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

With a New Afterword by the Author <\/div>\nThe New York Times<\/em><\/strong> 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)<\/strong>\n<\/div>Hailed as dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic (Chicago Tribune<\/em>), very funny and very painful (San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>), and in a different league from most political books (The New York Observer<\/em>), What\'s the Matter with Kansas?

<\/em> 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.

<\/div>A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What\'s the Matter with Kansas?<\/em> 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.