THE CAJUN RAGES ...AND THE HORSE HE RODE IN ON The People v. Kenneth Starr By James Carville Simon & Schuster 176pp $14.95 There is no in-between with Democratic strategist James Carville, President Clinton's favorite attack dog. With Carville's unusual appearance (his wife, GOP spinmeister Mary Matalin, calls him ''Serpenthead'') and his wildly passionate defenses of the President, people applaud the Ragin' Cajun or despise him. It's sort of the same love-hate reaction that people have toward buttoned-down, moralistic Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr--Carville's mirror-opposite. And that's what makes Carville's new book, ...And the Horse He Rode In On, so much fun to read. ''You know something? I don't like Ken Starr,'' Carville begins. What follows are 176 pages of spicy political venom aimed at Clinton's chief nemesis--from a muckraking examination of Starr's background as a ''Right-Wing Party Animal'' (Carville's words) to the dry-hole investigation of the Clintons' failed Whitewater land deal. Carville's writing reveals a raw intelligence and wit that is both provocative and winning--even if you think Bubba should be impeached. Oh, there are the usual Carville histrionics. One is his claim that in 1993--long before the courts appointed an independent counsel--Starr came up to him in the USAir Club coffee shop at Washington National Airport and just started hectoring him. ''Your boy's getting rolled,'' Carville reports that Starr told him. Starr, a Republican, was then largely unknown. Indeed, Carville says he had no idea who he was. (Carville has told this story before, and Starr has declined comment. Starr's office did not return calls this week.) Imagine Carville's surprise when, a year later, a picture of ''the weirdo from the airport'' appeared on CNN along with a report identifying him as the new independent counsel. But get into the guts of Carville's diatribe against Starr, and a clever, nimble mind is revealed. There's a lot of research here, from Starr's previously reported but little-noticed revelation that he ''really identified with Nixon'' in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon television debates to quotations from the Bible that ''when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love...that they may be seen of men.'' And Carville is among the best in the business at turning a phrase: ''As with mosquitoes, horseflies, and most bloodsucking parasites, Kenneth Starr was spawned in stagnant water''--Whitewater, that is. When you're done, you'll either be cheering or at least smiling at how well Carville has done his job. Alas, there's a bittersweet quality to the book, too. The fact that the best and brightest in modern-day politics are invariably put to work on negative research, attack ads, and spin, rather than on effective policymaking, is a sad commentary on how far our political process has sunk. You'll like reading this book--but you'll want to pray for a turn away from the era we are now living through. BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT RELATED ITEMS PHOTO: Cover, ``...And the Horse He Rode In On'' BOOK EXCERPT: Chapter One of ``...And the Horse He Rode In On'' Return to top of story

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