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Ellen Fischer #1
A Time to Run
"A tale of friendship and betrayal, pragmatism and idealism, infighting and spin, the novel opens on the eve of a crucial vote on an ultra-conservative Supreme Court nominee. Senator Ellen Fischer is handed explosive documents that will surely derail the nomination she opposes - if she takes them to the floor of the Senate the next day. Her key staff members are divided: one urges her to go public, since no nomination could withstand such revelations. Another is more cautious - there are other battles to be fought, and this information cannot be verified before the vote takes place. Making matters more complex, the source of the information is Greg Hunter, a journalist with right-wing credentials. Greg is also Ellen's former lover - and the best friend of her beloved husband, Josh, whose own political career was fatally, and suspiciously, cut short." "Ellen faces an ethical and practical dilemma: Say nothing, and a dangerous judge will take a seat on the highest court in the land. Speak up, and Senator Fischer's own career may be irreparably jeopardized. In coming to her decision, Ellen is forced to confront truths not just about her present and her future, but also about the mysteries of her past." From student activism on the streets of Berkeley to intrigue deep in the hideaways under the Capitol, A Time to Run is the story of one woman's unexpected rise to political prominence and the difficult choices that come with it. Barbara Boxer, writing with Mary-Rose Hayes, reveals the inner workings of the corridors of power and creates a memorable portrait of what makes people - and our government - tick.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Boxer
16 books11 followersBarbara Levy Boxer is an American Democratic politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. She holds the record for the most popular votes in a statewide contested election in California, having received 6,955,728 votes in her 2004 re-election over former Republican Secretary of State Bill Jones.
Boxer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, becoming one of the first of two female Jewish senators, along with Dianne Feinstein. Throughout her career, Boxer has been a vocal advocate for environmental issues, abortion rights, gun control, and medical research. She is generally classified as liberal and is often in conflict with conservative groups.
With the convening of the 110th Congress, Boxer became the first female chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and, following the resignation of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) from the post, she was also chosen as chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics. This made her the only senator to preside over two committees at the same time.
She holds the position of Chief Deputy Whip in Majority.
Boxer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, becoming one of the first of two female Jewish senators, along with Dianne Feinstein. Throughout her career, Boxer has been a vocal advocate for environmental issues, abortion rights, gun control, and medical research. She is generally classified as liberal and is often in conflict with conservative groups.
With the convening of the 110th Congress, Boxer became the first female chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and, following the resignation of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) from the post, she was also chosen as chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics. This made her the only senator to preside over two committees at the same time.
She holds the position of Chief Deputy Whip in Majority.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 1, 2012
This is the story of Ellen Fischer. She is elected the senator from California when her husband, who was running for the office, dies. The day before a crucial vote on a supreme court nominee, she is presented with information that could destroy the nominee. She has to decide whether the information, fed to her by a right-wing reporter and ex-lover, is valid and what to do with it. Much of the story is a flashback to her college days and the times she spends as the head of a children's advocacy group in the Bay area.This book is written by the current senator from California. While there is no indication that it is autobiographical, she does have a good inside view of how politics works, and the mixture between money, politics, favor-trading, personality and sex.
August 18, 2012
Should be 3.5 stars...I started this last night, read a couple of hours, read a few more today, and am done. I'd say it is about as quick a read and as good a book as those of Richard North Patterson (who endorsed it on the cover and who is acknowledged by Barbara Boxer. I wish I knew which part of the book/plot/editing was written by BB and which by coauthor Mary-Rose Hayes. Having been through the 70's and having known several public defenders during those times, I'd say she was very accurate in her descriptions of the times. Nicely plotted with a good dose of politics; close to The Ninth Wave and even better than Advice and Consent.
October 16, 2009
Currently indulging myself with another pseudo-fictional account of a woman in politics. This one was actually written by Senator Boxer and tells the tale... imagined I'm sure... of a female Senator from California. Fictional or not, it's still fun to read a novel about Washington Insiders written by a Washington Insider - but the plot and writing is a bit painful. I'm not actually sure I'll make it through this one...
PS. Also enjoy the references to the fictional top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leary...
PS. Also enjoy the references to the fictional top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leary...
August 13, 2016
I read the first draft of this in my Chronicle days, and was pleased by how well the final version was "directed" and edited. The effort is certainly admirable; the book is just okay. It's certainly not bad--just a bit forgetable.
December 4, 2013
A terrific political thriller that draws extensively on the author's experiences in the halls of government. Dirty tricks and personal betrayals abound in this one, which, unfortunately, sounds like business as usual in the world of politics.
August 19, 2007
Democrats are idealists trying to change the world; Republicans are financially motivated hacks trying to bend government to their business interests.
December 9, 2008
Barbara Boxer's a much better politician than she is a writer of suspense novels.
July 5, 2009
Engaging political novel, but Boxer is no Richard North Patterson. On the other hand, RNP is no Barbar Boxer, either.
September 5, 2009
An interesting political thriller, with a backstory that's more romantic triangle. The resolution comes swiftly. However, I look forward to more of Ellen Fischer.
September 1, 2009
This is a fun read without much content.
January 17, 2011
I liked it. It is more fluff reading than learning about the senatorial experience, but overall enjoyable.
July 12, 2012
While the book is non-fiction, it was a great story about the people who try to do right for the right reasons and the people who hamper them. A good book.
January 22, 2014
great book. it was cool to see behind the scenes of political manuevering
Read
January 8, 2016So this is politics? Scary
March 14, 2016
A page turner by Senator Barbara Boxer about the rise of a woman into power. Old friends, enemies, faith in the system and the desire to change the world.
March 25, 2016
A lighthearted novel loosely taking place in have CA/DC political scene.
January 6, 2008
A thought provoking look inside politics.
September 5, 2018
Minor spoilers-
This is somewhat of a psych thriller mystery in it's presentation, and I have n catagory for political fiction. I enjoyed the book because I have spent years living in the Bay Area, some in the city some in Berkeley and some in Oakland. Many of the places were recognizable or I thougt I knew where they were under different names. This is a highly plausible novel about Ellen, who started out with two housemate friends in Eucalyptus House, married one of them, and then lost her husband in a car crash. From the start Ellen is everything likable in a Berkeley activist of the seventies, cute, red- headed, fiesty, passionate and genuinely kind. Her cause is children's rights, and her sociology project grows into the Chidlren's Alliance. Joshua, or Josh is the son of Jewish immigrants who still remember the fate of the St. Louis, the ship turned back from the Western Hemisphere, sending Jewish refugees scrambling for sanctuary in Europe overflowing with Nazi victories. He's a likable character too, but his isues are the entire Berkeley breadbasket. His roomate, Greg gives uproarious immitations of Richard Nixon, but his politics are far more conservative than his buddy Josh. He is wise enough to keep most of his opinions to himself as Berkeley is not a free speech zone for Conservative views, and any espousing of them will leave one socially isolated. And this is perceived by Ellen, who ultimately chooses Josh, although she does more than consider Greg.
Greg's complexity comes from growing up motherless, and then he looses his older brother, Tim to Vietnam. This changes the family permanently, leaving is father emotionally crippled toward his remaining son, and worshipping the dead one. Greg gets out of the working class box, winning a swimming scholarship to Berkeley, where the girls learn to over look his crew cut because he's a golden handsome boy. Ultimately he will return to the midWest, work a series of regional papers and retun some 8 years later to the Bay Area, where rents have soared. He's got a decent job, but a relationship with an old girlfriend (who happens to be rich) springboards his career into becoming a right wing pundit. Years of seducing women and playing roles in strange environments have left him a master manipulator and a good investigative journalist. He's assigned an investigator, Micaela, who also becomes a bed buddy, despite the fact he's now married, with two kids. Meanwhile, they are investigating every marital indescretion of the opposing team, which is now comprised of his two old friends, the Fischers. He uses his memories, his knowledge of them to aid his investigation and ultimately, his repeated betrayals of their friendship. I find Ellen a little obtuse in figuring out his lack of loyalty, but it's obscured in her mind by the golden afternoon when the three of them were simply friends. By the end of the book I wish Ellen had left it that way. And sociopath's are charming, Micaela will tell you.
In some ways Greg personifies the role of the press in politics-an old unrelated slur is dug up to block an election, an appointment or a piece of legislation. In some ways it doesn't matter how much of the information is true, simply that it is timed to foul the character at the precise moment when they are to engage. He also embodies the way the good old boy network owns it's players-his life of luxury is earned by his continued hackery and investigation of his old friends. The hackery comes in the form of writing a flattering biography of one of his father in laws' old buddies an actor with strong right wing views. The skullduggery is writing a pro gun piece and then another shortly after his old friends have narrowly disarmed a highschool shooter. While he is personally sympathetic to their stressful experience, it is merely a ploy to get more information for his first article, followed by one about his own wife, who has decided to become a pistol-toting mama. Two seemingly "personal interest pieces" are to overweigh the harrowing experience that cost two people their lives and almost took out out two married main characters. Sympathy as a misdirect comes up as a secondary theme after Josh dies, and Ellen decides that it is time to run. She has her own agenda, and the party has no one else to face Slather, the Republican incumbent. You know she's no longer a mere community organizer by the first twenty pages of the book so there's no spoiler here.
About the narrative structure-the book goes back and forth in time, pretty artfully, which makes it a psych thriller- you want to know how Josh died, because Ellen is sitting in that chair you thought was his chair. And after awhile you want to know what these likable kids got up to that led them to this, expecially how Greg and Josh fell out of step with one another, and how the years apart changed them back into what they were originally, as if college is merely a coat of polish that wears off, revealing the original surfaces.
I am somewhat surprised to see there are more books, that it is series. Maybe...
This is somewhat of a psych thriller mystery in it's presentation, and I have n catagory for political fiction. I enjoyed the book because I have spent years living in the Bay Area, some in the city some in Berkeley and some in Oakland. Many of the places were recognizable or I thougt I knew where they were under different names. This is a highly plausible novel about Ellen, who started out with two housemate friends in Eucalyptus House, married one of them, and then lost her husband in a car crash. From the start Ellen is everything likable in a Berkeley activist of the seventies, cute, red- headed, fiesty, passionate and genuinely kind. Her cause is children's rights, and her sociology project grows into the Chidlren's Alliance. Joshua, or Josh is the son of Jewish immigrants who still remember the fate of the St. Louis, the ship turned back from the Western Hemisphere, sending Jewish refugees scrambling for sanctuary in Europe overflowing with Nazi victories. He's a likable character too, but his isues are the entire Berkeley breadbasket. His roomate, Greg gives uproarious immitations of Richard Nixon, but his politics are far more conservative than his buddy Josh. He is wise enough to keep most of his opinions to himself as Berkeley is not a free speech zone for Conservative views, and any espousing of them will leave one socially isolated. And this is perceived by Ellen, who ultimately chooses Josh, although she does more than consider Greg.
Greg's complexity comes from growing up motherless, and then he looses his older brother, Tim to Vietnam. This changes the family permanently, leaving is father emotionally crippled toward his remaining son, and worshipping the dead one. Greg gets out of the working class box, winning a swimming scholarship to Berkeley, where the girls learn to over look his crew cut because he's a golden handsome boy. Ultimately he will return to the midWest, work a series of regional papers and retun some 8 years later to the Bay Area, where rents have soared. He's got a decent job, but a relationship with an old girlfriend (who happens to be rich) springboards his career into becoming a right wing pundit. Years of seducing women and playing roles in strange environments have left him a master manipulator and a good investigative journalist. He's assigned an investigator, Micaela, who also becomes a bed buddy, despite the fact he's now married, with two kids. Meanwhile, they are investigating every marital indescretion of the opposing team, which is now comprised of his two old friends, the Fischers. He uses his memories, his knowledge of them to aid his investigation and ultimately, his repeated betrayals of their friendship. I find Ellen a little obtuse in figuring out his lack of loyalty, but it's obscured in her mind by the golden afternoon when the three of them were simply friends. By the end of the book I wish Ellen had left it that way. And sociopath's are charming, Micaela will tell you.
In some ways Greg personifies the role of the press in politics-an old unrelated slur is dug up to block an election, an appointment or a piece of legislation. In some ways it doesn't matter how much of the information is true, simply that it is timed to foul the character at the precise moment when they are to engage. He also embodies the way the good old boy network owns it's players-his life of luxury is earned by his continued hackery and investigation of his old friends. The hackery comes in the form of writing a flattering biography of one of his father in laws' old buddies an actor with strong right wing views. The skullduggery is writing a pro gun piece and then another shortly after his old friends have narrowly disarmed a highschool shooter. While he is personally sympathetic to their stressful experience, it is merely a ploy to get more information for his first article, followed by one about his own wife, who has decided to become a pistol-toting mama. Two seemingly "personal interest pieces" are to overweigh the harrowing experience that cost two people their lives and almost took out out two married main characters. Sympathy as a misdirect comes up as a secondary theme after Josh dies, and Ellen decides that it is time to run. She has her own agenda, and the party has no one else to face Slather, the Republican incumbent. You know she's no longer a mere community organizer by the first twenty pages of the book so there's no spoiler here.
About the narrative structure-the book goes back and forth in time, pretty artfully, which makes it a psych thriller- you want to know how Josh died, because Ellen is sitting in that chair you thought was his chair. And after awhile you want to know what these likable kids got up to that led them to this, expecially how Greg and Josh fell out of step with one another, and how the years apart changed them back into what they were originally, as if college is merely a coat of polish that wears off, revealing the original surfaces.
I am somewhat surprised to see there are more books, that it is series. Maybe...
March 14, 2018
A good political novel.
August 6, 2016
The reviews on Amazon.com would have one think this is totally tripe written by someone who has no business writing fictional books when she should be doing her job, worthless Senator that she is. In all honesty, as long as you're not expecting Pulitzer Prize- (insert some other award) winning writing, it's not half bad.
Senator Ellen Fischer is a Senator from California that receives damning information about a Supreme Court nominee. Her story is told mostly in flashback, from her time in college, to her marriage to Josh Fischer, (a fellow liberal at UC Berkeley who goes on to run for the House and then Senate), their friendship to Greg Hunter, (conservative journalist turned operative) and her eventual run for office.
There's political intrigue in spades: from handling a tricky nomination to dealing with damaging personal information to big donors wheeling and dealing behind certain politicians to having a spouse run on an empty slot on the ticket. It's not government-speak heavy though. If the reader has some familiarity with how things are done in Congress, he or she wouldn't get lost, and again, someone who has no idea can probably follow along anyway. But the story really focuses on Ellen and the two major men in her life, Josh and Greg.
Some of the writing is clunky and awkward--I put it down to it being Sen. Boxer's first novel (I am not sure if she's written other books, but I think it's her first fictional book). The character development is somewhat shallow. I realize politics is politics, but some of the actions of certain characters needed more fleshing out and not be so cliched. But I admit I was intrigued enough to keep reading to see how it would end.
That said, I must admit I was biased as am familiar with Boxer and am familiar with some of the locales and businesses named in the book. If you're a Republican, hate Boxer or have never been to the San Francisco Bay Area, this book might not have much appeal for you. I am also quite curious: how much of this book is based on Boxer's life? There some major differences between Boxer and Ellen Fischer, but I can't help but wonder who her various characters were based upon, if they have real life counterparts.
I picked this book up with low expectations (it's not life-changing and I thought the writing would be much worse), but enjoyed spending a day with Sen. Fischer and her story. Bargain or library for sure, unless you're a big fan of Boxer.
Senator Ellen Fischer is a Senator from California that receives damning information about a Supreme Court nominee. Her story is told mostly in flashback, from her time in college, to her marriage to Josh Fischer, (a fellow liberal at UC Berkeley who goes on to run for the House and then Senate), their friendship to Greg Hunter, (conservative journalist turned operative) and her eventual run for office.
There's political intrigue in spades: from handling a tricky nomination to dealing with damaging personal information to big donors wheeling and dealing behind certain politicians to having a spouse run on an empty slot on the ticket. It's not government-speak heavy though. If the reader has some familiarity with how things are done in Congress, he or she wouldn't get lost, and again, someone who has no idea can probably follow along anyway. But the story really focuses on Ellen and the two major men in her life, Josh and Greg.
Some of the writing is clunky and awkward--I put it down to it being Sen. Boxer's first novel (I am not sure if she's written other books, but I think it's her first fictional book). The character development is somewhat shallow. I realize politics is politics, but some of the actions of certain characters needed more fleshing out and not be so cliched. But I admit I was intrigued enough to keep reading to see how it would end.
That said, I must admit I was biased as am familiar with Boxer and am familiar with some of the locales and businesses named in the book. If you're a Republican, hate Boxer or have never been to the San Francisco Bay Area, this book might not have much appeal for you. I am also quite curious: how much of this book is based on Boxer's life? There some major differences between Boxer and Ellen Fischer, but I can't help but wonder who her various characters were based upon, if they have real life counterparts.
I picked this book up with low expectations (it's not life-changing and I thought the writing would be much worse), but enjoyed spending a day with Sen. Fischer and her story. Bargain or library for sure, unless you're a big fan of Boxer.
July 20, 2016
Pleasantly surprised. A quick read and enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews