When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s

by John Ganz

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A sweeping and detailed portrait of the roots of deepening conflict in America. This is essential reading for anyone seeking to better understand the current sociopolitical climate in the United States.

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2024
One of The New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2024

Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | National Indie Bestseller
A Barack Obama summer reading pick
One of Publishers Weekly's ten best books of 2024

"Terrific . . . Vibrant . . . When the Clock Broke is one of those rarest of books: unflaggingly entertaining while never losing sight of its moral core." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times (Editors' Choice)

"John Ganz is a fantastic writer . . . [When the Clock Broke] is phenomenal . . . truly, truly great." —Chris Hayes, Why Is This Happening? podcast

"When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump’s ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly." —Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post

A revelatory look back at the convulsions at the end of the Reagan era—and their dark legacy today.

With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated, and U.S. power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a “kinder, gentler America.” Instead, it was a period of rising anger and domestic turmoil, anticipating the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today.

In When the Clock Broke, the acclaimed political writer John Ganz tells the story of America’s late-century discontents. Ranging from upheavals in Crown Heights and Los Angeles to the advent of David Duke and the heartland survivalists, the broadcasts of Rush Limbaugh, and the bitter disputes between neoconservatives and the “paleo-con” right, Ganz immerses us in a time when what Philip Roth called the “indigenous American berserk” took new and ever-wilder forms. In the 1992 campaign, Pat Buchanan's and Ross Perot’s insurgent populist bids upended the political establishment, all while Americans struggled through recession, alarm about racial and social change, the specter of a new power in Asia, and the end of Cold War–era political norms. Conspiracy theories surged, and intellectuals and activists strove to understand the “Middle American Radicals” whose alienation fueled new causes. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton appeared to forge a new, vital center, though it would not hold for long.

In a rollicking, eye-opening book, Ganz narrates the fall of the Reagan order and the rise of a new and more turbulent America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374605452
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Ganz writes the widely acclaimed Unpopular Front newsletter for Substack. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Artforum, the New Statesman, and other publications.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/11/2024

Ganz, author of the newsletter Unpopular Front, debuts with a lucid and propulsive narrative of the failed right-wing populism at the fringe of the 1992 U.S. presidential election. According to Ganz, the discontent exploited by bigoted Republican challengers Pat Buchanan and David Duke and the proto–“drain the swamp” rhetoric of independent candidate Ross Perot laid the groundwork for Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. The book profiles these and other figures—including New York City mayoral candidate Rudy Giuliani and mob boss John Gotti—and it’s woven throughout with astute analysis of the period’s political commentary (left-leaning historian Christopher Lasch critiqued liberalism as an “infinitely expanding universe of spoiled consumers and bureaucrats,” Ganz writes, while hard-right economist Murray Rothbard hoped Buchanan would “break the clock of the New Deal” and “repeal the twentieth century”). Ganz’s dry wit is ever-present; describing how media coverage of the early-1990s culture wars eclipsed George H.W. Bush’s attempts to stoke the fight against Saddam Hussein, he writes, “Apparently the ‘New Hitler’ wasn’t as juicy a story as the incipient totalitarianism of literature professors.” The book’s highlight is a long chapter focused on New York City, which Ganz portrays as a breeding ground for strongman leadership by comparing Trump to Giuliani and Gotti as outer-borough “arriviste” who celebrated personal liberty, but preyed on fear. This is a revelation. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"[A] terrific new book . . . Vibrant . . . [Ganz] has the skills of a gifted storyteller—one with excellent comedic timing, too—slipping in the most absurd and telling details . . . Urgent and illuminating . . . Like the cultural moment he covers, Ganz gets energized by mixing high and low. When the Clock Broke is one of those rarest of books: unflaggingly entertaining while never losing sight of its moral core." —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times

“A spry and superbly written book . . . the best account I have ever read on the origins of Trumpism . . . a substantial work of intellectual history. Trump haunts almost every page, and Ganz’s passionate engagement with personalities and ideas he clearly deplores—he’s fiercely Left-wing—is invigorating . . . The Republican party is no longer the party of Reagan and the Bushes: Trump rules unopposed. When the Clock Broke is a brilliant explanation of his rise.” —Tomiwa Owolade, The Telegraph (UK)

"[A] wry and engaging account . . . [Ganz] turns his hand to character studies that double as deft exercises in political critique . . . When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump’s ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly." —Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post

“In When the Clock Broke, John Ganz offers a continuously absorbing and bracing genealogy of today’s incontinent far-right. A must-read for those wondering why the collapse of communism did not bring about the end of the history, and instead inaugurated the apotheosis of fanatics in the free world.” —Pankaj Mishra, author of The World After Gaza: A History

“A brilliant, biting account of how the dream of a “kinder, gentler America” curdled into the chaos we live with today.” —Eliot Higgins, founder, Bellingcat

"John Ganz is a fantastic writer . . . [When the Clock Broke] is phenomenal . . . truly, truly great." —Chris Hayes, Why Is This Happening? podcast

"Lively and kaleidoscopic." —Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker

"Masterly . . . Ganz spotlights the rage and rancour that spread beneath the surface of American life in a period now remembered for its peace and prosperity." —Kyle Burke, Times Literary Supplement

"[A] great book." —Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times

"We should [. . .] pay greater heed to the ghosts of battles lost. That is the premise—and brilliant insight—of John Ganz’s When the Clock Broke . . . Among its virtues, the greatest value of Ganz’s book is that it delivers history in its richest context." —Edward Luce, Financial Times

"[An] accomplished debut . . . It showcases sophisticated political argumentation, erudite prose, enviable rigor, and a depth of knowledge . . . It’s to Ganz’s great credit that he is able to write about both wider historical trends and idiosyncratic biographical details while also keeping his story lively and amusing." —David Klion, The Nation

"Like other great works of historical revision and reclamation, When the Clock Broke delivers an account of the past that topples confident certainties of phony consensus, while rendering the signal political battles of the present in an entirely new light." —Chris Lehmann, The Baffler

"Sharp and engaging . . . deeply researched and beautifully written . . . When the Clock Broke is the story of how America turned cynical at the very moment when its ideals seemed to be in the ascendant. Instead of the end of history, we got the beginning of an ugly epoch we’ve yet to recover from." —Matt McManus, Commonweal

"Important and engaging . . . Through a nuanced exploration of the chaotic and contentious political landscape of the early ’90s, Ganz provides something of a prehistory of Trumpism . . . The result is a smart, insightful, and original look at US political culture in an era of perpetual crisis and uncertainty." —Paul M. Renfro, Jacobin

“Superb . . . When the Clock Broke offers a compelling examination of a neglected and revealing period in American history . . . It is also one of the most entertaining history books I have read in years. Ganz has a novelist’s skill at managing character, pacing, and plot, as well as a great eye for details that are telling, bizarre, and hilarious.” ―Daniel Geary, The Irish Times

"By far the most readable, entertaining, and genuinely enlightening of the glut of books promising to “explain” [Trump's] rise . . . The writing is both fleet and rigorous, sweeping and exacting, funny and deadly serious." —Derek Robertson, Washington Examiner

"Vergil-like, Ganz guides us through some of the period’s most dramatic episodes: the Gulf War, the L.A. riots, the Gotti trial, Ruby Ridge . . . His characterizations of the emerging culture are sweeping and thought-provoking . . . [This is] witty and entertaining narrative history." —Jack Butler, National Review

"[A] sparkling new history of the 1990s . . . When the Clock Broke offers a starkly different interpretation of the decade, arguing that it is really the origin point for our present 'politics of national despair' . . . The real insight of When the Clock Broke is the way it names a break in the conservative tradition." —Kim Phillips-Fein, The Chronicle of Higher Education

"Ganz has distinguished himself through his ability to uncover the often-unnoticed origins of far-right politics. [When the Clock Broke] confirms his reputation as one of America’s most astute observers of the Right and allows readers to see the 1990s with new eyes." —Tristan Hughes, Jacobin

"Lively . . . [Ganz] argues with disarming vim . . . When the Clock Broke is a vivid tour of the time [. . .] before the storm." —Chris Vognar, The Boston Globe

"[When the Clock Broke] systematically dismantles the comforting notion that the current civic emergency is some unprecedented break with history . . . Ganz tells his story with sly timing and an appreciation of the absurd." —Tom Scocca, Air Mail

"[A] fascinating shadow story of the 1990s." —Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show

"The book that impressed me most this year is When the Clock Broke . . . Precise, astute and historically sound, this book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the history and appeal of Trumpism." —Hartmut Rosa, Suddeutsche Zeitung

"Ganz takes us beneath the triumphal surface [of the 1990s] to the gritty and granular political and cultural trends that were gathering under and, with startling frequency, erupting from it . . . Hindsight can always find analogies and precursors for current events. But Ganz is after more than startled recognition. He offers an account of deep continuities in American political and cultural life." —Benjamin J. Dueholm, The Christian Century

"Lucid and propulsive . . . [When the Clock Broke is] woven throughout with astute analysis of the period’s political commentary . . . Ganz's dry wit is ever-present . . . This is a revelation." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[An] educational and entertaining work of political history . . . Trump, Ganz demonstrates, is a walking embodiment of early-'90s right-wing talk radio." —Brian Doherty, Reason

"A searching history of a time, not so long ago, when the social contract went out the window and Hobbesian war beset America . . . Ganz makes a convincing, well-documented case that everything old is indeed new again. A significant, provocative work." —Kirkus Reviews

"Ganz presents a comprehensive intellectual history . . . This distinctive history documents a potpourri of disparate ideas and events in a country on the verge of great change without knowing where it is going . . . A tour de force . . . A must read for every American wondering how we got here." —Booklist

"John Ganz is the most important young political writer of his generation—just the one our dark moment needs." —Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and Reaganland

"With his combination of immense erudition, independence of mind, clarity of expression, and honesty in reckoning with the terrifying weight of history, John Ganz belongs to a species of public intellectual that is almost extinct. To place him in his proper category, you have to rope in James Baldwin, Garry Wills, and Joan Didion. When the Clock Broke is the first of what I hope will be a shelf of books that help us uncover the true history of our times." —Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation

"When the Clock Broke locates the origins of our strange political age in the crack-up of conventional wisdom at the end of the Reagan era and the Cold War. Ganz's clock sounds the alarm on some of the most ominous and entrenched aspects of the American political condition. Unlike many observers these days, he also finds absurdity and humor in our national pageant. Sometimes we need to laugh as well as cry—Ganz's book helps us do both." —Beverly Gage, Gaddis Professor of History at Yale University and author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

"I spend my waking hours reading and thinking about the American right, and there is no writer laboring in this field who surprises, provokes, and informs me as much as John Ganz. His work helps readers see further, and more clearly, than the host of tracts by Trump-era peddlers of doom. While Ganz writes with moral urgency, he offers revelatory history rather than cheap conspiracies, and theoretical sophistication, not cable-news cartoons. If you read one book on the pre-history to our calamitous present, make it When the Clock Broke." —Matthew Sitman, cohost of the Know Your Enemy podcast and contributor to Dissent magazine

"If, like me, you’ve spent the better part of the past decade trying to figure out what the hell’s happened to American politics since 2016, John Ganz’s When the Clock Broke will come as a godsend. Ganz gives us a wildly illuminating (and often darkly hilarious) pre-history of the present, tracing the many cultural, economic, and political threads tying that time to our own. You’ll never look at our nation, or our dangerously faltering democracy, in the quite same way again." —Damon Linker, senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Theocons and the Substack Notes from the Middleground

From the Publisher

★ 2024-04-17
A searching history of a time, not so long ago, when the social contract went out the window and Hobbesian war beset America.

As Ganz, the creator of the Substack newsletter Unpopular Front, writes, the early 1990s was a time when social Darwinism pitted the state against the poor, gang wars broke out in big cities, and companies stopped making things and starting dealing in the abstractions of finance. The author credits George H.W. Bush with being “competent within small bounds and small groups,” a fundamentally decent fellow whose clubby Republican Party began to slip into the shadows under the influence of the neo-Nazi David Duke and the Christian nationalist Patrick Buchanan. Both men set a tone that would grow ever more insistent and extremist, eventually culminating in the rise of Trump. “Duke’s entire career would be characterized by attempts to simultaneously gain mainstream recognition and respect and be the predominant leader of the fringe, subcultural world of the Klan and neo-Nazism,” writes the author, a notion that speaks to the current political landscape in the U.S. Yet those two didn’t act alone: Ganz also pins the rise of Trumpism to the neo-Confederate injections of white supremacist writer and editor Sam Francis and New Rightists who insisted that their conservatism was in fact radicalism, just the sort of reimagined Leninism that Steve Bannon would go on to proclaim a few decades later. All of these characters, writes the author, “looked for inspiration among the ideological ruins of earlier times: nationalism, populism, racism, antisemitism, and even fascism.” From the proto-QAnon-ism of Ruby Ridge and Waco to the wacky white-shirt populism of Ross Perot, Ganz makes a convincing, well-documented case that everything old is indeed new again.

A significant, provocative work that joins an ugly past to an uglier present in American democracy’s continued decline.

Kirkus Reviews