Most Popular Books by Thomas Frank

"Frank answers these questions by examining the conservative revolution in his home state, a place that has lately drawn the astonished attention of the world for its unlikely skirmishes over abortion and homosexuality. In Kansas, as in so much of mid-America, Frank finds, society''s losers are even more committed to the Republican agenda than are society''s winners. The state''s low-wage slaughterhouse workers and its struggling farm towns today far outdo the state''s real-estate millionaires and its prosperous telecom execs in dedication to a political program that can only wind up hurting them.".

Argues that the modern Democratic Party has done little to advance traditional liberal goals, such as expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal, which has accelerated the decline of the middle class and increased the rift between the rich and the poor in America.

A "brilliantly written, eye-opening" look at how elites distort the meaning of populism by the bestselling author of What''s the Matter with Kansas? ( The Washington Post). Rarely does a work of history contain startling implications for the present, but in The People, No, New York Times-bestselling author Thomas Frank pulls off that explosive effect by showing us that everything we think we know about populism is wrong. Today "populism" is seen as a frightening thing, a term pundits use to describe the racist philosophy of Donald Trump and European extremists. But this is a mistake. The real story of populism is an account of enlightenment and liberation; it is the story of American democracy itself, of its ever-widening promise of a decent life for all. Taking us from the tumultuous 1890s, when the radical left-wing Populist Party—the biggest mass movement in American history—fought Gilded Age plutocrats to the reformers'' great triumphs under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Frank reminds us how much we owe to the populist ethos. Frank also shows that elitist groups have reliably detested populism, lashing out at working-class concerns. The anti-populist vituperations by the Washington centrists of today are only the latest expression. Frank pummels the elites, revisits the movement''s provocative politics, and declares true populism to be the language of promise and optimism. This is a ringing affirmation of a movement that, Frank shows us, is not the problem of our times, but the solution for what ails us. "Frank describes an indigenous radical tradition that descends from Jefferson and Paine and stretches forward to Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. . . . Compelling." ― The New York Times Book Review "Tom Frank does what few writers today are capable of doing―he criticizes his own side." ― The Wall Street Journal "Readers come away knowing that at its heart, populism means just one thing: This land was made for you and me." ― The Washington Post

Frank argues that conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state, selling off the government, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war.

Becoming a more effective learner and boosting your productivity will help you earn better grades - but it''ll also cut down on your study time. This is a short, meaty book that will guide you through ten steps to achieving those goals: Pay better attention in class, Take more effective notes, Get more out of your textbooks, Plan like a general, Build a better study environment, Fight entropy and stay organized, Defeat Procrastination, Study smarter, Write better papers, Make group projects suck less, Whether you''re in college or high school, this book will probably help you. But not if you''re a raccoon. I want to be very clear about that; if you''re a raccoon, please buy a different book. This one will do absolutely nothing for you. How did you even learn to read, anyway?

A look at why the worst economy since the 1930s has brought about the revival of conservatism.

This text presents a critical assessment of the state of America today, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the people. This edition contains a new afterword by the author.

New York Times–Bestselling Author: "Insightful analysis, moral passion, and keen satirical wit . . . both entertaining and an important commentary on the times." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) What does a middle-class democracy look like when it comes apart? When, after forty years of economic triumph, America''s winners persuade themselves that they owe nothing to the rest of the country? With his sharp eye for detail, Thomas Frank, author of What''s the Matter with Kansas?, takes us on a wide-ranging tour through present-day America, showing us a society in the late stages of disintegration and describing the worlds of both the winners and the losers—the sprawling mansion districts as well as the lives of fast-food workers. Rendezvous with Oblivion is a collection of interlocking essays examining how inequality has manifested itself in our cities, in our jobs, in the way we travel—and of course in our politics, where in 2016, millions of anxious ordinary people rallied to the presidential campaign of a billionaire who meant them no good. These accounts of folly and exploitation are brought together in a volume marked by Frank''s distinctive voice, sardonic wit, and anti-orthodox perspective. They capture a society where every status signifier is hollow, where the allure of mobility is just another con game, and where rebellion too often yields nothing. For those who despair of our country''s future and of reason itself, Rendezvous with Oblivion is a booster shot of energy, reality, and moral outrage. "[A] scathing take on contemporary American politics and culture." — Kirkus Reviews "An invaluable voice . . . as good as any writer working today." — San Francisco Chronicle

The classic bestselling study of the 1960s advertising industry that makes the case that what passes for cultural radicalism isn''t radical at all. "[A] bristlingly intelligent work. . . . An indispensable survival guide for any modern consumer." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) While the youth counterculture remains the most evocative and best-remembered symbol of the cultural ferment of the 1960s, the revolution that shook American business during those boom years has gone largely unremarked. In this fascinating and revealing study, Thomas Frank shows how the youthful revolutionaries were joined—and even anticipated —by such unlikely allies as the advertising industry and the men''s clothing business. "[Thomas Frank is] perhaps the most provocative young cultural critic of the moment." — New York Times Book Review "Frank makes an ironclad case not only that the advertising industry cunningly turned the countercultural rhetoric of revolution into a rallying cry to buy more stuff, but that the process itself actually predated any actual counterculture to exploit." — Toronto Globe and Mail " The Conquest of Cool helps us understand why, throughout the last third of the twentieth century, Americans have increasingly confused gentility with conformity, irony with protest, and an extended middle finger with a populist manifesto . . . His voice is an exciting addition to the soporific public discourse of the late twentieth century." — In These Times "An invaluable argument for anyone who has ever scoffed at hand-me-down counterculture from the ''60s. A spirited and exhaustive analysis of the era''s advertising." — Wired Magazine "Tom Frank is . . . not only old-fashioned, he''s anti-fashion, with a place in his heart for that ultimate social faux pas, leftist politics." — Details

Illustrated story of the people, archeology, history, and landscape of the Bible world with 50 original maps.