Artless: The Odyssey of a Republican Cultural Creative

The Drama Book Shop hosts Gary D. Cole for a reading and book signing of his debut memoir, Artless: The Odyssey of a Republican Cultural Creative. Democrats and Rupublicans, artists and “suits” can all appreciate how this book challenges conceptions of acceptable art and its role in politics. Readers witness a young lawyer’s rise in the dichotomous worlds of politics and arts. They join Gary in his ups and his downs, following him from adolescent bravado to mature acceptance of a forced, yet important choice.

Gary Cole is an attorney from Stanford who spent several years working for the CIA. He is both a true Republican and a true artist. Adept at both politics and theater, he never thought the two worlds would collide. However, his production of risque, thought-provoking theatre led to the heartbreaking and sudden loss of a position with the National Endowment of the Arts. Betrayed by the very politicians he spent his life supporting, Cole was forced to choose: politics or art? He chose art.