The folks at Robin’s Bookstore in Philadelphia have invited me to have a reading at their store at 108 S. 13th Street on November 3rd at 3 PM. On their website is just the most complimentary description of The Coup. “In the same way Christopher Buckley‘s Thank You For Smoking put the blatant immorality of the tobacco industry under the microscope, and Max Barry‘s Company cast office life in a jarringly truthful light, The Coup by Jamie Malanowski stands Washington D.C. on its head and proves that when journalism and politics are in bed together, anything can happen, even a shift in the world’s most powerful hierarchy. Godwin Pope is Vice President of The United States of America. He detests his job. Tired of playing second fiddle to the completely inept President Jack Mahone, Pope decides to take action instead of sitting idly by as the country suffers through three more years of his disastrous term. He concocts what can only be described as Watergate, mixed with Monica Lewinsky Part II, and a hint of Enron thrown in for good measure to create a scheme which will leave Mahone so tainted by scandal and humiliation that although the President didn’t actually do anything, he’ll have no choice but to resign. The Coup gleefully captures the media frenzy and behind the back deals that define D.C. as well as portrays scarily realistic characters who scheme, dupe, and flat out run each other over to get to the top. Jamie Malanowski, whose witty writing has adorned the pages of The New Yorker and The Washington Post, and has held the title of Senior Editor at Time and Esquire is the perfect “candidate” to author a funny and knowing political satire which lays out in black and white the ridiculous three ring circus that tends to be our nation’s capital. This ingeniously plotted story is not only deliciously cynical, but draws on our own political climates from Clinton to G.W., and packs an ending so entertaining yet believable that you’ll wish Malanowski was writing the real White House script, if only to see what Godwin Pope will pull out of his sleeve in the next election.” Thanks, guys–see you on the 3rd.
