The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Ordinary Americans - Hardcover

"A seasoned crime reporter of the old school, William Kleinknecht has penetrated the showbiz curtain to expose the venality and cynicism of the Reagan era -- and tells us why the crimes of that time still matter so much today." --Joe Conason, best-selling author, "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth and It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush " "Finally, a fact-filled, eminently readable book that punctures the hot air balloon that has buoyed the Reagan presidency for far too long. Kleinknecht strips the emperor's clothes from Ronald Reagan to finally reveal him for what he was, a dim bulb conservative who set the country on the road that led us to the sorry state in which we find ourselves today. A must read." --Peter Biskind, best-selling author, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll Generation Revolutionized Hollywood" Bill Kleinknecht knows that it is important to tear down false gods, which is what he does in this scathing reappraisal of Ronald Reagan. A book that will help usher in a brighter political era. --Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor of Political science and Sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and co-author of "The New Class War: Reagan's Attack on the Welfare State and Its Consequences" "Makes a strong case that President Reagan's policies of massive deregulation, free-market capitalism, budget cuts and trickle-down economics were nothing less than a dismantling of New Deal reforms and a disaster for the country, particularly its poorest citizens... Kleinknecht's bare-knuckled journalistic prose makes this anengaging read.... His criticism of deregulation is especially timely, given the current economic climate, and Kleinknecht uses these stories effectively to connect the Reagan legacy to a contemporary culture of self-interest and a Republican Party he views as mired in shallowness and ignorance. "With Reaganism has come an abandonment of all faith in reason and progress," he writes, "and it has accrued manifestly to the detriment of the average American." Tough, well-argued criticism of a conservative icon." --"Kirkus Reviews"

William Kleinknecht has contributed to American Journalism Review, National Law Journal and The Boston Phoenix. He lives in Glen Rock, New Jersey.