Hartsburg, USA

This was the first work of Mr. Mizner's I've enjoyed, and it won't be the last. The book was incredibly enjoyable and thought provoking. Each time I put the book down I found myself thinking about what I'd just read, and reacting to it. While the plot involves a school board race, the book is really a fantastic character study of the novel's two main characters: Bevy and Wallace. He shows them both to be passionate, intelligent, and most of all, flawed. Mizner shows us that people on both ends of the political and idealogic spectrum experience the same human trial and tribulations. I found myself swaying between pity for and anger at both of these main characters. One thing I found most enjoyable is that even after completing the book I cannot tell whether Mr. Mizner himself is D or R, and that's a pleasant change from many politically themed novels where it's easy to tell by a few chapters in which way the author leans. Mizner shows that both characters have good in them, and have some bad in them. A wonderful read and I can't wait to get my hands on his other book, and hopefully, future books.

The other comments are right - would a story of a small town school board election be worth the time to read it? the book is much more than that - it is an exploration of how people think and feel, how they are more than the stereotypes you think they are, and how events have their own energy but are shaped by real people - suspense builds up toward the end, and it is very real suspense, about who will win the election - and I worried about how I would feel if my person lost - but the ending is magnificent - the election seems less important than the two candidates and their relationship, with each other and the town - the writing is trim and energetic, yet warm and humane - the characters grow and become more interesting - and it is a subject that is important in our country at thiis time.

This is a terrific new novel by David Mizner, with his characteristically vivid, compressed prose and remarkably sympathetic and complex characters. The novel humanely plays with the foibles and moral hypocrisy of both the American Left and Right. The protagonist, fighting his town's drift toward fundamentalism, is caught in a self destructive down-ward spiral, placing at risk the relationships with those he loves the most. His foe is an evangelical Christian mother of four, haunted by her damaged past. I'd also recommend Mizner's earlier novel, Political Animal, an energetic and hilarious romance set in the context of a political campaign.

Having read Mizner's previous novel, I expected to enjoy this latest work. What I didn't expect was to be so engrossed I couldn't put it down. The characters are strongly sketched and real, the community alive with the sadness and promise of change, and the behind-the-scenes views of today's politics right on. So often, in politics large and small, we forget that the other side has its own story to tell. David Mizner helps bridge the gap of understanding between right and left, with humor and more than a mad dash of reality. If you enjoy a good read with the lessons neatly tucked in rather than thrown in your face, this is an excellent choice.

I hesitated when I first picked up this book. The premise looked interesting but I had little faith that a writer could offer a balanced, honest, and worthwhile treatment of the cultural divide that defines much of contemporary politics. I expected the book to be filled with caricatures and gratuitous stereotypes that would elicit cheap laughs from folks in the author's "choir." David Mizner avoids this trap and, instead, makes his characters human and real. He offers real insights into the fear that drives the motivations of each side, the compromises that successful politics often seems to require, the political necessities that create "strange bedfellows," and the loneliness that many of us feel as we try to find our place in a political system that has little tolerance for nuance or truth. Mizner shows great compassion for his characters on both sides. I finished the book, not totally certain which side he was on. Maybe that's the point. Maybe most of us are on a side that is bigger than any one party allows us to be. If you are looking for a jingoistic chuckle at expense of your political opponent, this is not the book for you. But, if you want a compelling and entertaining read that challenges your stereotypes, and provides insights into the lives of the characters who make up the larger cultural/political landscape, read "Hartsburg--USA." I can't wait to read his next book!