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 »
Anyone who cares about magazines should drop by Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art, as my friend Ken Smith and I (above) did yesterday, where there is an exhibit devoted to George Lois, who was the art director for Esquire between 1962 and 1972. The word iconic gets thrown around a lot these days, but during …
Today’s compliment comes from Eric Effron, the executive editor of The Week: “I truly enjoyed your book. I got sucked in as I took off for Florida last week, and the next thing I knew, I was landing with 15 pages to go. You made it all see so absurd, yet also believable–a neat trick!” …
I had a pleasant time yesterday talking with Marc Weisblott of Toronto’s eyeweekly.com about Playboy and where it stands amid modern media. Check it out here.
The other shoe dropped last week. Senator McCain appeared before a group of students at Wake Forest and vowed to appoint judges “strictly faithful to the Constitution’’ who would not engage in “the common and systemic abuse of our federal courts.” As The New York Times noted, “The issue is of enormous importance to conservatives, …