Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon - Hardcover

Martin, Justin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 073820563X ISBN 13: 9780738205632

Publisher: Basic Books, 2002

Synopsis

Few figures in our history have had the wide-ranging influence of Ralph Nader. Deemed by Rolling Stone the "most dangerous man in America," Nader has had a profound impact on our society and government.As a public figure, Nader is virtually without parallel, playing a lead role on the national stage for nearly four decades. The consummate public advocate and the "U.S.'s toughest customer" (Time), Nader has brought about the passage of groundbreaking laws covering everything from auto safety to hazardous x-rays to affordable insurance. Untold numbers of lives have been saved through his efforts.But the private man is shrouded in mystery and secrecy. For this probing biography, the first since 1975, Justin Martin spoke with Nader along with more than 300 people, including close associates, old friends, and family. The result is a sweeping portrait, covering Nader's small-town Connecticut boyhood, his days at Harvard Law, the David-and-Goliath battle with GM that launched him into the spotlight, and colorful encounters with characters as varied as Albert Einstein, Gloria Steinem, Fidel Castro, Phil Donahue, Susan Sarandon, Upton Sinclair, and Al Gore. The climax of this extraordinary story is an astonishingly revealing insider's account of the 2000 election. Nader is the definitive life of a fascinating, controversial man of our time-a true American icon.A Merloyd Lawrence Book

About this title

Review

Rolling Stone magazine approvingly called him "the most dangerous man in America." Owners of GM stock had less favorable epithets for him after his Corvair exposé. So did many voters, convinced that Al Gore lost only because of Ralph Nader's disruptive presence on the ballot.

Nader, Justin Martin writes in this meticulous biography, has "always taken everything to the extreme." Famed as the founder of the Nixon-era consumer-advocacy group Nader's Raiders, Nader has reveled in his gadfly role and has not been shy of using the courtroom to press his points, from auto safety to electoral reform. Inflexible, fiercely private, and single-minded, Nader seems not to care about being liked--which has lost him many potential allies among his natural constituency, Martin suggests. But he also gets things done, as even his detractors acknowledge.

Martin's book reveals Ralph Nader's many sides, admirable and otherwise. It makes thought-provoking reading for contrarians, would-be crusaders, and students of contemporary politics, no matter how they view Nader's role therein. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author

Justin Martin's biography of Alan Greenspan was both a Business Week best seller and a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year. His work has also appeared in Fortune, Newsweek, Worth, ESPN magazine, and Travel & Leisure. He lives in New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 073820563X
• ISBN 13: 9780738205632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288