Name-Dropping - by John Kenneth Galbraith (Paperback)

About the Book

Drawing on a lifetime of access to many great public figures, the famous economist offers a clear-eyed, unsparing, and amusing "look at prominent people . . . [he] has known, from FDR on" (Larry King, "USA Today") and offers a rich and uniquely personal history of the century he helped to shape. A "New York Times" Notable Book. 8-page insert.

Book Synopsis

"Names? You want names? No one knows better ones than John Kenneth Galbraith" (San Diego Union-Tribune). With the dazzling insight, humor, and literary skill that mark Galbraith as one of the most distinguished writers of our time, Name-Dropping charts the political landscape of the past sixty-five years. Drawing on a lifetime of access to many great public figures, the famous economist offers a clear-eyed, unsparing, and amusing "look at prominent people . . . [he] has known, from FDR on" (Larry King, USA Today) and offers a rich and uniquely personal history of the century -- a history he helped to shape.

Review Quotes

"Name-Dropping: From FDR On is mischievously and merrily unrepentant." Boston Globe

"It is not usual for a man past his 90th birthday to write a book that is as fresh and lively as the work of a 30-year-old. But John Kenneth Galbraith is not a usual man, and he has done it." The New York Times

"[Galbraith's] impressionistic sojourn through his astounding career provides glimpses of some of the century's most remarkable personalities -- including his own." Publishers Weekly

"Galbraith never pretends to greater intimacy than he achieved with the public figures he describes in these brief essays, but each portrait tells us something we wouldn't have otherwise known." The New Yorker

"Ken Galbraith's book is a delight -- full of wonderful vignettes as well as his usual caustic wit and wisdom." -- Joseph Nye, Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government

"With wondrous prose, brilliant wit, and profound insight, John Kenneth Galbraith has re-created his era and made it ours. Name-Dropping is history made both entertaining and memorable." -- William J. vanden Heuvel, President, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute

"Wise, brilliant, witty, young in spirit, aged in loyalty and in friendship -- with a love of life -- and Kitty -- all packed into a 6 foot 8 inch giant of wry bemusement." -- Senator Alan K. Simpson

"With characteristic wit and unconventional wisdom, Galbraith illuminates several of the century's great, near-great, and not-as-great-as-they-thought-they-were. Name-Dropping is simply a delight." -- Robert B. Reich

"Rightly acclaimed as an economist, here in Name-Dropping, Galbraith demonstrates himself the consummate litterateur and master of the biographical sketch. In these beautifully-executed renderings of friends and acquaintance who just happen to be among the 20th century's major figures), he is wise, sly, funny, and perfectly pitched in his assessments." -- Dr. Richard Parker, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

"When the lapidary Kenneth Galbraith drops names they fizz like bubbles in a champagne of a book: John Kennedy and Jacqueline, FDR, Eleanor, Adlai Stevenson, Albert Speer, Bernard Baruch, Harry Truman, Nehru, and LBJ. The wit and insights are vintage Galbraith." -- Harold Evans, author of The American Century

"It is hard to believe that Galbraith is an economist, for he is such a gifted writer...More than the self-effacing title indicates, this book offers important insights into the people and times on which its author reflects. Galbraith writes with a wit, style, and elegance few can match... At its close, Galbraith helps us make sense of the people and forces that shaped the 20th century." Library Journal

"Name-Dropping is a look at prominent people the former ambassador to India and famed economist has known, from FDR on." -- Larry King USA Today

"Names? You want names? No one knows better ones than John Kenneth Galbraith." The San Diego Union-Tribune

"If the title of John Kenneth Galbraith's latest and most charming memoir turns you off, wait a moment...This slim book serves to remind us that idealism and trust once existed in the White House and Washington, a fact that may seem unbelievable to the present generation." Newsday

"No one has been more inside than John Kenneth Galbraith. In Name Dropping, he shares a dozen intimate portraits of the men and women who figured prominently in his life - from Harry Truman to Jacqueline Onassis." Town and Country

"A lively and breezy set of essays with flashes of penetrating insight." The Boston Book Review

"Writing with great decorum, and even greater intelligence, Galbraith focuses on personality and politics in his fond but balanced portraits of the powerful." Boston Magazine --