I was drawn to the author because he wrote about Gandhi as abandoning “masculine” leadership. Then I was knocked out by his title because it tells you right away how political history is.

"It’s Anna Magnani, with this little kid, and she’s a prostitute. I love Pasolini’s films; they’re very political and really kind of deal with everyday people, and there’s something quite beautiful about that one."

"The New York Times political columnist turns to moral philosophy, exploring his own quest for meaning in life, and discovering the importance of committing to things like a vocation, a family, and a community."

"This ambitious, uncannily beautiful book moves me more deeply with every reading. A powerful meditation on history and conscience, it’s also an assertion of the centrality of political witness to the work of art."

"A classic from the early ’70s by one of the great political writers of his time. Written just before Richard Nixon resigned, it’s as devastating a portrait of him as has ever been written."

"Kafka’s unfinished novel features so many lives and so many different moments from the development of our society. Its lessons can be applied to the cultural and political moment we live in right now."