An optimistic, if not particularly novel, conservative assessment of contemporary America.
McConkey, a Republican congressional candidate, presents his vision for American renewal in this nonfiction work.
“We are failing tomorrow’s future leaders,” the author declares in the opening lines to this debut book. Despite this ominous assertion, the author is generally positive in his faith in the American people and in the efficacy of his proposed solutions. The book’s central “blueprint” embodies the titular maxim to “be the weight behind the spear,” a practice McConkey hopes that Americans “can and should do to help our country be a better place.” Per the analogy, a spear is “just a useless, pointy stick without the training, teamwork, and ‘weight’ behind it.” A renewed emphasis on “family values, integrity, leadership, and accountability,” the author suggests, offers the promise of a new dynamism to help propel the American spear into the future. According to the author, an emergency physician and current commander of the 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, an energized American public offers citizens a better livelihood and is essential to the country’s geopolitical competition against “cohesive and determined” rivals in Russia and China. On its surface, the book offers a nonpartisan appeal to American unity, with no recent presidential candidate or political party referred to by name. It is, however, a deeply political book, especially given the author’s current campaign as a Republican candidate for a North Carolina congressional seat. Most of the book’s stances echo conservative talking points regarding issues such as securing the southern border and opposition to hypothetical Covid-19 vaccine mandates. One chapter-length critique of socialism focuses on government overreach by “Bernie” and “Elizabeth” (not-so-thinly veiled references to Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren). Eschewing the firebrand rhetoric and conspiracy-laden fearmongering of right-wing populists, the book instead reflects a quaint brand of conservatism reminiscent of the Reagan era in is patriotic view of America’s history and future. While some liberal readers may welcome this appeal as a more level-headed approach, many will still be irked by the book’s failure to engage with cultural issues, from abortion and gender-affirming care to systemic racism and inequality.
An optimistic, if not particularly novel, conservative assessment of contemporary America.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9798988172208
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Wisdom House Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A hopeful civic sermon favoring inspiration over concrete prescriptions.
A New Jersey senator’s moral manifesto.
Booker situates his narrative in the wake of his 2025 record-breaking 25-hour stand on the Senate floor, an act of physical endurance and moral insistence that serves as its animating example. Though not framed as memoir, the episode implicitly positions Booker himself as a model of the virtues he argues are essential to democratic life. Organized around 10 qualities, including agency, vulnerability, truth, perseverance, and grace, the book advances a clear thesis. “In this book, I argue that many Americans who came before us, and many among us today, have consistently proven that virtues are practical: They expand our power, deepen our sense of belonging, and equip us to endure and ultimately prevail.” Booker illustrates this claim through figures such as the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, whose willingness to endure sacrifice for principle anchors the book’s moral lineage, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose composure under public scrutiny is presented as an example of dignity as civic strength. These portraits reinforce Booker’s belief that character, sustained over time, can shape public life, even when political outcomes remain uncertain or incomplete. He supplements these examples with personal stories drawn from family, faith, and community, delivered with emotional conviction and a tone that remains affirming and carefully calibrated. Much of the narrative reads like an expansive commencement address, earnest and reassuring, offering moral affirmation at moments when readers might reasonably expect sharper confrontation. That rhetorical choice ultimately defines the book’s limits. Booker acknowledges political conflict and compromise, but rarely examines them in depth, and while urging leaders to take moral risks, he avoids sustained reflection on how some of his own political decisions have tested the virtues he promotes. The result is a principled but self-conscious work that affirms shared values while offering little guidance for navigating power and accountability.
A hopeful civic sermon favoring inspiration over concrete prescriptions.Pub Date: March 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781250436733
Page Count: 272
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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