What's the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

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.

“The best political book of the year.” —Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times

“Frank is a formidable controversialist-imagine Michael Moore with a trained brain and an intellectual conscience.” —George F. Will, The Washington Post

“Brilliant.” —Barbara Ehrenreich, The New York Times

“Mr. Frank re-injects economic-class issues into the debate with sardonic vehemence.” —Jerome Weeks, The Dallas Morning News

“A searing piece of work . . . one of the most important political writings in years.” —The Boston Globe

“Dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic . . . Frank has made much sense of the world in this book.” —Chicago Tribune

“Impassioned, compelling . . . Frank's books mark him as one of the most insightful thinkers of the twenty-first century, four years into it.” —Houston Chronicle

“Very funny and very painful . . . Add another literary gold star after Thomas Frank's name.” —San Francisco Chronicle