Word: casey
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...style political novel rarely concentrated on a single man; it was narrative or panoramic, not analytical. The new politics born in the last decade often seems based on personality, so Wilfrid Sheed's new-style novel is the portrait of one man, Senator Brian Casey. Crippled by polio since the age of 15, Casey turns his deformity into a power base after he discovers that "people will always be kind". But this childhood trauma is the source of Casey's instability as well as his appeal, and eventually leads to his decision to throw away his chances for the Presidency...
...Casey's campaign is equipped with the standard props -- cynical Irish father, devout Catholic mother, crazy aunts, WASP college roommates, leftist Jewish professors, a hard-boiled campaign manager, sex-crazed secretaries. Only Casey himself stands out from this familiar array. The first half of the book is a family chronicle of his illness, the second -- after a gap of twenty years -- the story of his race for President. The long hiatus leaves our understanding of Casey hopelessly incomplete...
...Casey might be less opaque if Sam Perkins, through whom Sheed presents the campaign, were more observant. A Harvard speechwriter who becomes his candidate's Ivy League conscience, Perkins concentrates more on the sexual activities of the campaign secretary than on Casey's political life. This secretary exaggerates the love interest of the old political novel -- her cool efficiency disintegrates into virtual nymphomania whenever Casey wins a primary. Sheed ignores the opportunity to describe the fascinating symbiosis of sex and politics within a campaign; he is satisfied to turn a writer's trick with tradition. Sheed's disappointing conclusion...
...introducing polio and making Casey Irish, Sheed means to conjure up the myths of Roosevelt and Kennedy. But he accomplishes little with this powerful material beyond a few superficial parallels between the attitudes of the polio victim and the politician. The best of these comparisons suggests that both outwardly trust the advice of experts, but privately count on a miracle to solve their difficulties...
...probably pitchers for the Lions have not been selected yet but they will come from Columbia's top three men. Bill Casey stands as the Columbia ace with a 3-0 record and an ERA of 2.50. Unfortunately for the Lions, though, none of his wins were league games. The other possible pitchers are Frank Gordon (1-3) with a 3.00 ERA and Glenn Erikson (0-3) and a skyrocketted...