This book is well written (and masterfully read) propaganda that doesn’t present ideological differences so much as represents an extreme side of one of them … the progressive side. The hero is a Democrat saint (note the capital D).. perfect in every way. His opponents are indolent womanizing drunks at best, evil fascist murderous militia Republican Christians at worst.
Once upon a time, Woods knew how to find the nuance of life (In his masterful "Chiefs" for example). Apparently his followers don’t need no stahnkin’ nuance :-}. Still, I enjoyed the story and realized if every Republican conservative was satanic as Woods wants us to believe, then an epic battle for good is the only moral alternative. In Grass Roots, only one side is close minded. But I wonder if Woods himself realizes which side that might be?
“Right” versus, not disagreement but, immoral EVIL (all in caps) is what this book’s about. Woods is a masterful polemicist. He coats his one-sided message in righteous honey. Progressives will love the way Woods reveals a sinister racist conspiracy behind everything. Conservatives are used to that POV dominating movies, TV, newspapers, magazines, books, and even music (ever listened to Rap?).
So they’ll be entertained by the storyline, even if they’d wish that once in a while a high-craft writer like Woods could conceive of situations where, because of the limits on resources, choices must be made not between perfection and evil, but between two goods.
I guess the problem with nuance is, it’s not as motivating to write about the possibility that your side might not be, well, saintly?
George Guidall, once again creates a production that even makes the lead character's frequent political harangues, philosophical assertions, and ideological polar positions feel as comfortably correct as the voices who read TV advertisements that successfully sell us laundry soap and politicians.