With a New Afterword by the Author

The New York Times bestseller, praised as "hilariously funny . . . the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests" (Molly Ivins)

Hailed as "dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic" (Chicago Tribune), "very funny and very painful" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "in a different league from most political books" (The New York Observer), What's the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation's most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.

A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.

SELECTED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AS ONE OF THE 50 BEST MEMOIRS OF THE PAST 50 YEARSA singular, deeply moving memoir of human connection in the wake of devastating loss, by the "prodigiously talented" (The New York Review of Books) Emmanuel Carrere.In Sri Lanka, a tsunami sweeps a child out to sea, her grandfather helpless against the onrushing water. In France, a woman succumbs to cancer, leaving a hole in the lives of her loved ones. Present at both events is Emmanuel Carrere, who sets out to tell the story of two families shattered and ultimately restored. What he accomplishes is nothing short of a literary miracle: a heartrending narrative of endless love, a meditation on courage and decency in the face of adversity, and an intimate and reverent look at the extraordinary beauty and nobility of ordinary lives. As he tells the stories of those touched by loss-most memorably, an unsentimental, one-legged judge who has made a career of fighting for France's most vulnerable-Carrere himself, a longtime chronicler of his own tormented psyche, unexpectedly finds consolation and fulfillment in immersing himself in the lives of others.

With a New Afterword by the Author

The New York Times bestseller, praised as "hilariously funny . . . the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests" (Molly Ivins)

Hailed as "dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic" (Chicago Tribune), "very funny and very painful" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "in a different league from most political books" (The New York Observer), What's the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation's most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.

A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.

SELECTED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AS ONE OF THE 50 BEST MEMOIRS OF THE PAST 50 YEARSA singular, deeply moving memoir of human connection in the wake of devastating loss, by the "prodigiously talented" (The New York Review of Books) Emmanuel Carrere.In Sri Lanka, a tsunami sweeps a child out to sea, her grandfather helpless against the onrushing water. In France, a woman succumbs to cancer, leaving a hole in the lives of her loved ones. Present at both events is Emmanuel Carrere, who sets out to tell the story of two families shattered and ultimately restored. What he accomplishes is nothing short of a literary miracle: a heartrending narrative of endless love, a meditation on courage and decency in the face of adversity, and an intimate and reverent look at the extraordinary beauty and nobility of ordinary lives. As he tells the stories of those touched by loss-most memorably, an unsentimental, one-legged judge who has made a career of fighting for France's most vulnerable-Carrere himself, a longtime chronicler of his own tormented psyche, unexpectedly finds consolation and fulfillment in immersing himself in the lives of others.