Who is primary colors based on

It succeeded on such a massive scale, and became a pop-culture phenomenon, because it seemed to hit its target with unerring accuracy. Such quotes only confirmed the theory that it was someone who knew all the players intimately, and thus drove the media into doing what it always does, only more so: try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Who was Anonymous? Cover stories in Newsweek , Time , and other periodicals fanned the flames of the investigation into mainstream coverage that pushed it out of political circles and into everyday debate. The Washington Post notes Larry King dedicated an entire show to the search, taking call-in tips from locales as far-flung as South Africa. Especially for a president as polarizing as Bill Clinton, the desire to look behind the cool and charismatic media figure everyone had seen countless times, and find out whether it was an act, is a strong incentive.

That the book was genuinely an addictive beach read, accessible to anyone, made the conversation even easier to join. Newsweek tallied it up : After 19 printings totaling 1. Rights were sold to 21 foreign publishers. But if I was a book snob I'd ask whether you could really call this 'Literature. Jun 26, Emily rated it it was ok. Picked this up at a library sale as I'd heard so much about it. Political intrigue isn't really my normal reading interest as I generally find all the characters and their machinations rather unlikable, and this wasn't an exception.

The governor and his wife - Jack Stanton and Susan - are said to be very thinly veiled references to Bill and Hilary Clinton, which no doubt boosted this book's popularity back when it first came out.

As a story itself, it wasn't hugely gripping; I can't judge it's a Picked this up at a library sale as I'd heard so much about it.

As a story itself, it wasn't hugely gripping; I can't judge it's accuracy as an insider look at a political campaign.

Overall this book seems to have more value as nonfiction than as fiction. Nov 09, Vfields Don't touch my happy! Sometimes I read something I feel I should be reading. This one I heard about for years. While reading I felt like I was with a crafty caricature of Bill Clinton. There were scenes that jumped of the pages and got deep in my minds eye - well done.

I enjoyed Primary Colors more than expected probably because it's so far out of date. It took me two months of lunch breaks to read but it was worth it.

Oct 10, Lyn rated it liked it. Very informative, entertaining. Jul 23, Susan rated it liked it Shelves: pantsuit-politics-extra-credit. This one was hard to rate. I didn't read it when it first came out because it sounded like an overblown fad that was made popular solely because it was authored anonymously, and people were trying to figure out who wrote it and what was real in it. But it is a lot better than that, and I'm glad I read it, especially with the distance of time since the Clinton administration.

I will admit that I looked up the career dates of many people while reading this book because many characters sounded like This one was hard to rate. I will admit that I looked up the career dates of many people while reading this book because many characters sounded like real live politicos.

And I suspect I was usually correct about who the character might be based on, even if sometimes not consciously by the author. Given the time now - summer - when current NY governor Andrew Cuomo is having a press conference almost every day - it was amusing to read the descriptions of Orlando and Jimmy Ozio, who almost certainly were Mario and Andrew Cuomo.

Some of the scenes and language didn't age well, and the reader may cringe at some of the scenes. On the other hand, I suspect that a lot of this really does happen in the scrappy world of political campaigning, even now.

Dec 04, Rachel Brown rated it liked it. I enjoyed the political satire, and the insanity of a presidential campaign, but found myself pretty uninterested in most of the characters. I also felt that the beginning and end were strong, but the middle kind of dragged on a bit. I also wish the chapters had been shorter. Also the scandals are less shocking in the current political climate. Overall, still an entertaining political novel, even almost 25 years after it was first published.

I read this for the Popsugar Challenge prompt "a book that was published anonymously". It's one of those books I've heard about forever, but never read and it was the first thing that came to mind when I read that prompt. I was amazed how well the story evoked the Clinton campaign, although eventually the plot diverged from reality. It's a good read. Oct 03, Carlos Mock rated it liked it. Primary Colors - An Anonymous novel on politics This is the story of a governor of "a state no one has heard of," Jack Stanton, in his pursuit for the presidency of the United States.

The story is narrated from the first person point of view by Henry Burton, a bright, youngish black man who rises quickly to a key position on the Governor's presidential primary campaign staff. Stanton is a brilliant but flawed man, who truly loves people. He really cared about "folks," as he needs them to survive Primary Colors - An Anonymous novel on politics This is the story of a governor of "a state no one has heard of," Jack Stanton, in his pursuit for the presidency of the United States.

He really cared about "folks," as he needs them to survive both politically and just plain physically. He feeds off the energy of the people with a charisma that is infectious to all those around him. He's married to Susan Stanton, a smart lawyer who despises his louche sexual adventuring but is driven by her own demons.

Stanton main flaw: he can't keep his pants on. As the campaign struggles in New Hampshire, it has to be in damage control because of a Cashmere McLeod, Susan's hairdresser, who sells the story to a tabloid alleging she had an affair with Stanton. She has recorded her conversations with Stanton but through Henry's ingenuity, they are proven to be hacked conversations from the governor's cell phone superimposed with her own.

However, he did have the affair. The next hurdle in the campaign is New York. The governor of the state, Orlando Ozio, has been thinking of running himself for the presidency so he boycotts the campaign efforts. At this point, the campaign turns negative: it seems that Sen. Harris campaign platform has statements about balancing the budget by reducing Social Security benefits. The Stanton campaign seizes on this at the Florida primary.

In the ensuing debate, Harris is so enraged that he suffers a heart attack and ends up in a coma. Martha Harris, the Senator's wife, recruits a prior governor of Florida to take over the campaign: Fred Picker. Picker is a really nice man and decides to campaign honestly.

He fires all of his advisers and just "talks" to people. He immediately destroys the Stanton campaign - not to mention that at this time there's a rumor that Stanton got a black young girl pregnant: Loretta McCollister, daughter of Stanton's friend Fat Willie. However, Picker has skeletons on the closet. Olivia Libbie Holden, Stanton's chief of staff who's in charge of digging the dirt, finds out that Picker was involved in some shady developments in Florida, was a cocaine addict, and perhaps a homosexual.

Henry and Libbie decide they will not allow Stanton to use this against Picker and, as Stanton goes to deliver the dirt to Picker and to tell him that he's no longer running, Picker tells Stanton he's the one who's not running and endorses Stanton for the Presidency.

Whether or not it is an account of Bill Clinton's road to the White House, the circumstances behind this crackling, highly perceptive study of a presidential campaign are bizarre. Publisher's Weekly said: "not even its publisher, Harold Evans, who signed the book, or its editor knows the identity of the author. The novel isn't perfect. The main romance - between Henry Burton and Daisy Green - isn't really well-defined.

In as much as it makes for a fun easy read, the story is not believable, even for the mid nineties. One thing is for certain: in view of President Obama's failures in spite of his clean credentials, this book is "about the ability to lead.

It's not about perfection. They tell them what people want to hear, unless they think they want to hear something else. People live an eternity of false smiles: "because it's the price you pay to lead. I think our country would be a lot better! Oct 26, Victor Davis rated it liked it Shelves: movie-was-better. It's worth the read for the ending, and I find that rare in books.

Most of the novel is the day-to-day chaos behind the curtain in a political campaign. And while it's fascinating, the way watching a car crash or a butcher at work is fascinating, it's not particularly literary or enlightening.

By the end, though, the author has dragged us through enough muck to start to wax poetic about the nature of man and sin and will to power And it's good. I mean, this is stuff that just never loses its r It's worth the read for the ending, and I find that rare in books. I mean, this is stuff that just never loses its relevance. Not since All the King's Men , not now. Only certain kinds of people are cut out for this work—and, yeah, we are not princes, by and large.

Henry, you know this better than anyone. You've watched Larkin, you've watched O'Brien, you've watched me do it. Two thirds of what we do is reprehensible. This isn't the way a normal human being acts. We smile, we listen— you could grow calluses on your ears from all the listening we do. We do our pathetic little favors. We fudge when we can't. We tell them what they want to hear—and when we tell them something they don't want to hear, it's usually because we've calculated that's what they really want.

We live an eternity of false smiles—and why? Because it's the price you pay to lead. You don't think Abraham Lincoln was a whore before he was a president? He had to tell his little stories and smile his shit-eating, backcountry grin. And that's what this is all about. I originally wanted to give this book 4 stars out of five but the problem was and always will be the slow start, the first 60 pages were very dragging which is such a pity because the last pages were super interesting and entertaining especially if you follow American politics.

The way the writer was able to change the names of the people and yet leave particular news, characteristics, etc just shows how skillful he is at writing and kinda makes you feel as if you were a part of the campaign I originally wanted to give this book 4 stars out of five but the problem was and always will be the slow start, the first 60 pages were very dragging which is such a pity because the last pages were super interesting and entertaining especially if you follow American politics.

The way the writer was able to change the names of the people and yet leave particular news, characteristics, etc just shows how skillful he is at writing and kinda makes you feel as if you were a part of the campaign itself with all of these different inside information things.

Now I want to compare the film and the book, I saw the film first and it was probably more than 12 years ago, I enjoyed the film and I loved how they made the actors John Travolta and Emma Thompson look like both Bill and Hillary Clinton and at that time I really enjoyed the ending because it gave you answers.

Having seen the movie more than once, I was driven to read the book. That, and the numerous copies at the free book venue in town. So I grabbed it, and I read it. And it was a struggle. It's not that the book is badly written, because it's not. But the film adaptation was so close that there wasn't much room for more in the book. There's one love story line that's not in the movie, but otherwise the vast majority of the movie is just like the book, thus removing the idea that the book is somehow Having seen the movie more than once, I was driven to read the book.

There's one love story line that's not in the movie, but otherwise the vast majority of the movie is just like the book, thus removing the idea that the book is somehow superior. If I hadn't seen the film, this might have been riveting, and it must have been revalatory when it came out. But now it just seems a little dated and a little trite. Jan 24, Jan rated it liked it Shelves: own-copy.

I saw the movie of the same name based on this book starring John Travolta. Joe Klein was outed as the author of this book which is loosely based on Bill Clinton's campaign.

The story follows the presidential campaign of Southern governor Jack Stanton, a notorious flirt who frequently gets into trouble with women. He is skilled at telling stories and manipulating people while professing to care very deeply about their plight in life and how other politicians have failed them.

The campaign i I saw the movie of the same name based on this book starring John Travolta. The campaign is seen through the eyes of idealistic staffer Henry Burton, and as events unfold, he grows more disenchanted with Stanton's behavior. This is definitely a believable story. The legacy of Klein's Primary Colors is more than being a time capsule for the early '90s although, lines like "James Cameron, awesome director. I live for his next movie," or a melee at a political rally described as "like a Nirvana concert," will make you long for the days of Yo!

MTV Raps and Blossom. It serves as a bridge between the stogy political reporting of Theodore White's Making of the President series and page turners like John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's Game Change about the election. Primary Colors conditioned us to want the salacious behind-the-scenes details. What had to be fictionalized in today is laid bare in all-access documentaries like Weiner.

In the 10th-anniversary edition of Primary Colors , Klein added an afterword. In it, on the eve of Hillary's failed campaign, he writes, "I think about taking another run [with these characters], although I'm pretty sure a Susan Stanton campaign for president wouldn't be nearly as much fun as Jack's.

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