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Book Review: Political Writing—A Guide to the Essentials

Adam Garfinkle Political Writing-A Guide to the Essentials. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2012. 187 pp.Adam Garfinkle's Political Writing-A Guide to the Essentials is a compilation of some of the author's lectures and notes from teaching at the University of California's Washington, D.C.-based academic internship. Garfinkle mentions that students asked for these lectures, and this guide was a response to that interest. But Garfinkle also incorporates his vast expertise working for several prestigious individuals and organizations in various capacities as a speechwriter, researcher, and chief writer. These positions included stints with a U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (the Hart-Rudman Commission), and Senator Henry M. Jackson (D-WA).He is also the founding editor of The American Interest and the recipient of various awards and grants from the U.S. Department of State, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Moshe Dayan Center for the Study of Middle Eastern and African Affairs at Tel Aviv University.Garfinkle's guide provides both students and young professionals a very comprehensive explanation of the complexities of the political world and how to write persuasively and make words "that are standing still get up and dance to the rhythm of hearts and souls" (p. 178).The book consists of twelve chapters along with "Some Parting Words." The chapters vary from "The Fundamentals of Rhetoric and Polemic" to "Becoming a Better Writer," "Writing Better Still," "Letters, Toasts and Ceremonials," "Speechwriting," "The Op-Ed," and "Blogs."In his introduction, Garfinkle simply states that the "way to learn what good writing is . . . is to read a lot of good writing" (p. xviii). And the way to learn how to write well is "to keep at it until you get there" (p. xviii). Garfinkle explains the importance of understanding political persuasion and emphasizes the foundation and the essence of rhetoric-"the art of using language to persuade or influence others" (p. 3). We must provoke thought-and we must evoke feeling1:The history of language and history of politics are inseparable; indeed, the evolution of word meanings is a record of ongoing struggles over the use of language as a political weapon. (p. ix)Garfinkle takes us back to the philosophers Aristotle and Socrates, to the Age of Enlightenment-and to the libraries of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison-to stress the importance of language and political thought. In "Becoming a Better Writer," the author gives the reader some blunt advice. …