All The King's Men

Set in the '30s, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Stark, a fictional chara... (more)

Set in the '30s, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Stark, a fictional character who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Stark begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success and caught between dreams of service and an insatiable lust for power. The model for 1996's best-selling novel, Primary Colors, and as relevant today as it was fifty years ago, All the King's Men is one of the classics of American literature. (less)

A dynamic backwoods lawyer batters his way into the governor's mansion, where he uses his unprincipled charm to become a... (more)

A dynamic backwoods lawyer batters his way into the governor's mansion, where he uses his unprincipled charm to become a brutal dictator. (less)

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Willie Stark is an uncorrupted small-town mayor in 1950s Louisiana. He gets picked by the political machine to run as a ... (more)

Willie Stark is an uncorrupted small-town mayor in 1950s Louisiana. He gets picked by the political machine to run as a wild card candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial race. But, when Willie realizes that he is being manipulated, he veers off on his own to become the darling of the electorate's downtrodden and forgotten hicks. Covering the campaign for a local paper is Jack Burden, whose editorial pieces become so admiring of Willie that he's fired. But, when Stark wins, Burden hires onto the new governor's team as a personal aide. Once in office, Governor Stark antagonizes the state legislature, the oil companies, and the moneyed classes with his share-the-wealth promises to the sweaty masses. Legislators become so outraged that they start serious impeachment talk, a move supported by the admired and retired Judge Irwin, who also happens to be Jack's godfather. (less)