Evan Mandery

A spell-binding tale of time travel and true love that will appeal to fans of THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE and THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI.

Hailed as a “staggering portrait of inequality in America” (Philip Dray) Poison Ivy tells the bigger, seedier story of how elite colleges create paths to admission available only to the wealthy, despite rhetoric to the contrary. In a “lively and trenchant” (Washington Monthly) account, Evan Mandery—a Harvard graduate and current professor at a public college that serves low- and middle-income students—reveals how tacit agreements between exclusive “Ivy-plus” schools and white affluent suburbs create widespread de facto segregation. And as a college degree continues to be the surest route to upward mobility, the inequality bred in our broken higher education system is now a principal driver of skyrocketing income inequality. Mandery contrasts the lip service paid to “opportunity” by so many elite colleges and universities with schools that actually walk the walk. Now in an accessible paperback format, Poison Ivy is a “no-holds-barred takedown” (Forbes) that synthesizes fascinating insider information on everything from how students are evaluated, unfair tax breaks, and questionable fundraising practices to suburban rituals, testing, tutoring, tuition schemes, and more. This bold, provocative indictment of America’s elite colleges shows us exactly what’s at stake—and what will be possible if we muster the collective will to transform it.

Next Big Idea Book Club Nominee October 2022An eye-opening look at how America’s elite colleges and suburbs help keep the rich rich—making it harder than ever to fight the inequality dividing us today The front-page news and the trials that followed Operation Varsity Blues were just the tip of the iceberg. Poison Ivy tells the bigger, seedier story of how elite colleges create paths to admission available only to the wealthy, despite rhetoric to the contrary. Evan Mandery reveals how tacit agreements between exclusive “Ivy-plus” schools and white affluent suburbs create widespread de facto segregation. And as a college degree continues to be the surest route to upward mobility, the inequality bred in our broken higher education system is now a principal driver of skyrocketing income inequality everywhere. Mandery—a professor at a public college that serves low- and middle-income students—contrasts the lip service paid to “opportunity” by so many elite colleges and universities with schools that actually walk the walk. Weaving in shocking data and captivating interviews with students and administrators alike, Poison Ivy also synthesizes fascinating insider information on everything from how students are evaluated, unfair tax breaks, and questionable fundraising practices to suburban rituals, testing, tutoring, tuition schemes, and more. This bold, provocative indictment of America’s elite colleges shows us what’s at stake in a faulty system—and what will be possible if we muster the collective will to transform it.

The Campaign is a close-up look at the paranoid, frenzied, oppressive, and exhilarating world of modern political campaigns?a universe where truth is fungible and moral conviction a mere asset, like good looks or personal wealth. Corporeal restraints do not exist. People regularly become things they are not.Evan Mandery, research director on Ruth Messinger's doomed challenge to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, offers a behind-the-scenes look at political campaigns in the television era. A day-to-day account of the 1997 New York City mayoral race, it takes us to the real battlegrounds of modern politics: polls, focus groups and television editing studios. With Mandery as our guide, we watch first-hand as political consultants, conceive of the ideal candidate and then attempt to fit their client into that ideal, no matter how uncomfortably.The stars of the story are memorable: Rudy Giuliani, popping his eyes and tweaking the truth; Al Sharpton, the colorful preacher and rising political force; and Ruth Messinger herself, torn between her populist political upbringing and the modern political world where money dominates over all other concerns. Sometimes cynical, often mirthful, and always honest, The Campaign will forever change your view of political campaigns.

"A philosophical, witty, wonderful, and altogether magical love story."--M.J. Rose, author of The Hypnotist"Amiably outrageous....Mandery is a worthy son of those great writers of the 1970s, Vonnegut, Barthelme, and Barth."--Joseph Skibell, author of A Curable Romantic"I've never read anything like it and enjoyed every minute of it "--Jessica Anya Blau, author of Drinking Closer to HomeQ: A (Timeless) Love Story is a smart, romantic, and funny novel about tender and requited love, a wonderfully original literary feat from Evan Mandery, a rapidly rising fiction star. Taking the classic love story and turning it on its head, Mandery brilliantly blends outrageous humor, existential philosophy, and heartbreaking angst while offering a wealth of satisfying surprises. Funny and wise, a magical tale of a man obsessed yet unable to allow himself the fulfillment of a perfect romance with the one true love of his life, Q: A (Timeless) Love Story is a uniquely delightful work of fiction from one of the most exciting novelists currently on the literary scene.

"What a hilarious ride--the bersurreal meets The Daily Show." -- Tim Dorsey, author of Nuclear JellyfishIn the bestselling and rightfully cult-inspiring tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams comes First Contact --an hysterically funny satire about Presidential politics and intergalactic misunderstanding. This smart and biting novel by Evan Mandery--an author equally well-versed in the lives of the U.S. presidents, existential philosophy, and the Simpsons--offers much food for intellectual thought along with an all-you-can-eat buffet of laughs, as it chronicles the first close encounters between earthlings and a vastly superior extraterrestrial race from Rigel-Rigel. As the subtitle of First Contact so presciently informs us, "It's Later than You Think."

The Campaign is a close-up look at the paranoid, frenzied, oppressive, and exhilarating world of modern political campaigns?a universe where truth is fungible and moral conviction a mere asset, like good looks or personal wealth. Corporeal restraints do not exist. People regularly become things they are not.Evan Mandery, research director on Ruth Messinger's doomed challenge to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, offers a behind-the-scenes look at political campaigns in the television era. A day-to-day account of the 1997 New York City mayoral race, it takes us to the real battlegrounds of modern politics: polls, focus groups and television editing studios. With Mandery as our guide, we watch first-hand as political consultants, conceive of the ideal candidate and then attempt to fit their client into that ideal, no matter how uncomfortably.The stars of the story are memorable: Rudy Giuliani, popping his eyes and tweaking the truth; Al Sharpton, the colorful preacher and rising political force; and Ruth Messinger herself, torn between her populist political upbringing and the modern political world where money dominates over all other concerns. Sometimes cynical, often mirthful, and always honest, The Campaign will forever change your view of political campaigns.