Thomas Frank found himself preaching to the choir Monday.

“This is fantastic,” said Frank, a writer whose new book, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” has been in stores for about three weeks.

More than 300 people turned out for Frank’s evening appearance at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.

“We had to turn about 30 people away,” said Pat Kehde, who co-owns The Raven Bookstore, and who co-sponsored Frank’s appearance with Lawrence Public Library.

In his book, Frank, an unabashed liberal, contends that wealthy Republicans have figured out how to use cultural issues to trick Midwesterners into electing conservatives, who, in turn, enact economic policies that benefit the rich while taking from the poor.

Those who criticize the arrangement, he argued, were quickly branded as liberals and dismissed as snobbish intellectuals.

Frank marveled at Kansas farmers electing conservatives such as U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Republicans, without questioning their support for farm policies that forced a generation of small family farmers off their land while systematically depleting western Kansas’ Ogallala Aquifer.

Frank’s commentary struck a chord with the audience, though Galen Turner, a graduate student in religious studies at Kansas University, questioned how Frank’s criticism of the conservatives was much different than the conservatives’ criticism of liberals.

“What we heard tonight, I thought, was very entertaining,” Turner said. “But at the same time, it’s preaching to the choir, which creates a situation where a conservative listening to this would have felt like he and his culture were being beaten up.

River City Weekly video: Thomas Frank interview Commentary: Author makes ‘thought-provoking’ arguments (6-13-04) Commentary: Frank’s book states positions accurately, but critique flops (6-13-04) What’s the matter with Kansas? (04-25-04) On the Street: What’s the matter with Kansas? Interview with Thomas Frank NPR’s Terry Gross interviews Thomas Frank (6-10-04) Excerpt from “Lie Down for America” by Thomas FrankWilliam Allen White’s Essay “What’s the Matter With Kansas,” originally published in The Emporia Gazette, August 15, 1896.

“So what we end up with is a division that’s so antagonistic that the two sides can’t talk to each other,” he said.

The audience applauded when Phil Friedeman, a Lawrence retiree, told Frank he interpreted his critique as a call for starting a third political party.

“My point was: Where’s the hope?” Friedeman said afterward. “Neither political party is being true to its origins and both parties are in bed with corporate interests. So should we waste any more interest on them? Or should we think about starting a political party of our own?”

Frank, who addressed similar gatherings in Topeka and Wichita over the weekend, welcomed most of the audience’s questions.

“The questions I got tonight and in Wichita were the best I’ve ever had at any reading,” Frank said. “People here are familiar with the issues. They know them inside and out, they have examples they want to cite. I’m impressed.”

A C-SPAN crew filmed the presentation for a segment expected to air on June 26 or June 27.