You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You; Politics in the Clinton Years

New York: Random House, 1998. First edition. Stated. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xxiv, 245, [2] pages. Price clipped. Inscribed and dated by author on the half-title page. Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins (August 30, 1944 - January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, author, political commentator, and humorist. Born in California and raised in Texas, Ivins attended Smith College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She began her journalism career at the Minneapolis Tribune where she became the first female police reporter at the paper. Ivins joined the Texas Observer in the early 1970s and later moved to The New York Times. She became a columnist for the Dallas Times Herald in the 1980s, and then the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after the Times Herald was sold and shuttered. The column was subsequently syndicated by Creators Syndicate and carried by hundreds of newspapers. A biography of Ivins, Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life, was co-written in 2010 by PEN-USA winning presidential biographer Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith. Derived from a Kirkus review: An outrageous, fun collection of articles from three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Ivins. As political columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Ivins is a human oxymoron: a Texas liberal. Her down-home, good-ol--girl style thinly cloaks a wicked wit wielded in support of strong political beliefs. Ivins actually likes people, even the politicians she has made a career of skewering. She genuinely enjoys life in a "nation undeterred by reality" and a political system that "requires a certain relish for confusion." Ivins sees the lunacy that surrounds her and she appreciates it. This book provides a larger-than-usual dosage of Ivins's humor. The continuing theme is the corrosive effect of money in politics and the need for campaign finance reform. She cuts to the bottom line: The special interests who invest in political campaigns are amply rewarded. For Ivins it is time to recognize the necessity of publicly financed elections if we want politicians dancing with the public rather than special interests. Entertaining.