Rating: 
Summary: Too Little Politics/Too Much Bio
Review: A little bio on Raymond Chafin would have been helpful. Unfortunately, biographic nuances overwhelm what the reader, enticed by the title, is likely seeking. How Mr. Chafin courted his wife, swept the company store, and spent his retirement in Florida, are not what I had hoped for. Other contemporary bosses are given short shrift, to say the least. As to coverage of how the elections in Logan County are won in the trenches?....not much. Quite a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Tales of vote-buying, free liquor, fistfights
Review: An impressive contribution to the annals of 20th Century American Political History, West Virginia Tough Boys: Vote Buying, Fist Fighting, And A President Named JFK by journalist F. Keith Davis is an amazing collection of reminiscences of West Virginia political kingpins and civic leaders during the heady 1960s. Tales of vote-buying, free liquor, fistfights over campaign strategies, and double-take inducing tales directly from the men and women who thrived in JFK's time, West Virginia Tough Boys is so candid it's hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Tough Boys Have Soft Spots!!!
Review: F. Keith Davis, a member of WV Writers, and general manager of The Logan Banner, released his second book, West Virginia Tough Boys: Vote Buying, Fist Fighting, And A President Named JFK. According to Bob Kelly -- bobkelly@dailymail.com -- a columnist with Charleston Daily Mail (Dec. 17, 2003), which is West Virginia's second largest state newspaper, Davis lays out compelling detail in this fascinating book. "Davis' readable book is full of information about cash-filled suitcases, secret meetings at the Kanawha Motel, and stealthy flights by political operatives in and out of the tiny grass strip along the Guyandotte at Taplin. Davis reveals the "tough boys" soft spots, their interesting tales of coming of age in the Depression in the coal fields, and their downright likeable nature, as the secret to their political success. The book makes it easier to understand what happened in Logan County."
Rating:
Summary: Tough Boys Have Soft Spots!!!
Review: F. Keith Davis, a member of WV Writers, and general manager of The Logan Banner, released his second book, West Virginia Tough Boys: Vote Buying, Fist Fighting, And A President Named JFK. According to Bob Kelly -- bobkelly@dailymail.com -- a columnist with Charleston Daily Mail (Dec. 17, 2003), which is West Virginia's second largest state newspaper, Davis lays out compelling detail in this fascinating book. "Davis' readable book is full of information about cash-filled suitcases, secret meetings at the Kanawha Motel, and stealthy flights by political operatives in and out of the tiny grass strip along the Guyandotte at Taplin. Davis reveals the "tough boys" soft spots, their interesting tales of coming of age in the Depression in the coal fields, and their downright likeable nature, as the secret to their political success. The book makes it easier to understand what happened in Logan County."
Rating:
Summary: I want to be a Tough Boy!
Review: I am a little dismayed at the one poor review this book has received. Wow, I have heard nothing but good things about this book, and I have personally re-read it twice already. The author had to include biographic information to portray the making of a Mountain State political boss. Raymond Chafin, who is described as a simple, uneducated person who grows in political power, eventually hobknobs with JFK, Teddy, and Kennedy campaign big-wigs in 1960. Raymond's style of politics -- vote buying, strong-arm tactics, and free liquor for votes -- seems to be the Kennedy family's strategy, too. Through underhanded steps, JFK wins West Virginia during the primary-of-all-primarys and shows himself to be a viable candidate for president. Only problem, is he bought the election, cash on the barrelhead. Ouch!
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I have already purchased two additional copies for family-members. Bravo Tough Boys! BRAVO!
Rating:
Summary: Tough Boys Is Extraordinary!
Review: I read this book because I am originally from West Virginia and I have heard of these kind of political shannigans all my life. Vote buying and whiskey for votes. But this book is much more than a look at the slime-side of political life in my home state. The book is grandeous in how it covers a great deal of nearly-forgotten history, explaining vivedly about what it was once like to grow up in a poor rural region with no education or hope of any kind of formal schooling. People, like these Tough Boys, grew up and pulled their lives together through various means, including politics ---dirty politics. Golly, this is one heck of a book! It was a pleasure to read it and I recommend it highly to anyone from anywhere. May we all be Tough Boys!
Rating:
Summary: Tough Boys Rule!
Review: I'm not really into politics, but I do like American History. This book is different than anything I have ever read -- and apparantly it's a true story, too. The fellows in this book, the true life Tough Boys, were a bunch of shady characters ... but before you're done reading this volume, you learn to like all three of these guys, Raymond Chafin, Claude "Big Daddy" Ellis and Dan Dahill. This book is filled with history, excitement and humor.
I bought several copies as Christmas presents. It's that good. Good job, Davis.
Rating: 
Summary: This a very readable book
Review: I'm not really into politics, but I do like American History. This book is different than anything I have ever read -- and apparantly it's a true story, too. The fellows in this book, the true life Tough Boys, were a bunch of shady characters ... but before you're done reading this volume, you learn to like all three of these guys, Raymond Chafin, Claude "Big Daddy" Ellis and Dan Dahill. This book is filled with history, excitement and humor.
I bought several copies as Christmas presents. It's that good. Good job, Davis.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment ... from a West Virginia resident
Review: I'm sorry, commenters, but I gave this book a fair try and just couldn't warm up to it ... despite efforts to pump sales with ecstatic words in your own reviews.
I so looked forward to reading "West Virginia Tough Boys," having heard at least one recommendation from a West Virginia state official and having read the glowing reviews on Amazon.com's Web site. The 1960 West Virginia primary election was historic, and deserves a seminal work; indeed, the book may be about much more, but from the "Tough Boys" title to its cover photo, the implication is that it focuses on the famed 1960 showdown between Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, and their efforts to win the fateful primary with local county support ... and shenanigans.
Unfortunately, "Tough Boys" falls short of the mark. It's proven a disappointment; I could barely make it though the first few chapters before deciding to return it unfinished. If you enjoy transcribing tapes, this one's for you; if you want to learn something, you'll have to search diligently for it in "Tough Boys."
"Tough Boys" appears to be drawn largely from oral histories and personal interviews -- ordinarily fascinating material, but requiring a writer skilled in narrative form to present the information in logical, chronological sequencing, and to add the perspective and detachment of the third-person author who can establish what's important and what's not. I found it very difficult to follow Keith Davis' story line; it's largely a series of (overly) long interview passages, stitched together with the barest of continuity. The interviews/oral histories also tend to jump ahead of themselves, leaving the reader bewildered as to where he might be in the time sequence of the telling the story of the 1960 campaign. There appears to be no day-by-day or week-by-week order to the book, on a subject (a political primary) where events unfold in such very sequence.
I suppose, if I lived in Logan County, the plethora of local names and first-person stories (ad nauseam) would be compelling, but for anyone (even West Virginians) a half-a-state away in geography and a generation removed in time, the impact of the story is lost. (At times, JFK himself seems but a bit player in the whole story.) In the hands of a more skillful author, the story would prove riveting, but "Tough Boys" remains a disjointed mass of material that conveys "much heat, little light" about an election that had ramifications for an entire generation, far beyond the borders of West Virginia.
The readability of "Tough Boys" is further compromised by an unattractive page layout, mind-numbing typeface, and muddy photographs. The typographical errors on the reverse of the book jacket itself are an embarrassing initial tip-off to the perils of having your book produced by a regional (as opposed to national) publishing house, where rigorous editing would not have allowed a tome like this to slip past without at least some of the errors of punctuation and computer-generated typesetting to be caught.
If you live in Logan County, West Virginia, buy this book as a valuable source of local history and color; if you live elsewhere in West Virginia, consider it, if you can wade through its deficiencies; if you live outside the Mountain State, I'd definitely pass on it, and turn to a re-reading of Theodore White's "The Making of the President 1960" as still the most interesting retelling of the famous West Virginia primary of nearly 45 years ago. What White may not have included in the form of "local color" is compensated for in his perspective and skilled narrative; "Tough Boys" spins too many local yarns to excess and to no apparent point, and after finishing it, the reader will probably still be left wondering what they all add up to.
I commend the author for tackling the subject, but this treatment of a genuinely compelling story could have used the assistance of a good editor of historical nonfiction to package it into a truly great work.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great read! I couldn't put it down!
Review: If you like real history and a behind the scenes look at the dark side of mountain politics, this book is for you. I found it extremely humorous at times and seriously frank about the vote-buying antics of certain political faction bosses of yesteryear. This author has researched the way politics -- down and dirty politics -- used to be, and still may be today in some regions. Moonshine for liquor, palming cash for power, and giving political jobs as favors: it's all told in this great read. The Kennedys were even involved! Bravo! This book is first class and should be in every school library.
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