David Weinstein of Carle Place, Long Island, has written a largely favorable review of The Coup on epinions.com. An apparently unstoppable reading machine, this review is but one of 167 commentaries that he has posted, critiques that have earned him the trust of 69 members of the community (although it’s not clear whether one review was trusted by 69 people, or one by 34 people and another by 35, or what.) David says “This book has great characterization. . . . [and] seems to have all the ingredients of a good political thriller.” On the other hand, David say he was never really sure if the Vice President will be a better or worse President than the current one. I’m not enough on his side to root for him, but he’s too sympathetic (and the President too flawed) for him to be a character I love to hate. I think that’s why the tension flagged for me in the middle of the book.” Despite this, David gives the book his recommendation.
I’m sorry that David’s unsureness about Godwin detracted from his enthusiasm for the book, but for what it’s worth, I’m not unhappy that he felt that kind of unsureness. I want readers to be unsure what to feel about Godwin. I want them to feel charmed by him but put off by what he does, yet to feel that he has some justification for his acts. In just the same way, I want them to feel disdain for Jack, or at least disenchantment, but at the same time to feel sympathy for him, to think of him as a victim. And I also want readers to have complex and conflicted feelings about Maggie, the reporter whose goals and methods are never simple.
In many ways, engendering these conflicted feelings is what I’m trying to accomplish in this book. For democracy to work, citizens must keep a constant watch on their leaders. I think all too often we just pick a side, and ascribe all good things to the guys on our side, and all bad things to the guys in opposition. What we really need to do is train a skeptical eye on everybody all the time–and still assume that they’re getting away with something.
Anyway, thanks David, for reading the book and recommending it.
(A few days later, David responded via email: “I’ve been thinking about what you said. You’re right about the media, which also plays a much larger role in your book than my review. I hope you’ll skewer some bloggers in your next book, because a whole bunch of them will be nodding their heads in sage agreement which isn’t totally earned. Some would sleep with their sources if they could get them interested.Good point about the way we look at ‘our’ politicians. I suppose it’s emotional. Conservatives who don’t trust Bush to nominate {Harriet] Miers will say he’s done wonderfully when liberals criticize his conduct of the war. I haven’t actually seen anyone go down the list of Clinton’s last minute pardons and explain why they were all acts of statesmanship, but there are plenty of people much less angry than they would be at Bush (either Bush) I’ll be looking for your next book!”)