Ed Park is a Democrat

I’m about halfway through Personal Days and I’m pretty sure Ed Park is a Democrat. Or something like that, maybe a Green party member or whatever, but certainly not a Republican. Why? Is it just statistical reasoning, he’s a youngish writer who lives in NYC? I think it’s more than that, there’s something about the book that screams “Democrat.” Not that a Republican wouldn’t make fun of corporate culture but it would be done in a more affectionate, Christopher Buckley-style way.

I’m not saying every artistic-type writer is a Democrat. For example, I don’t know anything about David Foster Wallace’s politics, but based on what I’ve read of him, he could’ve been a Republican. He probably wasn’t, but he had that elitist thing going on.

David Mamet, he’s a famous Democrat-turned-Republican, but I think it’s fair to say that all along he could’ve been either. Updike’s in the middle of the road, Gore Vidal is to the left of the Democrats but I could picture him as a Republican, sort of. . . .

OK, this is getting pretty pointless. . . clearly it’s getting too close to the election for me . . . I’ll have to finish Personal Days and tell Jeff whether I recommend it. Caroline read one page and said, hey, isn’t this just like that other book you read about those people in an office? I said, yeah, but it’s a great theme, surely big enough to hold two good books. I showed her the scene with Grime’s typos, I’d been laughing aloud at that, but she didn’t quite see the point. Perhaps it was only funny after the pages and pages of implicit setup.

7 thoughts on “Ed Park is a Democrat

  1. When I first heard that Mark Helprin is a Republican, I was absolutely floored. A Soldier of the Great War just seemed like such a humane book, explicitly against prejudice, cynical about war, concerned about the downtrodden. In line with Republican values from decades ago, perhaps, but seemingly not with those of the past twenty years. I still don't know how to reconcile Helprin the author with Helprin the Republican speechwriter.

  2. One of the things I liked about Red State, Blue State was that it wasn't obvious whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. Not that I think there's anything wrong with identifying with one party or the other, per se. And I can probably guess. But the book was fact-based, and not intent on scoring points against or belittling the other side. That is a rare thing in political books these days.

    Rare in blog comments too.

  3. Like John S., I couldn't tell from RSBSRSPS whether you are Democratic or Republican.

    Now, I can GUESS … a Jewish (that's a good guess) professor at Columbia U. is likely to be a Democrat. But usually it's not a guess, it's blindingly obvious.

  4. 1. It's no coincidence that our book has no political slant. Its five authors are two Democrats, two Republicans, and a Mexican.

    2. In the book I wanted to give people what they couldn't get elsewhere. My political opinions are unremarkable but I think that my coauthors and I had something to add in the recounting and analysis of public opinion.

    3. See here for my thoughts on politically committed research.

  5. Christopher Buckley is a Republican?

    Also, I'm thinking of voting third party. How do I find out more about these "Mexicans"?

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