I liked David Mizner's Hartsburg, USA even more than I expected to. From the EW review I gathered its subject was a political race for a local school board position between a conservative, born-again Christian and a liberal. I'll admit that when I started it, I was looking forward to a bash-Christians story. I mean all writers are artsy liberals, aren't they? And Christians are hypocritical and dogmatic. All right. Those elements are in Hartsburg, USA, but by the book's end, the author had given me so much more to think about. And, amazingly enough, he never hit me over the head to support one side or the other. Up until the votes were counted, either candidate could have won and the story would have been believable.
The amazing thing, IMHO, is that the race was realistic. Both candidates had strong points, and each had failings. And that, in turn, created multi-leveled, complex characters. For a realistic look at a small town election, an election that reflects so many issues that are now tearing our country apart, and for a look at remarkably developed characters, I really really recommend this book.
(Kathy, advance warning: it's not a mystery. :))
Mizner has written one other book, Political Animal. I'm on my way now to B&N.com to put it on my wish list.
Last edited by humphreysmar; 02/21/08 09:33 PM.
