Writing from Left to Right By Michael Novak

The Political Transformation of Michael Novak How a Prominent Philosopher Made the Move from Liberal to Conservative Michael Novak, the highly acclaimed author of The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism and Business as a Calling offers a memoir of how he changed his mind over the years and moved from embracing a liberal worldview to a conservative one. Writing from Left to Right presents an intriguing look at how Mr. Novak, an early left-leaning liberal, developed his political views over the course of major events in U.S. history. Finding himself in the middle of many crucial events of his time - Vatican II, war-torn Vietnam, the student riots of the '60s, the Reagan revolution, the collapse of the Berlin Wall - this lifelong Democrat began supporting many Republican candidates. Novak recalls spending fascinating days with inspiring leaders like Sargent Shriver, Bobby Kennedy, George McGovern, Jack Kemp, Vaclav Havel, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II, who helped shape - and reshape - his political views. In his extraordinary new memoir, Mr. Novak shares with us: his days in Vietnam covering the 1967 election; his meeting with Bobby Kennedy; his days working with George McGovern; insights on the election of 1976, the Carter years, and Ronald Reagan; his meetings with Lady Thatcher; his dinner with the Holy Father at the Vatican; and more... "At eighty, I look back over the events I have witnessed, and I revisit the lessons I learned the hard way," recalls Novak. "Events and facts forced me to change my mind about the ideas with which my education imbued me." Writing from Left to Right is not only a thought-provoking memoir; it is an insider's look into the political movements that have influenced American history in the last part of the twentieth century and the moral compass that guided them. Charles Murray says, "Michael Novak [is] a theologian and public intellectual whose books have influenced countless lives, including mine." Newt Gingrich affirms: "Anyone interested in the moral, personal, and intellectual journal of the last half century should read this memoir of the most important theologically inspired citizen I have ever worked with."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Novak is one of the world's most influential living social philosophers. Since the 1960s, he has played a prominent role in American political life, writing on everything from the ethics of the free market and welfare reform to the faith of the Founding Fathers. He has taught at Harvard and Stanford, and held chairs at Syracuse, Notre Dame, and the American Enterprise Institute, a leading international think tank. In 1994 Novak received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.