Anonymous. Primary Colors: a novel of politics. New York: Warner Books, 1996.
The anonymity of Primary Colors appeared calculated on many different levels. It gave the author the ultimate freedom to insert truth into fiction and fiction into trust and never check the difference. No credentials on the author’s part would guarantee the lack of fact-finding, allowing the author to come as close to the truth as fiction would allow. It is obvious Primary Colors is based upon Bill Clinton and his first presidential campaign in 1992.
Jack Stanton is a young, charismatic southern-state governor with very human vices. He has a weakness for food and pretty women. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Sound like anyone you knew in the 90s? His wife is smart, unflappable; the one one comes up with the soundbites whenever the governor is interviewed. Primary Colors is told from the point of view of his presidential campaign employee, Henry Burton. Henry is idealistic about his candidate and wants to believe he’s a man of his word, but as word and action soon start to contradict Henry must make a choice.
Best quotes: “Never attack an opponent when he is in the process of killing himself” (p 156) and “This was, if you could stand back from it, a wonderfully intricate game” (p 157).
Author Trivia: Joe Klein was adamant he didn’t write Primary Colors even after he was “outed” by a writing analyst. Weird.
Book Trivia: Primary Colors: a novel of politicswas made into a movie in 1998, starring John Travolta – never heard of it.
BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Politics of Fiction” (p 189).
~*LunaSea*~ 