About the Book

A Perfect World contains surprising clues to:
  • The wide variety of ways in which our leaders think about a perfect world.

  • The dominant and recurring ideals that cut across political boundaries.

  • How their visions expressed in paint differ from their visions expressed in words.

Imagine talking candidly with over 50 prominent Americans, asking each of them to describe their version of an ideal world. Imagine then asking all of them to paint a picture of the world they've just described. When journalist Debra Trione did just that, she discovered some very unexpected things about our nation's leaders and their vision for...

A PERFECT WORLD

"We all expect a leader to 'have vision.' But before this book, there was no public record of the visions of our national leaders expressed by them in real visual terms." -- Debra Trione

Where else can you find a collection of the big-picture hopes and dreams of over 50 leading Americans? Where else do leaders from all across the political and ideological spectrum weigh in on the relative importance of war, AIDS, racism, sexism, religious intolerance, family, the environment, economic opportunity, and health? Where else could you possibly see their visions for an ideal world in such genuine and human terms? A PERFECT WORLD (October 1, Andrews McMeel Publishing) offers an unsanitized collection of revealing essays and images, spoken and painted by over 50 of the most powerful movers and shakers in America.

"If mental images motivate people," says Trione, "then the mental images of powerful people should be matters of public concern. I set out to find the images that might be guiding the very people who in turn are guiding this nation of ours. I think readers will be delighted to discover the whole new class of secrets that this book reveals."

Many of the leaders featured in this book hadn't lifted a paintbrush since grade school. So when Trione brought out the art supplies in their office, they sat for a moment in stunned disbelief. But amazingly all of them accepted the unconventional assignment to paint their perfect world. The result is a collection unlike anything ever published before--a pure, unguarded, candid record of the real ideals of over 50 gatekeepers to 21st century American life.