Is the Political Novel Dead?

I've been wondering if the political novel is dead -- if, indeed, it was ever really alive. I'm pondering this as I tease out a plot for my WIP (if we can call it that), A Bright, Shiny Object, which would be one such political novel.

Not including murder-at-the-White-House-type potboilers, the political novels I can think of are few and far between. Primary Colors, Joe Klein's story inspired by Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, is the only recent one that comes to mind. Only a few others pop into my head, all of them rather old: All the King's Men, The Ugly American, Seven Days in May (was that even a novel before it was a movie?).

This is unfortunate for someone like me, who is cursed with an interest in politics. (I say cursed because our political discourse in this country has been reduced to schoolyard taunts, while the number of outlets for this jibber-jabber has exploded, bombarding us with a lot of bilious crap.)

I suppose, on the upside, that the relative paucity of political novels -- as opposed to, say, vampire or zombie books -- might leave a little daylight on the agent/publisher landscape for someone who actually churns one out.

Your thoughts?

Britspeak Seduces 'Gormless' Americans!

According to the BBC (consider the source!), Americans are taking to Britishisms in a big way. This is the biggest threat to our national idiom since everyone was calling stuff "fab" and "groovy" back in the '60s. The government of Perfidious Albion is probably behind this trend, either in revenge for the casting of Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones's Diary, or because they want the Oregon Territory back. (Never! 54° 40' or Fight!) This threat to our precious native lingo is all too visible on TV. What's with all the Brits on the airwaves all of a sudden? What, no American was available to replace Larry King instead of the ridiculously named Piers Morgan?

How do you feel about this subversion of our sacred tongue? Personally, I'm gobsmacked by it all!

Have Title, Need Plot

I love this title for a semi-comedic political novel: A Bright Shiny Object. A Sarah Palin-like character, faux Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, usual other politicians and pundits. A lobbyist and Senator or two.

Now, someone give me a plot to make something of this.  Thanks!

What I Think About Michael Chabon's "Telegraph Avenue"

Here's my review of Michael Chabon's new novel, Telegraph Avenue, in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Short version: I like it.

Reviews: Amazon vs. Barnes and Noble

Considering the importance everyone attaches to Amazon, obsessively checking their book's Amazon sales ranking, etc., I find it interesting that in my case at least, I've had a lot more reviews of Tainted Souls posted on Barnes and Noble than at my book's Amazon page. (Also, far more reviews and ratings at Goodreads. Only two reviews at Smashwords, despite almost 200 downloads.) Moreover, reviews continue to come in at B&N, but there hasn't been a new review posted at Amazon in ages.

Curious. This is rather the opposite of what I was expecting (to the extent I was expecting anything). I just assumed that Amazon, being the superpower of retail, would attract more readers. Is it possible that B&N attracts more "real readers" (let's call them) than Amazon?

Does anyone know if this is the pattern, B&N reviews outpacing Amazon ones? Or is this just a case of my life experience, as usual, being outside the mainstream?

Book Reviews For Sale

This story in the New York Times about the selling of 5-star reviews, and the importance of reviews in getting your book noticed, read and purchased, is interesting and tells us something about how e-publishing is changing the fundamentals of book publishing.

I argued in my last post that a few bad reviews to balance out the good will lend credence to your reviews overall. But one individual in the article argues that he pays attention only to the bad reviews, since he assumes all the good ones are fake.

Which leaves the poor author where? Stuck between a rock and a hard place, as usual.

So -- would you ever pay someone for a good review? Would you pay someone for any kind of review?

Why Bad Reviews Are Good

I've gotten a couple of so-so reviews over the last few weeks (along with a couple of nice ones) and while my initial reaction to these affronts was a rich mixture of crap and harrumph, I quickly came to realize these were blessings in disguise.

If nothing else, a two-star rating (at Goodreads) and a three-star rating (at Barnes and Noble) lend credence to all the four- and five-star ratings left by other readers of Tainted Souls on those sites and, where applicable, the nice things they had to say in their reviews of the book. Considering the lengths to which some writers go to get every relative, friend, neighbor or passerby to write a sterling review of their opus, the presence of a couple of clunkers here and there ought to give some testimony that the other reviews are also real, even the somewhat goofy five-star review at B&N that reads, "I real like reading this book."

After all, you can't please everyone.

Do you agree? Or do you still just cringe when someone gives your baby as less-than-perfect score?