SHAMELESS POLITICAL AUDACITY BOYS write a book
telling people how to succeed. But it's just another reason why
politics and government need to be changed. -- DDC

BUCK UP, SUCK UP!
... and Come Back When You Foul Up
Authors: Paul Begala James Carville
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Trade
January 2002

The Barnes & Noble Review
Political strategists Carville and Begala, the team behind the highly
efficacious War Room that helped Bill Clinton win his first presidential
bid, have distilled their campaign experiences and observations into this
collection of 12 essential principles that will help you best your
competition in almost any endeavor. The authors introduce their work with a
surprisingly modest claim -- "This book won't change your life." They are
right, of course: In the grand scheme of thing, instructions on how to beat
the other guy aren't exactly what we think of as inspirational,
life-altering literature. But, if you really want advice on winning (and
many of us do at some point), this book, with its savvy techniques and
battle-tested tactics, is a great place to start. Written with more than a
touch of Carville's alternately self-depreciating and self-promoting
rhetoric, this is a book that manages to be simultaneously funny, cutthroat,
highly practical, and very honest about the ways in which success is usually
achieved.

If you'd like an example, consider the second principle that Carville and
Begala advance in the book -- the importance of what less-direct business
books often call building a relationship with your boss. "Ass-kissing," our
authors note, "is both an art and a science. No one gets to the top without
leaning how to deal with people you can't stand. And usually the best way to
deal with them is to pretend you can stand them. With all due respect, we
think our background in politics has given us a Ph.D. in ass-kissing."
Although this probably isn't the kind of advice taught in business school,
it does have a from-the-trenches ring of truth that a lot of corporate
survivors will probably appreciate. Lest you think that the authors only
extol the virtues of sucking up, their next chapter, "Kick Ass," discusses
the importance of aggression, counterpunches, and negative attacks. In fact,

both the kissing and the kicking emerge in the book as "tactical weapons,"
nothing more or less than strategic choices made along the road to victory.
While some readers may have difficulty with this openly Machiavellian
approach, Carville and Begala do have a lesson to impart, as their own
political successes certainly attest to. (Sunil Sharma)

>From the Publisher

The political strategists who directed the Clinton campaign's War Room
reveal the lessons and secrets from their hard-fought battles -- and how to
use these highly effective strategies for success in everyday life.

James Carville and Paul Begala have waged political war all across America
and on three continents. They've won some of the most spectacular political
victories of the twentieth century and lost a few campaigns too. Along the
way, they've learned a few lessons. Some sound simple, like "Never Quit,"
some comic, like "Kiss Ass," and some are more complicated and nuanced, like
"Strategy Ain't Tactics." But each lesson contains tried-and-true wisdom,
illustrated with colorful stories from long political experience -- many
never told before:

Find out how Carville's mother, Miz Nippy, used a bass boat to "frame the
debate" in selling encyclopedias. Discover what success secret Hillary
Rodham Clinton and Tom DeLay share. Learn the War Room tricks for sharpening
your message and delivering the
perfect sound bite. And much more.

Whether you are a senior executive or a secretary, a political junkie or the
president of the United States, the rules to live by can be found in Buck
Up, Suck Up...and Come Back When You Foul Up.

What People Are Saying:

Anyone who wants to understand how politics and government really work has
to take into account the skills and insights Begala and Carville have
brought to the process. This book is a powerful introduction to their
approach.--Newt Gingrich

If Macahiavelli and Sun Tzu came back today as political strategists, they'd
sound a lot like Carville and Begala. There are no two people I'd rather
have in my foxhole.--Bill Clinton

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