Primary Colors (novel)

Plot summary

The book begins as an idealistic former congressional worker, Henry Burton, joins the presidential campaign of Southern governor Jack Stanton, a thinly disguised stand-in for Bill Clinton. The plot then follows the primary election calendar beginning in New Hampshire where Stanton's affair with Cashmere, his wife's hairdresser, and his participation in a Vietnam War era protest come to light and threaten to derail his presidential prospects. In Florida, Stanton revives his campaign by disingenuously portraying his Democratic opponent as insufficiently pro-Israel and as a weak supporter of Social Security. Burton becomes increasingly disillusioned with Stanton, who is a policy wonk who talks too long, eats too much and is overly flirtatious toward women. Stanton is also revealed to be insincere in his beliefs, saying whatever will help him to win. Matters finally come to a head, and Burton is forced to choose between idealism and realism.

Identity of the author

Klein maintained his anonymity throughout the publication process. Random House's Daniel Menaker, who edited the book and came up with its title, acted as an early liaison to the press while remaining unaware of the author's identity. An early reviewer opined that the author wished to remain unknown because "Anonymity makes truthfulness much easier". Later commentators called the publishing of the book under an anonymous identity an effective marketing strategy that produced more publicity for the book, and thus more sales, without calling into question the author's actual inside knowledge. Several people, including former Clinton speechwriter David Kusnet, believed the style of writing had similarities to that of Klein. This was also supported by a quantitative stylometric analysis of the book by Vassar professor Donald Foster. Klein initially denied writing the book and publicly condemned Foster. Klein denied authorship again in Newsweek, speculating that another writer wrote it. Washington Post Style editor David Von Drehle, in an interview, asked Klein if he was willing to stake his journalistic credibility on his denial, to which Klein agreed.

In July 1996, after The Washington Post published the results of a handwriting analysis of notes made on an early manuscript of the book, Klein finally admitted that he was the author.

Reception

The New York Daily News described the book as a farce and praised it as funny, truthful, and as containing "uncannily accurate" portraits of its thinly disguised characters.

The book was #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for fiction, for nine weeks in 1996.

Fictional characters and believed real-life inspirations

• Jack Stanton, southern governor – Bill Clinton
• Susan Stanton, his wife – Hillary Clinton
• Henry Burton, campaign manager – George Stephanopoulos
• Richard Jemmons, campaign strategist – James Carville
• Daisy Green, campaign media adviser – Mandy Grunwald or Dee Dee Myers
• Howard Ferguson, III, campaign chief – Harold Ickes, Jr.
• Orlando Ozio, New York governor – Mario Cuomo
• Jimmy Ozio, his son – Andrew Cuomo
• Charlie Martin, U.S. senator – Bob Kerrey
• Lawrence Harris, former senator – Paul Tsongas
• Bart Nilson, U.S. senator – Tom Harkin
• Freddy Picker, former Florida Governor – Jerry Brown / Reubin Askew / Harold Hughes / Ross Perot
• Richmond Rucker, NYC Mayor – David Dinkins
• Luther Charles, minister – Jesse Jackson
• Cashmere McLeod, suspected lover of Jack Stanton – Gennifer Flowers
• Lucille Kauffman, adviser to Susan Stanton – Susan Thomases
• Libby Holden, campaign chief of staff – Betsey Wright/ Vince Foster

References

References

1. Roberts, Sam. (October 28, 2020). "Daniel Menaker, Who Edited With Flair and Wrote With Wit, Dies at 79". [[The New York Times]].
2. [http://www.salon.com/2000/11/02/foster_5/ ''Author Unknown'' by Gavin McNett Salon November 2, 2000]
3. (2009-09-25). "Up Front: Joe Klein". The New York Times.
4. Michiko Kakutani. (January 19, 1996). "Books of the Times; A Roman a Clef to Recent Politics". The New York Times.
5. Walter Shapiro. (January 29, 1996). "Author! Author!". Time/CNN.
6. Todd S. Burdum. (February 1, 1996). "The Author Could Not Be Reached for Comment". The New York Times.
7. Richard K. Thompson. (April 1996). "Primary Colors: A Nover of Politics". Contemporary Review.
8. (May 2, 2000). "'Primary Colors' Author Joe Klein Talks About Political Truth and Fiction". CNN.
9. Jamie Allen. (December 6, 2000). "Don Foster enlightens readers with 'Author Unknown'". CNN.
10. Philip Potempa. (March 6, 2008). "Former Clinton female press rep. Dee Dee Myers in Chicago with new memoir". nwi.com.
11. Downing, Renée. (March 23, 1998). "Gray gobbledygook". Arizona Daily Star.
12. Mullan, John. (January 12, 2008). "The great unknown". The Guardian.
13. (March 17, 1996). "Political intrigue served with literary success". Boston Globe.
14. Erik Tarloff. (April 23, 2000). "Loyalty, Decency, Compassion, Love - There's none of that stuff in the Washington of Joe Klein's new novel". The New York Times.
15. Doreen Carvajal. (July 18, 1996). "Columnist's Mea Culpa: I'm Anonymous". [[The New York Times]].
16. Michael Aronson. (January 22, 1996). "Politics Makes Funny Bedfellows". New York Daily News.
17. Lisa Schwarzbaum. (March 27, 1998). "Primary Colors Reviewed". EW.com.
18. Connelly. (January 22, 1996). "Roman A Clinton Of 'Primary' Interest In D.C.; Who Knew The White House Well Enough To Paint Its 'Colors' Vividly In A Juicy New Novel?". New York Daily News.
19. Eliza Larson. (January 11, 2011). "Who Wrote 'O'? New Anonymous Novel Pictures Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential Campaign". ABC News.