Novelists for Kerry

Just read through the reasons most novelists surveyed by Slate are voting for John Kerry. Not surprisingly, a few emphasize Kerry’s use of language. Surprisingly, one of them, Thomas Beller, author of The Sleep-Over Artist mentions Kerry’s book The New Soldier, in which Beller found "his remarks were compelling."

This is interesting given that Kerry’s "remarks" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were heavily edited for The New Soldierin order to remove his most libelous and controversial comments on the U.S. military. I wrote about this a few weeks ago for the Standard.

It’s also interesting how these novelists express political support. In a childish, nanny-nanny-poo-poo voice: "I'm voting for Kerry, because I have a brain and so does he." (Amy Tan) In educated-class blather: "Because in every regard vis-à-vis the policies of this country I support John Kerry instead of George Bush." (Chang-Rae Lee, who I kinda like) Wearing their provincialism on their sleeve: "Like virtually everyone I know, I'm voting for Kerry." (Joyce Carol Oates)