"We're Liberals, Damn It!"

By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 12/19/2007 10:39:00 AM

Conservative writers have been making money on the "L" Word—liberal—for years. Just look at some of Ann Coulter’s titles: Godless: The Church of Liberalism, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) and Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. And the fun isn't over yet: Next spring, Jonah Goldberg, conservative columnist of the Los Angeles Times, will have a book called Liberal Fascism, which Doubleday, his publisher, assures us "will elicit howls of indignation from the liberal establishment."

It's no wonder that publishers are attracted to liberal-bashing books. Except for the occasional Al Franken, or Michael Moore or Jon Stewart book, the political mega-bestsellers in recent years have been written by right-wingers: Coulter, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, the list goes on and continues with last month's release of Glenn Beck’s An Inconvenient Book.

But now publishers are starting to embrace the liberal label--with books in which the L-word is either used outright or strongly implied. This fall Norton published Paul Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal. In February Viking will publish Why We’re Liberals by Eric Alterman. Praeger Publishers will be part of the trend next fall with A Liberal Tool Kit: Progressive Responses to Conservative Arguments. The spring and summer is also packed with books by and about liberals, such as Al Gore’s The Path to Survival and Madam Speaker by Marc Sandalow, a biography of Nancy Pelosi (both Rodale books). Henry Holt will remember the 40th anniversary of the death of Bobby Kennedy in June with The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America by Thurston Clarke, then add This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation by Barbara Ehrenreich in July, followed by a yet untitled book by Thomas Frank, who wrote What’s the Matter with Kansas? in August. And an avalanche of anti-Bush, anti-war, anti-GOP titles are coming in 2008. (editor's note: see PW’s January 14th issue for a full rundown of next year's political titles).

Krugman’s editor, Norton president Drake McFeely, explained why the timing was right for Conscience, "What we’re betting on is the fact that the left needs a book like this. It needs a leader like Paul who is willing to stand forthrightly and proudly and say ‘I’m a liberal..'" Bookscan reports that as of December 9th, The Conscience of a Liberal has sold 32,952 copies.

Not long ago even Krugman, a columnist for the New York Times, seemed a bit squeamish about the L-word. In 2003 he told PW, "I’m not all that much of a liberal." Four years late later, Krugman embraces the label. "Well," he told PW via telephone with some amusement in his voice, "we’ve been a little defined, right?" So why did he call his new book The Conscience of a Liberal (Norton)? "I was looking for some way to express the idea that this was a manifesto of sorts," he says. "Also, because the whole book is really about a cycle that I hope is coming to an end—a cycle that sort of began with Barry Goldwater—so the allusion to the Goldwater book (The Conscience of a Conservative) is from more than 40 years ago."

Another liberal voice that will be heard is Eric Alterman, university professor, media columnist for The Nation, and blogger for MediaMatters.com. His new book, Why We’re Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America, will be published by Viking in February 2008. "The title, Why We’re Liberals," Alterman told PW, "is a proud statement of no apologies. We’re liberals, damn it!" Alterman believes Liberalism is rebounding because, "The people who have dishonored it—the right-wing think tanks and the conservatives in the media who provide the intellectual foundation of the Bush administration—have been discredited by and large by the adoption of much of their program."

If a theme is developing here among liberal thinkers, it’s stand for something—and be proud of it. "[Liberals] need to stop apologizing," said Alterman. "They need to say, this is where we stand. Liberals need to be able to say ‘here’s where we stand, agree with us or not.’ And most people agree with them."

This is echoed by Laura Hazard Owen of Skyhorse, who will be publishing What Liberals Believe by William Martin in early 2008. "The word ‘liberal,’ " says Owen, "derives from the Greek and Latin words meaning ‘free.’ It’s not a bad word and it’s not a bad label. But it is a word that makes some people nervous. I hope they’ll be struck by the ballsy title of this book."