I had the pleasure of helping my friend Duane Swierczynski launch his new novel Severance Package last Thursday, at a party held for him at The Mysterious Bookshop on Warren Street. Duane (pictured above, sighting land) was in good form, holding forth on the genesis of this, his third novel (following The Blonde and The …
Alan Furst is one of the best spy novelists of this or any era, and anyone skeptical of that assertion should immediately read his brand new novel, The Spies of Warsaw. All of Furst’s novels take place in the days just before or just after the start of World War II; this one is the …
Had a happy lunch today with HBO’s endlessly delightful Kat Pongracz at Un Deux Trois. She swore that their new series Generation: Kill will be the greatest thing in military-themed TV since Sgt. Bilko. Plus she paid. (From right to left, above: Kat, me, waiter’s finger.)
Don’t look for Scott McClellan at any Bush administration reunions. His old mates seem none too happy with him these days. Of course, what they’re saying may not be exactly the same as what they’re thinking. WHAT PRESS SECRETARY DANA PERINO SAID: “[The President] is puzzled, and he doesn’t recognize this as the Scott McClellan …
McCLELLAN’S CRITICS: WHAT THEY’RE REALLY THINKING Read More »
As most of you who read this blog know, in my novel The Coup, President Mahone is forced to resign when the world learns that he has had an affair with a young woman who is also linked to the head of China’s espionage agency (although, as readers know, much about this relationship has been …
Fans of the late Patrick O’Brian (whom I admire above all others) who miss his tales of men at arms should take a look at a new novel by Steven Pressfield called Killing Rommel. No, the novel doesn’t take place on the high seas, but on the great sand sea of the North Africa desert, …
My new favorite artist is James Gillray, a caricaturist who was one of the great satirists in British history. Working in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the rather solitary Gillray made engravings that savaged all the customary targets: parliamentarians like Pitt and Fox; the royal family, especially George III; the French, especially Napoleon; and …
Political buffs, malcontents, and those who wish to stay home and avoid Indiana Jonesy-crazed throngs at the tenplex are in for a treat this weekend when HBO debuts Recount, their new film about the most absurd moment in American political history, that is, the election interruptus of 2000. Although the film was directed by Jay …
Playboy Contributing Editor and Fox News correspondent James Rosen has just published The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate, a massive biography of John Mitchell, the lawyer, Attorney General and Watergate felon. James spent 17 years on this biography, and his indefatigable research has led to some challenging and sure-to-be controversial views …
TALKING JOHN MITCHELL AND RICHARD NIXON WITH JAMES ROSEN Read More »
I was very flattered to have been invited to dinner by the members of the Book Club in Briarcliff, who had chosen The Coup as their April selection. Not since I was in a bassinette have I been the focus of a room full of women, and it was fun! Lisa Tane, Phyllis Neider, Christine …
TODAY’S COMPLIMENT (OKAY, OKAY–LAST TUESDAY’S COMPLIMENT) Read More »