Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics

"Required reading...Krauthammer is among the very best--and this is the best of the best, selected by him, with an engaging and fascinating introduction...Amazingly fresh, and full of thought-provoking formulations and arguments." -The Weekly Standard

"A fantastic read, a cerebral read, a fun read." -Guy Benson, Townhall

"It's going to be a big hit." -Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor (October 21, 2013)

"Krauthammer's assets include steel-trap logic, an epée wit, a profound sense of history, and a withering contempt for journalists who would rather cringe in the dark than bring the truth to light." -City Journal

America, you've got to read this for your own great pleasure and relief." -Hugh Hewitt (October 31, 2013)

"The best American columnists make their British counterparts look like bumbling amateurs, but none of them writes with more sense, sensibility and sanity than the Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer. Things That Matter, selected from a lifetime of writing, bears comparison with the greatest of American prose." -Daniel Johnson, Standpoint

"Usually thought of as a conserva-tive, this syndicated columnist has won both the left-wing People for the American Way's First Amendment Award and the right-wing Bradley Foundation's first $250,000 Bradley Prize. Readers of all political persuasions will find plenty here that's thought-provoking and worthwhile." -Pittsburg Tribune-Review

"Krauthammer's first collection in more than 20 years is a priceless introduction to the columnist's writing. And for those who have thrilled at the sight of a Krauthammer byline for decades, Things That Matter is a window into the master polemicist's habits of mind, heart, and technique." -Matthew Continetti, Commentary

"For three decades, Charles Krauthammer has enriched American political discourse with his sharply-honed analysis, humane values, and questing mind. From personal meditations to learned examinations of history and policy, Things That Matterstands as a record of a transformative period in the American experience, and a remarkable intellect at work." -Henry A. Kissinger

"Charles Krauthammer is not only the most influential conservative commentator in America, his writing transcends the crush of daily events and can be read, with profit, always." -David Brooks, New York Times columnist and bestselling author of The Social Animal

"Amid today's clutter of print and cacophony of broadcast commentary, Charles Krauthammer's lapidary judgments stand out, and stand the test of time. Literature has been called news that lasts. Krauthammer's columns take journalism to the level of literature." -George F. Will, Washington Post columnist

"Blending high-mindedness with strong conservative values, he has commanded respect on both the extreme and moderate sides of the spectrum, becoming the closest thing the factionalized GOP could have to a spokesperson, a de facto opposition leader for the thinking right." -POLITICO

From America’s preeminent columnist, named by the Financial Times the most influential commentator in the nation, the long-awaited collection of Charles Krauthammer’s essential, timeless writings.
 
A brilliant stylist known for an uncompromising honesty that challenges conventional wisdom at every turn, Krauthammer has for decades daz­zled readers with his keen insight into politics and government. His weekly column is a must-read in Washington and across the country. Now, finally, the best of Krauthammer’s intelligence, erudition and wit are collected in one volume.
 
Readers will find here not only the country’s leading conservative thinker offering a pas­sionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views—on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example—defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krautham­mer’s major path-breaking essays—on bioeth­ics, on Jewish destiny and on America’s role as the world’s superpower—that have pro­foundly influenced the nation’s thoughts and policies. And finally, the collection presents a trove of always penetrating, often bemused re­flections on everything from border collies to Halley’s Comet, from Woody Allen to Win­ston Churchill, from the punishing pleasures of speed chess to the elegance of the perfectly thrown outfield assist.
 
With a special, highly autobiographical in­troduction in which Krauthammer reflects on the events that shaped his career and political philosophy, this indispensible chronicle takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the fashions and follies, the tragedies and triumphs, of the last three decades of American life.