Ah, you can’t really blame Crown Forum for my
long title. It’s one of the three I suggested, and they thought it was best,
and I agree. The idea is mostly to explain, on the cover and in a
semi-humorous way, what the book is about, and more specifically, to whom it
is targeted. After all, what does “Crunchy Cons” say to anyone who isn’t
familiar with the NR/NRO essays and blogging about it? The subtitle — “How
Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range
farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers and their diverse
tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the
Republican Party)” — intends to highlight the patchwork and eccentric
nature of Crunchy Con Nation, and it gives the reader an idea of the tone
and substance of the text (that is, that it’s not a book of political
theory, but a book about unconventional conservatives and why they’ve
chosen, for conservative reasons, to live as they have). My guess is that
you’ll read that title and either be intrigued enough to open the book, or
it will make no sense to you and you’ll move on.