Notes from the Trail
Presidential Politics from the Inside Out
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
The modern race for the presidency has become a national sport. We've seen the baby-kissing, the barbecues, and the photo-ops; news cameras have taken us inside Iowan living rooms leading up to the caucuses, and they've given us a bird's-eye view of the grand halls of political conventions. But what is it like to be on the inside of this spectacle? What happens when the candidate is your closest family member?
In her account of her father's bid for the presidency, Alexandra Kerry brings us inside the bubble. Her words and images lend an intimacy to our often overblown politics as she sheds light on some of the contradictions, ironies, and saving graces of our electoral process and our country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2004, Alexandra Kerry, daughter of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, joined her father on the campaign trail. From the precincts of Iowa and New Hampshire to the Democratic National Convention to Election Day, Kerry rode buses, took red-eyes, gave speeches with her sister, greeted supporters, interviewed with reporters, and otherwise shared the grueling campaign life of her father. Kerry-sensitive, thoughtful, and observant-is a filmmaker and photographer, and clearly not a political animal; one of the book's unique charms is an intimate look at a political campaign through the eyes of an artist. Kerry captures the visceral emotion of campaigning, and the sense that electing a candidate is less a rational process than one driven by dreams, myths and feelings: "I looked away when I saw grown men sobbing as they tried to give my father their Purple Heart or Bronze Star to carry for good luck." Divided between a first-person narrative and a large collection of her photographs from the road, readers may be split over which half tells the better story. This unlikely, intimate account of the artist-as-field campaigner should please those looking for a different perspective on the Presidential contest. 110 color photos.
