255:
presidential prospects. In
Florida, Stanton revives his campaign by disingenuously portraying his Democratic opponent as insufficiently pro-Israel and as a weak supporter of Social Security. Burton becomes increasingly disillusioned with Stanton, who is a policy wonk who talks too long, eats too much and is overly flirtatious toward women. Stanton is also revealed to be insincere in his beliefs, saying whatever will help him to win. Matters finally come to a head, and Burton is forced to choose between idealism and realism.
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governor Jack
Stanton, a thinly disguised stand-in for Bill Clinton. The plot then follows the primary election calendar beginning in New Hampshire where Stanton's affair with Cashmere, his wife's hairdresser, and his participation in a Vietnam War era protest come to light and threaten to derail his
263:
An early reviewer opined that the author wished to remain unknown because "Anonymity makes truthfulness much easier". Later commentators called the publishing of the book under an anonymous identity an effective marketing strategy that produced more publicity for the book, and thus more sales,
1114:
27:
296:
Several people, including former
Clinton speechwriter David Kusnet, believed the style of writing had similarities to that of Klein. This was also supported by a quantitative
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1035:
644:
342:
described the book as a farce and praised it as funny, truthful, and as containing "uncannily accurate" portraits of its thinly disguised characters.
1225:
331:
published the results of a handwriting analysis of notes made on an early manuscript of the book, Klein finally admitted that he was the author.
983:
931:
732:
905:
1210:
906:"Roman A Clinton Of 'Primary' Interest In D.C.; Who Knew The White House Well Enough To Paint Its 'Colors' Vividly In A Juicy New Novel?"
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324:, in an interview, asked Klein if he was willing to stake his journalistic credibility on his denial, to which Klein agreed.
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614:
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815:
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878:
771:
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The book begins as an idealistic former congressional worker, Henry Burton, joins the presidential campaign of
1205:
1010:"Loyalty, Decency, Compassion, Love - There's none of that stuff in the Washington of Joe Klein's new novel"
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280:
147:
308:. Klein initially denied writing the book and publicly condemned Foster. Klein denied authorship again in
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842:
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383:
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Klein was identified as the author several months after its publication. He wrote a sequel,
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Author
Announcement" with Joe Klein and Random House publisher Harold Evans, July 17, 1996
190:, published anonymously, about the presidential campaign of a southern governor. It is a
8:
799:
581:
669:
820:
645:"Who Wrote 'O'? New Anonymous Novel Pictures Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential Campaign"
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854:
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405:
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26:
932:"Former Clinton female press rep. Dee Dee Myers in Chicago with new memoir"
670:"'Primary Colors' Author Joe Klein Talks About Political Truth and Fiction"
542:
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450:
432:
365:
355:
197:
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468:
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139:
215:
The book has been compared to two other novels about
American politics:
702:
Michael
Aronson (January 22, 1996). "Politics Makes Funny Bedfellows".
480:
459:
441:
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104:
100:
40:
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without calling into question the author's actual inside knowledge.
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567:
903:
288:
133:
196:(a work of fiction based on real people and events) about
159:
356:
Fictional characters and believed real-life inspirations
1036:"Books of the Times; A Roman a Clef to Recent Politics"
949:
904:
Sherryl
Connelly with Karen Ball (January 22, 1996).
733:"Don Foster enlightens readers with 'Author Unknown'"
872:
870:
563:
1138:
1061:"Political intrigue served with literary success"
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1115:"The Author Could Not Be Reached for Comment"
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688:
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1132:
1007:
792:
755:
642:
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314:, speculating that another writer wrote it.
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638:
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546:, a documentary of Clinton's 1992 campaign.
25:
258:
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1053:
807:
662:
633:
1186:Random House - Book website and excerpt
1001:
1226:Cultural depictions of American people
1193:
816:"Columnist's Mea Culpa: I'm Anonymous"
761:
720:by Gavin McNett Salon November 2, 2000
1141:"Primary Colors: A Nover of Politics"
1034:Michiko Kakutani (January 19, 1996).
877:Rupert Cornwell (February 16, 1996).
352:for fiction, for nine weeks in 1996.
956:Michael Lewis (September 21, 1997).
506:, suspected lover of Jack Stanton –
20:Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics
1113:Todd S. Burdum (February 1, 1996).
1082:Lisa Schwarzbaum (March 27, 1998).
982:Lizette Alvarex (January 4, 1998).
676:. CNN transcripts. CNN. May 2, 2000
613:Walter Shapiro (January 29, 1996).
183:Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics
13:
1211:American novels adapted into films
1139:Richard K. Thompson (April 1996).
14:
1257:
1179:
984:"It's Andrew Cuomo's Turn at Bat"
814:Doreen Carvajal (July 18, 1996).
762:Mullan, John (January 12, 2008).
643:Eliza Larson (January 11, 2011).
555:, a 1998 adaptation of the novel.
1067:. March 17, 1996. Archived from
930:Philip Potempa (March 6, 2008).
731:Jamie Allen (December 6, 2000).
566:
275:
1008:Erik Tarloff (April 23, 2000).
835:
535:
245:
793:Tod Lindberg (July 29, 1996).
710:
1:
587:
515:, adviser to Susan Stanton –
958:"Bill Clinton's Garbage Man"
879:"Here's to you Mr President"
524:, campaign chief of staff –
467:, former Florida Governor –
334:
186:is a 1996 book by columnist
7:
1246:Works published anonymously
559:
400:, campaign media adviser –
10:
1262:
242:character Charlie Martin.
1221:American satirical novels
1216:American political novels
1084:"Primary Colors Reviewed"
795:"The Media's True Colors"
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66:
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33:
24:
770:. London. Archived from
391:, campaign strategist –
300:analysis of the book by
340:The New York Daily News
228:O: A Presidential Novel
1231:Novels about elections
422:, New York governor –
364:, southern governor –
259:Identity of the author
208:. It was adapted as a
174:The Running Mate
16:1996 book by Joe Klein
843:"Up Front: Joe Klein"
384:George Stephanopoulos
382:, campaign manager –
238:in 2000, focusing on
210:film of the same name
202:presidential campaign
1206:1996 American novels
411:Howard Ferguson, III
327:In July 1996, after
1241:Roman à clef novels
1201:Fiction set in 1992
1166:"Gray gobbledygook"
1145:Contemporary Review
910:New York Daily News
800:The Weekly Standard
774:on January 13, 2008
764:"The great unknown"
704:New York Daily News
582:Politics in fiction
449:, former senator –
413:, campaign chief –
345:The book was #1 on
329:The Washington Post
21:
1236:Random House books
1170:Arizona Daily Star
1119:The New York Times
1040:The New York Times
1014:The New York Times
988:The New York Times
962:The New York Times
847:The New York Times
821:The New York Times
348:The New York Times
222:All the King's Men
217:Robert Penn Warren
165:PS3550.A1 P75 1996
39:later revealed as
19:
1172:. March 23, 1998.
615:"Author! Author!"
458:, U.S. senator –
440:, U.S. senator –
415:Harold Ickes, Jr.
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87:Publication place
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619:CNN All Politics
610:
576:
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513:Lucille Kauffman
508:Gennifer Flowers
350:Best Seller list
322:David Von Drehle
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267:
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236:The Running Mate
170:Followed by
161:
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82:January 16, 1996
78:Publication date
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1094:on May 18, 2007
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1071:on May 7, 2012.
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743:on June 9, 2009
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504:Cashmere McLeod
486:Richmond Rucker
447:Lawrence Harris
389:Richard Jemmons
375:Hillary Clinton
358:
337:
317:Washington Post
276:
270:External videos
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150:
97:Media type
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61:Political novel
38:
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849:. 2009-09-25.
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718:Author Unknown
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1096:. Retrieved
1092:the original
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1077:
1069:the original
1065:Boston Globe
1064:
1055:
1043:. Retrieved
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776:. Retrieved
772:the original
768:The Guardian
767:
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745:. Retrieved
741:the original
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678:. Retrieved
673:
664:
652:. Retrieved
648:
623:. Retrieved
618:
550:
543:The War Room
541:
536:Related film
530:Vince Foster
522:Libby Holden
521:
512:
503:
494:
485:
473:Reubin Askew
464:
455:
451:Paul Tsongas
446:
437:
433:Andrew Cuomo
431:, his son –
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420:Orlando Ozio
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366:Bill Clinton
362:Jack Stanton
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246:Plot summary
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198:Bill Clinton
193:roman à clef
191:
182:
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71:Random House
37:"Anonymous"
1150:January 25,
1124:January 21,
1098:January 22,
1045:January 21,
1019:January 21,
993:January 21,
967:January 21,
941:January 21,
915:January 20,
889:January 22,
827:January 20,
747:January 20,
680:January 20,
654:January 20,
625:January 20,
469:Jerry Brown
456:Bart Nilson
424:Mario Cuomo
398:Daisy Green
298:stylometric
225:(1946) and
1195:Categories
860:2019-01-29
621:. Time/CNN
588:References
481:Ross Perot
460:Tom Harkin
442:Bob Kerrey
429:Jimmy Ozio
304:professor
153:813/.54 20
855:0362-4331
674:Crossfire
335:Reception
212:in 1998.
200:'s first
188:Joe Klein
105:Paperback
101:Hardcover
67:Publisher
41:Joe Klein
885:. London
649:ABC News
560:See also
311:Newsweek
252:Southern
231:(2011).
140:33166616
114:366 (hc)
47:Language
936:nwi.com
778:May 22,
51:English
1088:EW.com
853:
553:(film)
302:Vassar
289:C-SPAN
34:Author
111:Pages
57:Genre
1152:2011
1126:2011
1100:2011
1047:2011
1021:2011
995:2011
969:2011
943:2011
917:2011
891:2011
851:ISSN
829:2011
780:2010
749:2011
682:2011
656:2011
627:2011
206:1992
134:OCLC
127:(hc)
120:ISBN
103:and
737:CNN
404:or
219:'s
204:in
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