The Political Animal: An Anatomy - Softcover

Paxman, Jeremy

3.84

431 ratings by Goodreads

9780140288476: The Political Animal: An Anatomy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140288473 ISBN 13: 9780140288476

Publisher: Penguin, 2003

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WHY DON'T WE LIKE POLITICIANS?
The bestselling author of THE ENGLISH stirs it up again with a fascinating look at why governments and politicians so often fail to live up to expectations.
It can be an unforgiving business for MPs - caricatured as either power-hungry hypocrites or hopeless idealists - years of effort can often lead only to defeat, disgrace or obscurity. What sort of person likes having their business or family affairs all over the news, or their mistakes trumpeted and their triumphs belittled? What drives people to go into it - and what do they get from it all?
Jeremy Paxman sets out to explore this strange world - and on the way gives us a witty, unsparing, but essentially sympathetic portrait of modern politicians.

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Review:

What does it take to become a truly 'political animal' - and why would anyone strive to become one, given the low opinion which we have, sooner or later, of almost all politicians? Paxman is not known for lacking cynicism concerning the ways and motives of the contemporary breed - but in this overview he presents what is billed as a 'witty, unsparing, but essentially sympathetic portrait of modern politicians and the strange world they inhabit'. The text is under wraps because of serialisation - but this promises to be a highly readable and lively take on those currently and recently purveying our brand of democracy, or the 'least bad form of government'.

Synopsis:

Why don't we like politicians? In "The Political Animal", Jeremy Paxman takes a look at why governments and politicians so often fail to live up to expectations. It can be an unforgiving business for MPs - caricatured as either power-hungry hypocrites or hopeless idealists - years of effort can lead only to defeat, disgrace or obscurity. What sort of person likes having his or her business or family affairs all over the news, or mistakes trumpeted and triumphs belittled? What drives people to go into it - and what do they get from it all? Jeremy Paxman sets out to explore this strange world - and on the way gives us an unsparing, but essentially sympathetic portrait of modern politicians.

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