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Audiobook (abridged)5 hours
The Running Mate
Written by Joe Klein
Narrated by Anthony Heald
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Hailed as "astonishingly powerful" by The New York Times, and "written perfectly" by The Washington Post, Joe Klein's #1 bestseller, Primary Colors, was the most-talked-about political novel of the past century. Now acclaimed journalist and author Joe Klein returns with another brilliant and slyly subversive novel set in the gladiatorial arena he knows so well: politics in modern-day America.
U.S. senator Charlie Martin is a hot political property, dashing, honorable, irreverent -- and a decorated Vietnam veteran. The Running Mate follows this brash hero on a wild, exhilarating ride through the minefields of politics as usual.
But as Charlie quickly learns, combat is a cakewalk compared with the battles waged by free men in pursuit of glory and power. For Charlie's political star is beginning to wane ... a bid for the presidency ends in failure ... a young campaign volunteer's father decks him -- in front of the cameras ... a well-kept secret from Charlie's Vietnam days is revealed ... and a woman has entered his life -- one who loves him but is appalled by his life's work.
Suddenly Charlie must confront the two greatest challenges of his life -- a political opponent who has no scruples and a dazzling, unconventional woman who may force him to choose between love and politics. Charlie's dilemma is one that has come to haunt contemporary American politics: Is it possible to be a good politician and a good man?
U.S. senator Charlie Martin is a hot political property, dashing, honorable, irreverent -- and a decorated Vietnam veteran. The Running Mate follows this brash hero on a wild, exhilarating ride through the minefields of politics as usual.
But as Charlie quickly learns, combat is a cakewalk compared with the battles waged by free men in pursuit of glory and power. For Charlie's political star is beginning to wane ... a bid for the presidency ends in failure ... a young campaign volunteer's father decks him -- in front of the cameras ... a well-kept secret from Charlie's Vietnam days is revealed ... and a woman has entered his life -- one who loves him but is appalled by his life's work.
Suddenly Charlie must confront the two greatest challenges of his life -- a political opponent who has no scruples and a dazzling, unconventional woman who may force him to choose between love and politics. Charlie's dilemma is one that has come to haunt contemporary American politics: Is it possible to be a good politician and a good man?
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Author
Joe Klein
Joe Klein is an award-winning journalist and the author of seven books, including the #1 bestseller Primary Colors. His weekly Time column, “In the Arena,” covers US politics, elections, and foreign policy and has won two National Headliner Awards for best magazine column.
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Reviews for The Running Mate
Rating: 3.5441177647058826 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
34 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pale imitation of the original.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The story centers around a middle-aged senator's career, political aspirations, and love interest. This senator is not heroic, but he is a good guy. Some situations and characters are predictable, but I didn't mind so much because the dialog throughout is clever and thoughtful. A pleasant, engaging story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joe Klein is the same guy who wrote Primary Colors under the clever name of Anonymous. If you liked Primary Colors, you'll like this. Actually, if you like West Wing (TV), you'll like this. I'm in both buckets. Charlie Martin is a US Senator, and while this plot revolves around his previous try for the Presidency and his current re-election campaign, it's basically a story about the real life of a US Senator - warts and all.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I know this was an abridged version of this book because they listed the person who did the abridgment among the credits at the end. I wish they would indicate when an audiobook is abridged, so you know up front. I guess they assume that if they don’t say it is unabridged, you just know it is abridged. Curiously, they usually actually do indicate an unabridged audiobook nearly all the time. The thing is, with very few exceptions, I don’t see why anybody would prefer the abridged versions to the unabridged versions if they could get them.
Anyway, on to the book itself. It may be just as well that this one was abridged, because it tells us about Charlie Martin who has been a popular U.S. Senator for a number of years now. And it tells the story of the disintegration of his political life; slow at first, then more and more rapid as time goes on. And too much of that could be depressing.
First off, he is running for President and an incident that gets misinterpreted blossoms into a major sex scandal that ruins his bid for the nomination. He is also passed over for the Vice-Presidential nomination. Then he backs the wrong candidate for Secretary of Defense.
And when it is time to campaign for re-election to his Senate seat, he finds himself up against a muffler dealer who has been attacking him in his muffler ads for years and who now launches a no-holds-barred attack campaign that makes everything Charlie does look like the actions of a monster. And this despite the fact that, for a politician, Charlie seems to be a pretty decent guy.
In the meantime, Charlie, a longtime bachelor, has met a woman he is really in love with. But she is not impressed with his political life. When his campaign people investigate her (supposedly in an attempt to beat the other side to the information), she is offended and leaves.
So now Charlie has to put his life back together.