deny that I can see a number of parallels in the way Patterson thinks with my own views. The blunt style of Patterson’s writing is wonderfully sobering, especially as he touches on key issues of importance during the campaign and to be considered long-term for the voter: healthcare, the future of economic viability on the world stage, and even the choice of the next few Supreme Court justices. This latter topic weighs in most heavily, as laws and legal interpretation was sure to be be shaped in strongly ideological ways, depending who is in the White House. Generations of decisions rested on who made the picks that would shape the Court, which is sobering in a very un-Judge Kavanaugh manner. Patterson uses his well-grounded arguments to make poignant points that the electorate ought to have considered, if not provide help to sway them before they walked in to cast their choice for POTUS. That Patterson does not hide his bias will trouble some, though I am happy to hear a substantiated defence, rather than simply add a hashtag and troll reviews for the sake of doing so. Fact is an essential part of the argument and I am always up for a fact-driven discussion. Politics brings out the passions in us all, even those who choose not to play in the game. It is how we explain our sentiments that separates the informed voter from the bandwagon rider. Both parties—all ideologies—have them and so I cannot toss mud at any group. Patterson has tried to stick to the facts, even if he has a position on their presentation. From the fever swamp, Patterson leaves us all to wonder what will come in the lead-up to 2020. For now, we need to see how hard the political hammer will come down during the mid-terms. The spin from the Oval ought to be something for the ages. I’ll make the popcorn, you bring the drinks!
Kudos, Mr. Patterson, for an enlightening and thorough exploration of all things presidential in the 2016 campaign, even though much of it was defecating in the sandbox!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
May 27, 2017
I had to give up on 'Fever Swamp,' because I suspected, for me, its relentlessly dark viewpoint of the 2015 Presidential election was feeding my worst instincts. I have no doubt it is well researched, but informed by Patterson's lack of respect for the roster of Republicans. Democrats get little scrutiny here, so it's half a story.
February 7, 2017
I was not sure I was ready to read a book about this catastrophic election, but this compilation of Richard North Patterson's online columns posted at Huffington Post during the last year and a half was riveting. Patterson is a novelist, and I read a couple of his legal thrillers years ago. His political commentary is insightful, penetrating, and compelling, and some of the best analysis I have ever read, made even more powerful by his superb writing skills. His side notes provide additional commentary reflecting subsequent events, highlighting what he got right, and wrong. But mostly, in real time, he was dead on. I cringed as I recalled everything that happened over the last year, but it helps me sort this mess out. He was one of the first to state what is now obvious about trump's pathology (in May of last year), and it is devastating to follow Patterson's growing incredulity as he realizes the man might win. His last pre-election columns on the effect of the Comey letter ( based on confidential discussions with both campaigns) are brutal- and we have yet to confront what happened there. If we hope to survive this calamity, we must still try to understand how we got here, and this book is an essential start.
May 16, 2017
If you are still upset about the outcome of the 2016 election then I don't recommend reading Patterson's collection of essays about how we arrived at where we currently are.
Writing a weekly column for the Huffington Post, Patterson, a novelist, lawyer and avowed liberal, takes us through the particularly poisonous 2016 election. Patterson's writing is sharp and he is eerily prescient about certain things, many of which merited much closer attention during the campaign. His observations are put into further context by notes written in the margins related to what actually happened regarding certain things he speculated on during that particular week's missives. He also makes his political position clear. He is not making any effort to be disingenuous.
Writing a weekly column for the Huffington Post, Patterson, a novelist, lawyer and avowed liberal, takes us through the particularly poisonous 2016 election. Patterson's writing is sharp and he is eerily prescient about certain things, many of which merited much closer attention during the campaign. His observations are put into further context by notes written in the margins related to what actually happened regarding certain things he speculated on during that particular week's missives. He also makes his political position clear. He is not making any effort to be disingenuous.
July 22, 2017
This is a collection of the columns that Patterson wrote for the Huffington Post covering the 2016 presidential election. It was a fine read.
I have given this book only two stars because of the annoyance I had while reading the Nook version of this book. I don't know if the problems that I had are problems on other ebook versions; all I know is that there are problems on the Nook version that I read. Two problems: 1) the pages in the Table of Contents (which act as a link) do not line up with the actual chapters, and 2) the footnotes.
The first problem is a minor inconvenience. I don't use the Table of Contents links much, if at all.
The second problem, however, was a major headache. The footnotes in this particular book are Patterson's way of commenting (with hindsight) on the matters he was writing about at that time. They are a major source of insight. The numbers of the footnotes act as links. If you are in the main text and you touch a footnote number, you are transported to the end of the book where the text of the footnote is found. Having read the footnote, you touch the number and you are zipped back to the main text. A very nice way to handle things when they work. There were two problems with these footnotes. First, for most of the first half of the book they were misnumbered. They were off by one number. So I would press #53 in the main text (for example), which would shoot me to #53 in the back of the book, but read #52 in the back of the book (which would be the correct comment for that portion of the main text), and then touch #53 in the back of the book to take me back to my place in the main text. Again this was just an annoyance that was somehow cleared up somewhere in the middle of the book. The MOST annoying thing about the footnotes is that many (most?) of them were ultra sensitive in their "linkability." You had to place your finger just below or just above or just to the right or just to the left of the actual number to get them to work. And you never knew which it was. Many times while reading the book I spent a minute or more trying to get back to the main text, poking the screen over and over and over.
I sent an email to the publisher about this problem 3 to 4 weeks ago, letting them know that I was planning on writing a review of this book and have received no response to date. I feel slightly bad for detracting two stars from the rating on this book, but it lessened my enjoyment of the book that much.
I have given this book only two stars because of the annoyance I had while reading the Nook version of this book. I don't know if the problems that I had are problems on other ebook versions; all I know is that there are problems on the Nook version that I read. Two problems: 1) the pages in the Table of Contents (which act as a link) do not line up with the actual chapters, and 2) the footnotes.
The first problem is a minor inconvenience. I don't use the Table of Contents links much, if at all.
The second problem, however, was a major headache. The footnotes in this particular book are Patterson's way of commenting (with hindsight) on the matters he was writing about at that time. They are a major source of insight. The numbers of the footnotes act as links. If you are in the main text and you touch a footnote number, you are transported to the end of the book where the text of the footnote is found. Having read the footnote, you touch the number and you are zipped back to the main text. A very nice way to handle things when they work. There were two problems with these footnotes. First, for most of the first half of the book they were misnumbered. They were off by one number. So I would press #53 in the main text (for example), which would shoot me to #53 in the back of the book, but read #52 in the back of the book (which would be the correct comment for that portion of the main text), and then touch #53 in the back of the book to take me back to my place in the main text. Again this was just an annoyance that was somehow cleared up somewhere in the middle of the book. The MOST annoying thing about the footnotes is that many (most?) of them were ultra sensitive in their "linkability." You had to place your finger just below or just above or just to the right or just to the left of the actual number to get them to work. And you never knew which it was. Many times while reading the book I spent a minute or more trying to get back to the main text, poking the screen over and over and over.
I sent an email to the publisher about this problem 3 to 4 weeks ago, letting them know that I was planning on writing a review of this book and have received no response to date. I feel slightly bad for detracting two stars from the rating on this book, but it lessened my enjoyment of the book that much.
July 26, 2017
In a particularly vivid dream you come upon the scene of a horrible accident. Twisted metal, shattered glass. And the victims. Indescribable. Your feelings are an unholy potpourri of fear, revulsion, compassion...and a certain morbid fascination. As much as you want to, you can't look away. Thank God it wasn't you or your loved ones.
Then you realize it isn't a dream...just a metaphor for the heretofore unimaginable morass of the 2016 election. And with dawning horror, the realization that it was us who were in that accident, along with our loved ones and everything we hold dear.
Like the reaction of the dreamer to that hypothetical accident, as much as I wanted to put this book down, I couldn't. It was morbidly fascinating to read the author's Huff Post columns covering the election in chronological order, and to observe as his tone varied among bemusement, astonishment, abhorrence, horror, disbelief, revulsion...and finally, sorrow.
What makes this read truly interesting are Patterson's marginal notes, written in retrospect. At times, he is brutally honest about his own mistakes. "One paragraph in, and I'm already heading south" is his assessment of his early take on Trump's perceived lack of electability.
One more thing -- Patterson can really write. "Fun Questions for the Next GOP Debate" is laugh out loud funny. "Coming This Fall" is a stunningly eloquent tribute to the abilities and (especially) character of Barack Obama. And the final piece -- "Where Does America Go Now?" -- and the epilogue present a challenge to all of us to continue the fight for justice and equality as we confront the reality that is America today.
Read this book -- do what you can to help clean up the wreck -- and resolve that it will never happen again.
Then you realize it isn't a dream...just a metaphor for the heretofore unimaginable morass of the 2016 election. And with dawning horror, the realization that it was us who were in that accident, along with our loved ones and everything we hold dear.
Like the reaction of the dreamer to that hypothetical accident, as much as I wanted to put this book down, I couldn't. It was morbidly fascinating to read the author's Huff Post columns covering the election in chronological order, and to observe as his tone varied among bemusement, astonishment, abhorrence, horror, disbelief, revulsion...and finally, sorrow.
What makes this read truly interesting are Patterson's marginal notes, written in retrospect. At times, he is brutally honest about his own mistakes. "One paragraph in, and I'm already heading south" is his assessment of his early take on Trump's perceived lack of electability.
One more thing -- Patterson can really write. "Fun Questions for the Next GOP Debate" is laugh out loud funny. "Coming This Fall" is a stunningly eloquent tribute to the abilities and (especially) character of Barack Obama. And the final piece -- "Where Does America Go Now?" -- and the epilogue present a challenge to all of us to continue the fight for justice and equality as we confront the reality that is America today.
Read this book -- do what you can to help clean up the wreck -- and resolve that it will never happen again.
March 21, 2017
Regardless of your personal political persuasion, this book is a valuable accounting of the historical events of the 2016 U.S. presidential election year. The author compiled all of his Huffington Post commentaries into one readable volume, with post-election sidebar notes and observations linked to the issue discussed. Unsure that I wanted to wade through a painful return to the swampy waters of last year's election, I was hesitant to read this. Also, knowing the author strongly leans liberal, I was not sure a biased telling of the election would be helpful. Though his opinions were never hidden, and many of his policy positions do not sync with my own, I thought that his presentation of the unprecedented patterns we saw unfold last year was compelling. This book is not for the uber fan base of Donald Trump. Or maybe it is. Maybe it's for all of us. Hopefully, especially, for those outside the U.S. who are right now forming their opinions of Americans based on the choice we all made collectively last November. Stated the author, "We must always remember that what makes America great is that which makes it good."
October 14, 2021
Politically, I am right on the same page as this ever so engaging author, Richard North Patterson, who belongs in both San Francisco and Martha's Vineyard as well as on the "HuffPost" in 2015 and especially 2016. Why only three stars for a definitely 5/plus writer? For me, as a liberal toward progressive Democrat, it became after about 1/4th of the way through too much been there done that. My lack of good judgement about rereading about Trump and especially about his castigating all those who were running in the primaries and therefore debating him without mercy on his side ----as usual without mercy and truth!
May 29, 2017
2.75 stars. I don't agree with all of his views (are we sure he isn't being paid by HRC to put out this book?), but his essays overall are well-written, if a little pretentious in tone. If you are looking for inside scoop, this book isn't it. It's just a paper version of opinion pieces he wrote in real time during the 2016 campaign.
May 29, 2017
What a difficult book to read after the 2016 election! This book is a compliation of writings about the
presidential campaign published in the Huffington Post. Well written and thought provoking.
presidential campaign published in the Huffington Post. Well written and thought provoking.
May 4, 2021
I read this book hoping the ending would be different, that it was all a bad dream. No such luck! Well written, but a lot of obscure words that could have been replaced with something a bit more mainstream. Too bad more people didn't read his colums at the time.
February 1, 2017
Required reading for understanding the 2016 election.
March 6, 2017
As a fascinated observer of the most recent presidential election, I enjoy reading analyses of what happened and why. In this book the author has compiled the columns he wrote while observing this unique political race for the Huffington Post. What makes this book even more interesting is that he has gone back and added commentary from his post-election observations. This is a book for all of us addicted to political elections or modern history.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews