John Nichols Libros

Fighting fascism requires a consolidation of progressive politics. Seventy-five years ago, Henry Wallace, then vice president, warned about the “Danger of American Fascism.” As World War II ended, he cautioned that while the U.S. might win the war, it risked losing the peace to a domestic variant of fascism, fueled by wealthy corporatists and media allies. Wallace predicted that without a renewed and expanded New Deal, American fascists would exploit fear, xenophobia, and racism to reclaim power. He envisioned a progressive postwar world that rejected colonialism and imperialism, countering the triumphalist “American Century.” However, his vision and bid to remain vice president were sidelined by Democratic leaders and segregationists. In subsequent decades, other progressives like George McGovern and Jesse Jackson attempted similar campaigns, ultimately facing failure—a cautionary tale for today’s reformers. John Nichols chronicles these efforts, providing insights into the Democratic Party's nature and strategic lessons for contemporary figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Argues that the infusion of more and more cash into election campaigns is leading to predictable results, reducing political elections to little more than a numbers game and allowing the powers that be to practically buy an election.

Joe Mondragon, a spirited hustler with a knack for trouble, stops his battered pickup and heads into a dry patch of land. Illegally tapping into the main irrigation channel, he ignites what would come to be known as the Milagro beanfield war. This conflict, however, is not marked by traditional victories but rather by tactical retreats. As the small farmers and sheepmen rally around Joe's beanfield, it becomes a powerful symbol of their lost rights and lands. Meanwhile, in the capital, the Anglo water barons and power brokers convene, intent on quashing this symbol before it threatens their lucrative land-development plans. The story of Milagro's rise is both wildly comic and deeply tender, portraying a town that stumbles toward its own salvation. Critics praise the author for his gifts akin to Steinbeck's, highlighting his compassion, humor, and celebration of human dignity. The narrative is described as insightful and entertaining, capturing a sense of wonder reminiscent of "One Hundred Years of Solitude." Overall, it is a gentle, funny, and transcendent tale that resonates with readers.

A furious denunciation of coronavirus criminals

Boom times came to the forgotten little southwestern town of Chamisaville just as the rest of America was in the Great Depression. They came when a rattletrap bus loaded with stolen dynamite blew sky-high, leaving behind a giant gushing hot spring. Within minutes, the town's wheeler-dealers had organized, and within a year, Chamisaville was flooded with tourists and pilgrims, and the wheeler-dealers were rich.Spanning forty years, The Magic Journey tells the tale of how progress transformed a rural backwater into a boomtown. At first, it was a magic time for Chamisaville—almost as if every day were a holiday. But the euphoria gradually dissipated, and the land-hungry developers, speculators, and interlopers moved in. Finally, the day came when Chamisaville's people found themselves all but displaced, their children no longer heirs to their land or their tradition. With mounting intensity, The Magic Journey reaches a climax that is tragically foreordained. A sensitive, vital, and honest chronicle of life in America's Southwest, it is also an incisive commentary on what America has become on its road to progress.The Magic Journey is part of the New Mexico Trilogy, which includes The Milagro Beanfield War and The Nirvana Blues.

"John Nichols has remarkable insight into life's crazy blend of comedy and tragedy. . . . Pure pleasure to read." -New York Times Book Review

It's Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, when ex-patriots, artists, and colorful bums are kings. A tiny stand selling empanadas near the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal streets is the center of the action for the shy narrator, an aspiring writer just out of college. At the stand he falls in with a crowd of kooky outcasts from Argentina who introduce him to their raucous adventures, melodramatic dreamsand women, particularly a tough little flamenco dancer from Buenos Aires. Charming and insightful, this deceptively simple novel is a tale told by a master. It is a wise coming-of-age story, full of joyand touched by heartbreak, that captures a special time and place with extraordinary empathy and humor.

The seventies are over. All across America, the overgrown kids of the middle class are getting their acts together--and getting older. The once-tight Chicano community of Chamisaville is long gone, and the Anglo power brokers control almost everything. Joe Miniver--faithful husband, loving father, and all-around good guy―is about to sink roots. To buy the land he wants, he dreams up a coke scam that will net him the necessary bread. Joe is also about to embark on a series of erotic adventures with three headstrong women, bringing him face-to-face with the terrors (and absurdity) of the modern man-woman scene.This final volume in the New Mexico trilogy, like its predecessors, is a lusty, visionary novel that blends comedy and tragedy, reality and fantasy, tenderness and bite, to illuminate some very troubling truths about America--truths no less pointed and accurate today than they were twenty years ago.John Nichols is the author of nine novels and six works of nonfiction. He lives in Northern New Mexico.

Boom times came to the forgotten little southwestern town of Chamisaville just as the rest of America was in the Great Depression. They came when a rattletrap bus loaded with stolen dynamite blew sky high, leaving behind a giant gushing hot spring. Within minutes, the town's wheeler-dealers had organized, and within a year, Chamisaville was flooded with tourists and pilgrims. The wheeler-dealers were rich -- and that was only the beginning . . . "John Nichols has all of Steinbeck's gifts, the same overwhelming compassion for people plus an even finer sense of humor, and I the need to celebrate the cause and dignity of man...he has left us with a classic American trilogy for our time." --Chicago Tribune John Nichols is a marvelous tale spinner...as huge and quirky an American talent as has materialized in the past twenty years." --Los Angeles Herald Examiner "A storyteller of uncommon wit and inventiveness." --Cleveland Plain Dealer