'A really great book.' Bruce Springsteen With a foreword by Billy Bragg. Few artists have captured the American experience of their time as wholly as folk legend Woody Guthrie. Singer, songwriter and political activist, Guthrie drew a lifetime of inspiration from his roots on the Oklahoma frontier in the years before the Great Depression. His music -- scathingly funny songs and poignant folk ballads -- made heard the unsung life of field hands, migrant workers, and union organisers, and showed it worthy of tribute. Though his career was tragically cut short by the onset of a degenerative disease that ravaged his mind and body, the legacy of his life and music had already made him an American cultural icon, and has resounded with every generation of musician and music lover since. In this definitive biography, renowned journalist Joe Klein creates an unforgettable portrait of a man as gifted, restless and complicated as the American landscape he came from.

Bound for Glory is the funny, cynical and earthy autobiography of Woody Guthrie, the father of American folk music. He tells of his childhood running wild in an Oklahoma oil-boom town, the tragedies that struck his family and of his life on the open road during the Great Depression - hell-raising and brawling in boxcars, all the while singing a dime for his next meal. But above all, this is a song for an America Woody saw from the lonesome highway, as he travelled from one of the country to the other with guitar in hand and the songs that made him a legend drifting out over the Dust Bowl.

A brilliant and penetrating look behind the scenes of modern American politics, Primary Colors is a funny, wise, and dramatic story with characters and events that resemble some familiar, real-life figures. When a former congressional aide becomes part of the staff of the governor of a small Southern state, he watches in horror, admiration, and amazement, as the governor mixes calculation and sincerity in his not-so-above-board campaign for the presidency.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Perhaps now best known as an acclaimed (and bestselling) author of fiction, Joe Klein has for nearly three decades been one of contemporary journalism's premiere reporters. In "Woody Guthrie: A Life", Klein's signature style of insightful narrative nonfiction brings to life a vivid chapter in the history of American culture.

In 1998, the Woody Guthrie Foundation made public for the first time more than 10,000 of his papers, letters, song lyrics, and artworks, sparking renewed interest in the life of an American folk legend who influenced generations of musicians to come. The New York Times, reporting on the phenomenon, described Guthrie's appeal and legacy succinctly: "(Woody Guthrie was) one of the most influential cultural figures of the century. Guthrie inspired Bob Dylan and virtually created the modern folk tradition and singer-songwriter genre, and his music remains as vital today as when he was performing".

Born in Oklahoma in 1912, Guthrie spent his early years among the farmers and migrant workers of the dust bowl. As a young man during the Great Depression, he traveled across the country by boxcar with his guitar, composing the indelible folk ballads that made him a leader of the politically vital folk movement of the pre-war era. Tragically, the onset of Huntington's disease, gradually diminished his mind, body, and work, and led to his untimely death at the age of 55. Still, Guthrie's life and music have inspired every important folk and folk rock artist since, from Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez to Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, and Ani DiFranco.

People on the right are furious. People on the left are livid. And the center isn't holding. There is only one thing on which almost everyone agrees: there is something very wrong in Washington. The country is being run by pollsters. Few politicians are able to win the voters' trust. Blame abounds and personal responsibility is nowhere to be found. There is a cynicism in Washington that appalls those in every state, red or blue. The question is: Why? The more urgent question is: What can be done about it?
Few people are more qualified to deal with both questions than Joe Klein.
There are many loud and opinionated voices on the political scene, but no one sees or writes with the clarity that this respected observer brings to the table. He has spent a lifetime enmeshed in politics, studying its nuances, its quirks, and its decline. He is as angry and fed up as the rest of us, so he has decided to do something about it--in these pages, he vents, reconstructs, deconstructs, and reveals how and why our leaders are less interested in leading than they are in the "permanent campaign" that political life has become.
The book opens with a stirring anecdote from the night of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Klein re-creates the scene of Robert Kennedy's appearance in a black neighborhood in Indianapolis, where he gave a gut-wrenching, poetic speech that showed respect for the audience, imparted dignity to all who listened, and quelled a potential riot. Appearing against the wishes of his security team, it was one of the last truly courageous and spontaneous acts by an American politician--and it is no accident that Klein connects courage to spontaneity. From there, Klein begins his analysis--campaign by campaign--of how things went wrong. From the McGovern campaign polling techniques to Roger Ailes's combative strategy for Nixon; from Reagan's reinvention of the Republican Party to Lee Atwater's equally brilliant reinvention of behind-the-scenes strategizing; from Jimmy Carter to George H. W. Bush to Bill Clinton to George W.--as well as inside looks at the losing sides--we see how the Democrats become diffuse and frightened, how the system becomes unbalanced, and how politics becomes less and less about ideology and more and more about how to gain and keep power. By the end of one of the most dismal political runs in history--Kerry's 2004 campaign for president--we understand how such traits as courage, spontaneity, and leadership have disappeared from our political landscape.
In a fascinating final chapter, the author refuses to give easy answers since the push for easy answers has long been part of the problem. But he does give thoughtful solutions that just may get us out of this mess--especially if any of the 2008 candidates happen to be paying attention.