New Releases by Mark Halperin

"The intense piety of late T’ang essays on Buddhism by literati has helped earn the T’ang its title of the “golden age of Chinese Buddhism.” In contrast, the Sung is often seen as an age in which the literati distanced themselves from Buddhism. This study of Sung devotional texts shows, however, that many literati participated in intra-Buddhist debates. Others were drawn to Buddhism because of its power, which found expression and reinforcement in its ties with the state. For some, monasteries were extravagant houses of worship that reflected the corruption of the age; for others, the sacrifice and industry demanded by such projects were exemplars worthy of emulation. Finally, Buddhist temples could evoke highly personal feelings of filial piety and nostalgia. This book demonstrates that representations of Buddhism by lay people underwent a major change during the T’ang–Sung transition. These changes built on basic transformations within the Buddhist and classicist traditions and sometimes resulted in the use of Buddhism and Buddhist temples as frames of reference to evaluate aspects of lay society. Buddhism, far from being pushed to the margins of Chinese culture, became even more a part of everyday elite Chinese life."

ung devotional texts shows, however, that many literati participated in intra-Buddhist debates. Others were drawn to Buddhism because of its power, which found expression and reinforcement in its ties with the state. For some, monasteries were extravagant houses of worship that reflected the corruption of the age; for others, the sacrifice and industry demanded by such projects were exemplars worthy of emulation. Finally, Buddhist temples could evoke highly personal feelings of filial piety and nostalgia. This book demonstrates that representations of Buddhism by lay people underwent a major change during the T’ang–Sung transition. These changes built on basic transformations within the Buddhist and classicist traditions and sometimes resulted in the use of Buddhism and Buddhist temples as frames of reference to evaluate aspects of lay society. Buddhism, far from being pushed to the margins of Chinese culture, became even more a part of everyday elite Chinese life.

"Sacrifices must be made, not just for the party, but for history" MORE THAN 100 MILLION ANXIOUS AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW: HOW CAN DONALD TRUMP BE BEATEN IN 2020 AND EVICTED FROM THE WHITE HOUSE? Mark Halperin interviewed the nation’s most experienced political strategists to discover what they think the Democratic nominee needs to do to win the 270 electoral votes required for victory. Drawing on first-hand experience, tactical savvy, and war stories from presidential campaigns past, America’s top operatives explain how to meet the daunting challenge of defeating President Trump. They provide expert advice on bracing for psychological battle, understanding Trump’s voters, picking a running mate, mastering the debates, and dodging black swans—time-tested and creative ideas that reveal the secrets every presidential hopeful wants to know, with specific insights on tackling the volatile, unpredictable force of nature that is Donald Trump. While endlessly controversial, the 45th president remains one of the most formidable political campaigners in modern history, with a staggering financial advantage and powerful allies. Only four elected incumbent American presidents have lost reelection bids since 1900. Few of the strategists think beating Trump will be easy. But none believe it is impossible. Their best ideas, gleaned from years of experience at the highest levels of American politics, are all presented in this compelling and fast-paced book. HOW TO BEAT TRUMP will give voters tools to evaluate which candidates are best positioned to defeat the incumbent. More than seventy-five strategists were interviewed for HOW TO BEAT TRUMP, including Jill Alper, David Axelrod, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Tad Devine, Karen Dunn, Adrienne Elrod, Jennifer Granholm, Ben LaBolt, Jeff Link, Jim Margolis, Mike McCurry, Mark Mellman, Amanda Renteria, John Sasso, Kathleen Sebelius, Bob Shrum, Ginny Terzano, and David Wilhelm.

Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times: "Those hungry for political news will read Double Down for the scooplets and insidery glimpses it serves up about the two campaigns, and the clues it offers about the positioning already going on among Republicans and Democrats for 2016 ... The book testifies to its authors’ energetic legwork and insider access... creating a novelistic narrative that provides a you-are-there immediacy... They succeed in taking readers interested in the backstabbing and backstage maneuvering of the 2012 campaign behind the curtains, providing a tactile... sense of what it looked like from the inside." In their runaway bestseller Game Change, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann captured the full drama of Barack Obama’s improbable, dazzling victory over the Clintons, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. With the same masterly reporting, unparalleled access, and narrative skill, Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen—facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing. As 2012 looms, leaders of the Republican Party, salivating over Obama’s political fragility, see a chance to wrest back control of the White House—and the country. So how did the Republicans screw it up? How did Obama survive the onslaught of super PACs and defy the predictions of a one-term presidency? Double Down follows the gaudy carnival of GOP contenders—ambitious and flawed, famous and infamous, charismatic and cartoonish—as Mitt Romney, the straitlaced, can-do, gaffe-prone multimillionaire from Massachusetts, scraped and scratched his way to the nomination. Double Down exposes blunders, scuffles, and machinations far beyond the klieg lights of the campaign trail: Obama storming out of a White House meeting with his high command after accusing them of betrayal. Romney’s mind-set as he made his controversial “47 percent” comments. The real reasons New Jersey governor Chris Christie was never going to be Mitt’s running mate. The intervention held by the president’s staff to rescue their boss from political self-destruction. The way the tense détente between Obama and Bill Clinton morphed into political gold. And the answer to one of the campaign’s great mysteries—how did Clint Eastwood end up performing Dada dinner theater at the Republican convention? In Double Down, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann take the reader into back rooms and closed-door meetings, laying bare the secret history of the 2012 campaign for a panoramic account of an election that was as hard fought as it was lastingly consequential.

Como Barack Obama, senador iniciante com poucas realizações políticas tangíveis se convenceu de que deveria e poderia ser o primeiro presidente afro-americano dos Estados Unidos? Que papel Bill Clinton desempenhou efetivamente na campanha da esposa? Por que McCain escolheu a desconhecida governadora do Alasca, uma incógnita, como companheira de chapa? E quem é realmente Sarah Palin? Em Virada no jogo, John Heilemann e Mark Halperin se valem de um privilegiado acesso aos meios políticos para responder a essas e a outras perguntas, revelando o que de fato se passou nos bastidores da corrida presidencial norte-americana em 2008. Mesmo com a exaustiva cobertura da imprensa diária, para Heilemann, colunista da revista New York, e Halperin, da Time, boa parte da história por trás das manchetes não fora contada. Por isso, Virada no jogo se empenha em traçar um retrato íntimo dos candidatos e cônjuges que possuíam chances razoáveis de ocupar a Casa Branca: Barack e Michelle Obama, Hillary e Bill Clinton, John e Elizabeth Edwards e John e Cindy McCain. Com base em centenas de entrevistas, Virada no jogo é um tour de force jornalístico que pode ser lido como um romance de ritmo frenético. É a narrativa definitiva, às vezes chocante e não raro hilariante, de uma campanha presidencial que entrou para a história.

Forget everything you think you know about the making of the most powerful man on the planet. President Barack Obama's triumph was not inevitable: it was the end product of a brilliant, calculated, convention-defying political campaign. In a race that will be talked about for years to come, he faced down his rivals with ruthless focus and efficiency. Race of a Lifetime is the gripping inside story of those thrilling months: from the meteoric rise of Obama and the collapsing House of Clinton to the erratic John McCain and the bewildering Sarah Palin. Brimming with exclusive revelations, this compulsively readable book lays bare the characters of the candidates, warts and all; exposes the inner workings of their operations; and charts the true path to the White House. It's a tour de force: the sometimes shocking, often funny, and ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

"This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it."—Barack Obama, September 2008 In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the country’s leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character-driven and dialogue-rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, it’s an intimate portrait of some of the most powerful and fascinating figures in American life—the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

Who's ready for the oval office? They call it a horse race, and in this election the candidates got out of the gate early. But it's still hard to tell them apart and make a choice. Mark Halperin, veteran reporter and political analyst, sizes up the White House hopefuls with intelligence, insight, and his trademark wit, offering engaging, in-depth examinations of the histories, qualifications, agendas, and personal beliefs of the major candidates—including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson, as well as some "dark horse" contenders. Among the features in this book: Issue-by-issue charts defining where each candidate stands on the war in Iraq, health care, taxes, the economy, and other significant points of debate. An assessment of each candidate's strengths and weaknesses. A hypothetical glimpse into the future of each candidate's potential presidency. Areas of possible controversy that could spark heated discussion and affect the outcome of the race. Personal facts and anecdotes about each candidate—including exclusive Q&As covering everything from their junk food weaknesses to their biggest superstitions.

In Falling Through the Music, his fifth major book of poetry, Mark Halperin gives us consolation, guidance, and companionship while delivering an accomplished meditation on the first real glimpses of the limits on a life. Displaying an agility of formal invention--he moves easily from a Whitmanesque and witty litany to rhymed quatrains--Halperin deftly melds technique to theme. As in "Someone Pausing, he is able to place us in the mind of someone--any one of us--who has stood on an island in the street, fully attentive and present, knowing nothing stays, not even the observer.

This collection of poems is a creel of lovely rainbows. Halperin snaps his line into deep pools and reels in flashing revelations. Whether he watches a flock of jays jabbering or observes Satan murmuring to Eve, this poet catches, with a particular perfection, the nuances between nature and myth in Changing Weather.—Richard Denner author of Collected Poems:1961-2000, Comrades Press and The Collected Books of Richard Denner: Volumes 1-12, dPress

In The Way to Win, two of the country’s most accomplished political reporters explain what separates the victors from the victims in the unforgiving environment of modern presidential campaigns. Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News, and John F. Harris, the national politics editor of The Washington Post, tell the story of how two families–the Bushes and the Clintons–have held the White House for nearly a generation and examine Hillary Clinton’s prospects for extending this record in 2008. Based on years of research, including private campaign memos and White House communications, The Way to Win reveals the surprising details of how the Bushes and Clintons have closely studied each the other’s successes and failures and used these lessons to shape their own strategies for winning elections and wielding power. In the case of George W. Bush, the strategic genius is Karl C. Rove, arguably the most influential White House aide in history. For the first time, Halperin and Harris cut through the myths and controversies surrounding Rove to illuminate in brilliant, behind-the-scenes detail what he actually does–his Trade Secrets for winning elections. In the case of the Clintons, the chief strategist is Bill Clinton himself. Drawing on their fifteen years reporting on and interviewing him, Halperin and Harris deconstruct and decipher the Clinton style, identifying the methods that all candidates can use in their pursuit of the White House. The Way to Win takes a lively and irreverent approach, but Halperin and Harris also show the disturbing ways that American politics has become a Freak Show–their name for a political culture that provides incentives for candidates, activists, interest groups, and the news media to emphasize ideological extremism and personal attack. For the first time, Halperin and Harris describe how Freak Show campaigns orchestrated by the likes of Internet pioneer Matt Drudge forced Al Gore and John Kerry to lose control of their public images (with considerable help from the candidates’ own ineptitude) and lose the White House. On the brink of what will be one of the most intense, most exciting presidential elections in American history, The Way to Win is the book that armchair political junkies have been waiting for. Filled with peerless analysis and eye-opening revelations from the trenches, it is a must read for everyone who follows American politics.

"This book provides high school and college classroom teachers (and students) with a handy, carefully explained guide to meta in poetry. The 600 contains lots of examples of poems--the authors scan some and explain their decisions-and they also offer poems for the reader to practice on. They also include a helpful glossary of poetry terms."

Poetry of forgotten moments and bygone people.