Taft 2012
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Fleet Cooper
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By:
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Jason Heller
About this listen
He's back. And he's the biggest thing in politics.
He is the perfect presidential candidate. Conservatives love his hard-hitting Republican rsum. Liberals love his peaceful, progressive practicality. The media can’t get enough of his larger-than-life personality. And all the American people love that he’s an honest, hard-working man who tells it like it is. There’s just one problem. He is William Howard Taft...and he was already president a hundred years ago.
So what on earth is he doing alive and well and considering a running mate in 2012?A most extraordinary satire, Jason Heller’s debut novel follows the strange new life of a presidential Rip Van Winkle: a man who never even wanted the White House in the first place, yet finds himself hurtling toward it once more—this time, through the media-fueled madness of 21st-century America.
©2012 Jason Heller (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
A satirical indictment of the current state of American politics, Jason Heller's Taft: 2012 imagines that William Howard Taft is running for president again, this time as a 100-year-old anachronism thrust into the media blitz that is the presidential race in the current climate. Fleet Cooper's rugged and deft narration draws clear lines between Taft and the world around him, expertly exposing the absurdity of his situation. At times poignant, at times comedic, this speculative novel is a listening experience that audiences will continue to enjoy.
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HAND DANCING
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-30-15
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Primary Colors
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Primary Colors offers a richly detailed look at life on the political stump. As former congressional aide Henry Burton is dazzled and lured into presidential hopeful Jack Stanton's fledgling campaign, he becomes a cog in Stanton's unstoppable political machine. Burton illuminates, through his actions and observations, the sometimes seamy, sometimes steamy and sometimes surprisingly noble ascent to the presidency.
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- By Laurie on 10-15-08
By: Anonymous
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Stand on Zanzibar
- By: John Brunner, Bruce Sterling - foreword
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically - it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him. Society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers and mass-marketed psychedelic drugs.
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perfect audio experience
- By Darryl on 03-24-14
By: John Brunner, and others
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Player Piano
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
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A Genuine 5-Stars
- By R.A. on 06-07-19
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch
- By: Haywood Smith
- Narrated by: Anne Gartlan
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Southern housewife Linwood Breedlove Scott was happily content in her comfortable 30-year marriage, but when her husband cleans out their bank accounts and runs off with a stripper, her life takes a hilarious, yet touching, right turn into reality. With no place to go but home, she's forced back to her eccentric family she escaped by marrying at 19. But despite her newly dependent situation, Lin begins to stand on her own two feet and wake up to the joys - and perils - of life as a single woman.
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Haywood Smith is royal with this book!
- By Dave on 12-09-12
By: Haywood Smith
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Hunter
- A Thriller
- By: Robert Bidinotto
- Narrated by: Conor Hall
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From its first moments, Hunter takes you on a nonstop thrill ride: from the top floor of the CIA, to the marbled corridors of Capitol Hill...from the posh hotels of downtown Washington, to the city's mean, violent streets. It introduces a colorful new hero for our time - and a dazzling heroine every bit his equal. A spy mystery...a crime thriller...a passionate romance: Hunter is a genre-bending novel unlike any you've read. Deviously plotted, filled with vivid characters, and propelled at a breakneck pace.
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Best Vigilante Story since Without Remorse
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 04-16-16
By: Robert Bidinotto
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The Ultimate Gift
- By: Jim Stovall
- Narrated by: Tom Bosley
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family. Jason does not become an instant millionaire. What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.
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A Delightful Story Well Told!
- By Daniel Wms on 07-14-15
By: Jim Stovall
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Murder at the Kennedy Center
- By: Margaret Truman
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Kenneth Ewald has what it takes to win the presidency: the support of his party, a lovely wife, a dynamic campaign. What neither he nor any candidate needs is a corpse. He knows only one man capable of solving a crime, clearing his son, putting his campaign back on track and catching a killer: his best friend Mac Smith. Oddly enough, it was Mac and his dog Rufus who found the body in the first place.
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Truman
- By Barbra on 01-01-08
By: Margaret Truman
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Weekend Warriors
- Sisterhood, Book 1
- By: Fern Michaels
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On the surface, these seven women are as different as can be - but each has had her share of bad luck, from cheating husbands to sexist colleagues to a legal system that often doesn't do its job. Now, drawn together by tragedy, they're forging a bond that will help them right the wrongs committed against them and discover an inner strength they didn't know they had. The Sisterhood is learning that when bad things happen, you can roll over and play dead...or you can get up fighting...
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Weekend Warriors
- By Ms Mare on 04-04-09
By: Fern Michaels
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Process of Elimination
- A Thriller
- By: Arthur T. Bradley
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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A powerful international organization wants to tip the balance of global power by infiltrating the White House. At the direction of its mastermind, alias Pecos Bill, presidential candidates have become unwitting targets of a world-class sharpshooter. A martial arts expert, a greedy corporate attorney, and a self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist form a shaky alliance initially intent on solving a missing persons case, only to get caught up in a bigger political plot in which they must uncover the assassin’s identity....
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unlistenable
- By itinerant on 11-28-17
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Savage News
- By: Jessica Yellin
- Narrated by: Jessica Yellin
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Be noisy. Natalie Savage grew up hearing these words from her father, who admired Walter Cronkite so much he named the family dog after him. Natalie - who spent her 20s missing out on life’s benchmarks - finally sees her efforts pay off when she’s assigned to cover the White House for her network. The problem? The position is only temporary, a test to see if she has what it takes. She has always relied on her grit, her principles and her news sense to gain success. But now her competition is a frat boy who got his big break by eating raw animal parts on a reality show.
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Great insight into newsworld, Just OK novel
- By Zack on 05-10-19
By: Jessica Yellin
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Red Plenty
- By: Francis Spufford
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Strange as it may seem, the gray, oppressive USSR was founded on a fairy tale. It was built on the 20th-century magic called "the planned economy," which was going to gush forth an abundance of good things that the lands of capitalism could never match. And just for a little while, in the heady years of the late 1950s, the magic seemed to be working. Red Plenty is about that moment in history, and how it came, and how it went away. Red Plenty is history, it's fiction, it's as ambitious as Sputnik, and as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant.
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Simple review
- By Jay J Peters on 06-24-18
By: Francis Spufford
What listeners say about Taft 2012
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Puffer
- 04-09-14
Genial, wise political comedy
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Heller is a talented writer, has a great sense of the absurd, both dark and broad, and a wise take on modern culture. I don't know how well the book will date, but as a clever way to comment on our current political culture without being polemic, hamfisted, or partisan, it is very enjoyable.
What other book might you compare Taft 2012 to and why?
I suppose it is in the spirit of Twain, Douglas Adams, early Spy magazine.
What aspect of Fleet Cooper’s performance would you have changed?
In general a strong reader. Great voice. And while his Taft was fantastic, it got a little over the top on some of the other characters, especially the children; the children's voices are almost annoying.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Not especially, but that is often a more satisfying book to listen to. Engaging but not that sort of compulsively addictive narrative where you get frustrated at the reader for not reading fast enough.
Any additional comments?
Definitely look forward to reading the print edition presently.
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- D. A. Lewis
- 07-11-16
Superior fish out of water tale
The author wasted no words in how our man Taft was transported to our times. But that was okay with me. Let the fantasy begin . . . quickly. Taft himself really did seem like a man from the early 20th century transported to our times.
I do think however that it was a little too tidy of a fit both for Taft and for us to believe that we were dealing with the real man. OTOH, I hate the forced drama that typically comes into play in these type of stories to get all sides to believe. So while the beginning was a tad weak, this was far more preferable to the latter.
One other thing. While this book is short (6 hours), it seemed to pass by in half the time.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Anonymous User
- 06-23-20
great alternate history
you have to love politics and history to love this. if you do read this!
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- Andrew
- 02-28-16
Interesting concept. Mediocre execution.
I had just finished The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin and was looking for more to read about Taft.
The concept of this book instantly intrigued me. William Howard Taft operating in today's political climate? Sign me up!
The book had a few good moments, but focused too much on jokes about how different 2012 was from 1912 and Taft's girth. Taft was one of our most intelligent presidents and it wasn't reflected in this story. The Taft in this story occasionally reflected the Taft in The Bully Pulpit, but not as much as I would have liked.
At best, the story intrigued me. At worst, it annoyed me.
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