We Know What to Do

Library Journal

Presidential candidates frequently write "campaign books" that are either brief autobiographies or explications of the policies they intend to pursue if elected to the White House. This volume by former Tennessee governor and current Republican presidential candidate Alexander clearly is a campaign book, but it takes neither of the two traditional forms. Instead, Alexander describes a cross-country drive that he made in the summer of 1994 and the people he visited with on that trip. The problems and accomplishments of these people serve as the backdrop for a few public policy proposals. The format of the book makes it more readable than the majority of campaign books. But whether it provides the general reader with sufficient information to evaluate Alexander, or to distinguish him from others in the crowded field of 1996 Republican hopefuls, is problematical. An optional purchase for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/95.]-Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette