The Columnist

Brandon Sladder is a well-connected columnist in Washington who seems to have crossed paths with nearly everyone who matters. He has held private conversations with heads of state, lived through decades of dramatic change, and pronounced firm opinions on the business of government.

When a former president named Bush suggests he write down his life, Sladder decides his story deserves to count for far more than a passing note in history. He sets out to polish his public image for the generations to come, but the memoir he ends up with reveals something else: the scheming, status-hungry path that carried him to the top, along with the blunders that marked the way.

Sladder is vain, desperate to rise in society, and so wrapped up in himself that he rarely notices the harm he leaves behind. Readers are likely to find him exasperating, which is part of the fun of following his exploits. The tone moves between comedy and unease as his story unfolds.

The novel offers a portrait of the media and politics of the second half of the twentieth century.