Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Wrecking Crew by Thomas Frank - Available

The Wrecking Crew

How Conservatives Rule

by Thomas Frank
Oliver Wyman
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available

In his previous book, Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now, in Wrecking Crew, Frank examines the Washington those politicians have given us, showing why, no matter what happens in November 2008, we're stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
Casting back to the early days of the conservative revolution, Frank describes the rise of a ruling coalition dedicated to dismantling government. But rather than cutting down the big government they claim to hate, conservatives have simply sold it off, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war. Washington itself has been remade into a golden landscape of super-wealthy suburbs and gleaming lobbyist headquarters. And though arch-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has crashed and burned, the government-by-entrepreneurship he pioneered so outrageously has become the law of the land.
It is no coincidence, Frank argues, that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule. Nor will the country easily shake off the consequences of deliberate misgovernment through the usual election remedies. Obsessed with achieving a lasting victory, conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state.
Stamped with Frank's audacity, analytic brilliance, and wit, Wrecking Crewis his most revelatory work yet—and his most important.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 6, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427204554
      • File size: 289284 KB
      • Duration: 10:02:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Thomas Frank puts solid research behind his book on corruption, cronyism, and manipulation under Republican administrations. He's glibly partisan, making clear his admiration for liberal ideals and even calling conservatives "wing nuts," but he criticizes the Clinton administration for not living up to his ideals. Narrator Oliver Wyman hits the right tone, blending mock na•veté and sarcasm with indignation for breezy listening on a heavy topic. Although the writing conveys a mocking attitude throughout, Frank takes a more serious, thoughtful tack in his conclusion, calling for long-term change that could make both parties nervous. With writing aimed at the ear and a strong reading, listening is the way to go for this hot book. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 29, 2008
      Frank paints a complex and conspiracy-ridden picture that illuminates the sinister and controversial practices of the Republican party in the 20th and 21st centuries. While Frank's assessments and interpretations of key events, players and party doctrines is accurate and justifiable, his overwhelming blame of the Republican Party as the source of everything that's wrong with this county and as the emblem of self-destructing government denies the Democrats and the citizenry their roles in a decaying democracy. Wyman's matter-of-fact delivery hints at the obviousness of Frank's words, but provides enough enthusiasm to make listeners believe he, too, is invested in Frank's message. His emphasis and vigor keep the text enjoyable, long after the rant of Republican despotism has become excessive. A Metropolitan Books hardcover (Reviews, May 26).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 26, 2008
      Republican misrule and mistaken policy is the intended fulfillment of conservative antigovernment ideology, argues this scintillating j'accuse
      . Frank (What's the Matter With Kansas?
      ) surveys what he regards as the hallmarks of conservative control of Washington: a government hobbled by budget deficits, disgraced by scandals, downsized, outsourced, hollowed out and sold off to corporate interests and thus made incapable of meeting its basic responsibilities. The result of this “political vandalism,” he contends, is a perverse propaganda triumph for conservatives, who point with gleeful cynicism to the shambles they make of government as proof that government can't do anything right. Frank presents a scathing recap of Republican mismanagement and corruption, from the Hurricane Katrina debacle to the depredations of Jack Abramoff, and combines it with a shrewd dissection of the theories of conservative ideologues who call for and celebrate the sabotaging of the state. Writing with a barbed wit and finely controlled anger, he skewers such juicy targets as libertarian strategist Grover Norquist and Michelle Malkin, “a pundit with the appearance of a Bratz doll but the soul of Chucky.” One of the sharpest political commentators around, Frank is required reading for every concerned citizen.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading