About book Who Let The Dogs In?: Incredible Political Animals I Have Known (2005)
"The dazzling, inimitable Molly Ivins is back, with her own personal Hall of Fame of America's most amazing and outlandish politicians -- the wicked, the wise, the witty, and the witless -- drawn from more than twenty years of reporting on the folks who attempt to run our government (in some cases, into the ground).Who Let the Dogs In? takes us on a wild ride through two decades of political life, from Ronald Regan, through Big George and Bill Clinton, to 9our current top dog, known to Ivins readers simply as Dubya. But those are just a few of the political animals who are honored and skewered for our amusement. Ivins also writes hilariously, perceptively, and at times witheringly of John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, H. Ross Perot, Tom DeLay, Ann Richards, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and the current governor of Texas, who is known as Rick "Goodhair" Perry.Following close on the heels of her phenomenally successful Bushwhacked and containing an up-to-the-minute Introduction for the campaign season, Who Let the Dogs In? is political writing at its best."~~front flapWell, as most of you already know, I just adore Molly Ivins. She was incredible: extremely politically astute and devastatingly funny. Any other book written about the Dubya era would probably seem dated and irrelevant, but almost everything Molly wrote is timeless. She had such a gimlet eye for the political arena and its denizens that it's a pure joy to read anything she wrote. I often found myself laughing out loud through tears -- laughing in appreciation of her wit and assessment of some political boondoggle or malfeasance; crying because she's gone and I miss her so. Whatever would she have said about Sarah Palin? Michelle Bachman? Rick Perry as a Presidential candidate? Jerry Brown redux? She left just before the going got good.RIP Molly, but damn! we hated to see you go.
For those of you who don't know, Molly Ivins was a political journalist and humorist. She was born and raised in Texas and as her career grew she moved from Texas politics to the national stage. She was a Texas liberal, a rare breed indeed. She wrote a syndicated column, and this book is a collection of some of those columns.I really enjoyed this book. The author has a gift for writing as a home-spun Texan, full of idioms and southern commentary, yet I still found myself needing a dictionary every couple of pages as her vocabulary kept me challenged. Her politics didn't always agree with mine, but she was well backed with facts and figures, and I can't find fault with her reasoning. Plus, she made me laugh, and laugh. For example, she compared being attacked on the air by Rush Limbaugh to being gummed by a newt. Doesn't really hurt, but does leave you kind of slimy around the ankles. She encourages us all to get involved, and exercise our rights as citizens.I'm going to look for more of her books.
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Bless the late, great Molly Ivins. How I wish her particular brand of intelligent Texan snark was still around, because heaven knows the country deserves it. As a child of the 80s, I was mostly familiar with Ivins' comments on George W. Bush and Rick Perry; it was a treat (and educational) to read her writings on Clinton and George Bush, given I was busy being in elementary school at the times of their presidencies. I also admit that as a Southerner (not Texan, but with Texan parents) she does me proud - my region of the country gets a bad rap for a wealth of excellent and valid reasons, but Ivins represented us well while still retaining an undeniably Southern flavor. I was particularly proud of her efforts to explain Texas, which is frankly a difficult and bizarre place to explain to those who haven't lived there.Would that she were still with us.
—A.
Those who say no one is irreplaceable, obviously never read the political writings of Molly Ivans.During the forty + years of reporting on politics for both the Ft.Worth Star Telegram and the Texas Observer, Ivans gave political analysis with both insight and a sharp wit. This book is a compilation of her best articles written during the Nixon years and continuing through the G.W. Bush administration. One of the best political satirist in journalism, Ivins never relied on the use of humor alone. She always backed up her comments with research and facts. She was known to unleash her fury on Democrats as well as Republicans and was just as even handed when occasionally giving praise.Ivans is gone but not forgotten. This book reads like a political science study with a dose of much needed humor thrown in.
—Genie
This isn't a book of new material, but rather a compilation of some of the articles Molly Ivins wrote throughout her 40-year political reporting career. Her insight is amazing and, nine times out of ten, spot-on. If every American listened to her common sense approach to politics and government, we'd probably be in a better place today. No one is safe - regardless of what party you belong to, if you're an elected official and you screw up, you will be eviscerated in print. I especially like her commentary on George W. "Shrub" Bush (and boy, does she have a lot of material on him, being from Texas herself and observing his rise to power from the very beginning). RIP Molly, you're sorely missed!
—Colleen Martin
