Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?: Amazon.ca: Molly Ivins: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

Ivins, past or present columnist for The Nation , Mother Jones , The Progressive , Ms. , and other unabashedly liberal publications, combines political savvy with a wicked sense of humor. Her primary target is Texas politics and "bidness," but she also discusses Ronald Reagan (including her classic look back on the Cowboy Ronnie Show, "Don't Worry, They're Happy"), George Bush (in a section titled, "The Discreet Smarm of the Bushwazee"), journalism ("Coppeeeee!" a eulogy on the Copy Boy), feminism ("The Women Who Run Texas"), and others. Ivins concludes with "How Ann Richards Got To Be Governor of Texas," a breathless whistlestop tour of Texas's 1990 gubernatorial race, a classic paradigm for Texas politics. Highly recommended for academic libraries and political science, women's studies, humor, and journalism collections.
- Keith R.A. De Candido, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"If there is a shrewder, funnier observer of the American scene writing today that Molly Ivins, I do not know her. This is unconventional wisdom with no inhibitions. Bless her and don't let her change."- David Broder, Washington Post

"A delight from start to finish... Molly Ivins proves that keen intelligence and a Southern accent are real good buddies... She has wise and often hilarious things to say." -The New York Times Book Review

"Wickedly funny."- Detroit Free Press

"Molly Ivins has birthed a book and it is more fun than riding a mechanical bull and almost as dangerous."- Ann Richards, governor of Texas. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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First Sentence
Seems to me I wrote this piece a million years ago. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Yer darn tootin' she can say that!, Dec 19 2002

By

Glen Engel Cox (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (Paperback)

I've only recently begun to pay an active attention to politics. I may have paid attention to topics in the past, at least more than the majority of Americans since I did vote, but I didn't really search out information. These days, however, I tune to NPR for the coverage of certain issues, and will catch a newspaper or magazine article if the topic really intrigues me. It doesn't necessarily help me make political decisions any better than before, but I am better able to communicate my opinions.

I'm sure no one ever told Molly Ivins that she had trouble communicating her opinions, though. Communicate them she does, with a drawl and a wry grin. I'm sad that I've only recently started to search out information, because I would have loved to have read this essays by Ivins when they were topical. After the fact, they're enjoyable, especially since I lived in Texas during the time the majority of these essays were written. Some of the topics I recall vaguely, like the Gib-erish of Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis ("I cannot tell you how grateful I am--I am filled with humidity." "I want to thank each and every one of you for having extinguished yourselves this session."). Other topics I knew intimately, like the furor over Governor Mark White's "No Pass, No Play" rule.

It was fun to revisit those days and to catch up on those things I had missed because I was too busy playing around at school. Ivins' style is so full of Texas itself that it was scary--I felt like I was back amongst those dumb Aggies (a quick wave to my bubba!) and crazy rednecks. I even felt homesick for a moment--then I remembered: Texas, it's a good place to visit, but I've already lived there.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Opinion of Molly Ivins's first book, Nov 17 2002

By

Mary L. Dillard (Portsmouth, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (Paperback)

Molly's book is a breath of fresh air in an often stifling political world. A sentence like
To call Bush shallow is like calling a dwarf short
belongs among the most memorable statements of
recent times. What if she does repeat it a couple of times? A really good idea is worth reiterating.
The only limitation of this book is that it focuses on Texas so much and does not fully represent Molly's trenchant view of the politics of the country as a whole. Her recent columns, printed even in some narrowly conservative local newspapers, remedy that lack.
If we didn't have Molly Ivins, we might be reduced to reading William F. Buckley.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Stale, smug, condescending, May 6 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (Paperback)

Why hasn't Molly Ivins disappeared yet? Can't she be replaced? Is there really such a shortage of Ann Richards disciples in the world? Her politics are very stale indeed, but any editorial writer with similar politics would be an improvement on her. The real irritant in her writing is not her politics, but her style and persona as demonstrated in this self-description of her newspaper days.

"...I would denounce some sorry sumbitch...as an egg suckin' child-molester who ran on all fours and had the brains of an adolescent pissant, I would courageously prepare myself to be horse-whipped at the least."

All columnists seem happiest when writing about themselves and this passage is intended to be funny (this might need to be pointed out), but it is still a fair sample of her writing. What person (from Texas or anywhere else) wouldn't find this overdone impersonation of a redneck condescending? And who would buy a book that has so much smugness implicit in its title?

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Molly Ivins Can't Recycle That, Can She?
Apparently, she can. In addition to being one of America's most puerile, unfunny political pundits, Ms. Ivins is a prolific recycler of other people's works. Read more

Published on April 30 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Read this in high school and loved it
Then I grew up. Apparently Miss Ivens remains in sophomoric adolescence.

Published on April 18 2004