For many years Al Gore has been an influential figure in national politics. He may soon become even more significant to the United States and the world. We've gotten to know him via thousands of sound bites and images. For the first time, a cohesive and substantive representation of this man is available. In The World According to Al Gore , the vice president's opinions and statements on a broad spectrum of important topics are assembled in one volume. Here is Al Gore in his own words. This easily accessible, user-friendly volume is presented in an A-to-Z format and contains excerpts from hundreds of speeches, debates, and interviews. These passages span his national political career and give the reader an understanding of Gore's ideas, motivations, and priorities, and the way they have evolved over the last two decades. Read Gore on the environment, family values, drugs, campaign finance, education, parenting, foreign policy, the Internet, and much more. The World According to Al Gore provides insight into Gore the man, the father, the activist, and the politician. As the title promises, this is an A-to-Z compendium of everything, or almost everything, Al Gore has said and written on issues from abortion to Y2K, including such topics such as baseball, Cinco de Mayo, Hillary Clinton, day care, Joe DiMaggio, fatherhood, God and goodness (two separate headings), the Kennedy assassination, Macintosh computers, Pat Nixon, raising children, values, and video games. From the serious to the silly, nearly 250 different topics are covered in this guide to Al Gore's public policy positions both past and present, providing a glimpse into the inner workings of Al's brain. The quotes are taken from a wide variety of sources, including speeches, debates, and interviews, along with letters sent to constituents when Gore was a member of Congress, his Web site, and online chats. Want to read his remarks on campaign fundraising, including his "no controlling legal authority" answer? It's here. You can also see how he's changed his mind on things such as tax cuts, abortion, and tobacco. And just for fun, there are some less serious revelations: He uses Netscape more often than Internet Explorer to surf the Net; in 1997 he told The Washington Post he preferred his Macintosh computer to a PC, even though he had been forced to switch over; and he thinks more than one person was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And what about lying, in a Gore administration? In a 1988 presidential debate, then Senator Gore said, "My first pledge will be to restore integrity to the White House. And I'll fire anyone who has lied to the American people or the United States Congress." For journalists covering the presidential campaign and voters seeking to understand it, this is an essential volume. In fact, we could use a book like this on all of the major candidates. --Linda Killian Joseph Kaufmann is a professional researcher and writer. He resides in Tarzana, California.