All the King's Men

by Robert Penn Warren

Winner of the 1947 Pulitzer Prize and heavily inspired by the life of Governor Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana, ALL THE KING'S MAN chronicles the career of Willie Stark, an extremely charismatic but corrupt populist Southern politician, as narrated by his considerably more conscience-ridden publicity man, Jack Burden. Considered a landmark book in American literature, the novel was adapted for a 1958 TV film as well as a 2005 movie starring Sean Penn as Willie and Jude Law as Jack.

Editions of All the King's Men

ISBN 9780156004800	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Mariner Books	Date 1996	Price $1.00	Very Good
ISBN 9780394405025	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Random House Inc	Date 1960	Price $1.00	Used, Very Good
ISBN 9780848815042	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Amereon Ltd	Date 1981	Price None Available
ISBN 9780553204544	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Bantam Books	Date 1981	Price $1.00	Used, Good
ISBN 9780436563126	Binding/Format Book	Publisher Secker and Warburg	Date 1974	Price $2.59
ISBN 9780156012959	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Mariner Books	Date 2002	Price $1.00	New
ISBN 9780808576150	Binding/Format Prebinding	Publisher Bt Bound	Date 1999	Price None Available
ISBN 9780899662909	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Buccaneer Books	Date 1981	Price None Available
ISBN 9780156047623	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Harcourt	Date 1982	Price $1.00	Good
ISBN 9780151006106	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Harcourt	Date 2001	Price $9.57	Used - Good
ISBN 9780151047727	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Harcourt	Date 1990	Price $4.53	Used - Good

Publisher Notes

Willie Stark's obsession with political power leads to the ultimate corruption of his gubernatorial administration.

Media Reviews

"...[W]hen I entered Louisiana, my imagination was already trapped in speculation about the struggle for power in the world of politics--specifically in a Southern state....[I]f you were living in Louisiana, you knew you were living in history defining itself before your eyes. And you knew that you were not seeing a half-drunk hick buffoon performing an old routine, but were witnessing a drama which was a version of the world's drama, and the drama of history, too, the old drama of power and ethics....One of my duties was to teach a senior Shakespeare class, and in Shakespeare that question of power and ethics--and the question of determination in history--is frequent and vivid. I read Shakespeare, and many books about him, with a growing thought of Huey [Long]--who, behind his mask of idiotic or vulgar clowning, might suddenly be brilliant, inevitable, ruthless."

Synopses

A guide to reading "All the King's Men" with a critical and appreciative mind encouraging analysis of plot, style, form, and structure. Also includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.