The Coup: A Novel
by Jamie Malanowski
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jamie MalanowskiEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-07-17
ISBN: 0385520484
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of The Coup: A Novel
Book Review: Quick read, but will not date well
Summary: 2 Stars
I was interested in this book because I knew that the author, Jamie Malanowski, had been founding member of the wonderful "Spy" magazine in the late 80s, so I was hoping for something ironical and humorous. The story itself was interesting, about the corrupt VP Godwin Pope, and his elaborate and ambitious plot to take over the presidency. The main character was engaging enough, though not totally three-dimensional, and the love story sub-plot kept the story moving along, though it was completely unbelievable to me.
And here's where I have the problem with the book. Malanowski doesn't flesh out the characters enough, they seem more like archetypes of modern political people in power now (or in recent power). It's clear that he's more interested in the elaborate story than in giving the reader a deeper glimpse into the characters. Also, he seems overly pre-occupied with coming up with cutesy names for each of the characters, as though the name itself will suffice to import meaning into the character. He doesn't seem to have a firm understanding of women and how to write about them. One chapter in particular, where a female journalist meets a hooker, I found to fall completely flat and be totally unbelievable. This book will not date well, either: he uses many, many topical references that will surely be forgotten 10 or 20 years down the road. In other words, it's a book written specifically for this period in time, which is a negative in my opinion.
If you want a quick, humorous read about today's political ironies, where you don't have to care about the characters too much and just want more of a puzzle-like romp, then this book will be fine. I'm hoping that Mr. Malanowski can take his sparkling wit and agile thinking and flesh out his ideas more in his next novel.
Summary of The Coup: A Novel
A savagely funny and knowing political satire about a vice president with an irresistible itch to move up a notch.
Godwin Pope, the current vice president of the United States, is bored out of his skull. The one-time software billionaire and hyperconfident alpha male has been reduced to the most empty tasks while the administration of President Jack Mahone sinks lower and lower in the polls with every gaffe and self-generated fiasco. Into his orbit swings Maggie Newbold, the sexy fallen-star journalist with a bad habit of sleeping with her sources, who's on a rehabilitation tour with Newsbreak magazine. Pope sees in Maggie the instrument of his salvation, and he sets into motion a plot of incredible subtlety (and, he believes, untraceability) whereby the Mahone administration will be so tarred by scandal that even though the president didn't actually do anything, he'll have no choice but to resign. Leaving the chair in the Oval Office vacant for Pope's ascension, just as he deserves. Drawing on our current political climate (the incestuous relationship between the press and the politicians, government agendas driven by scandal and spin, raging ambition and toxic competition at the highest levels) while telling an unforgettable and ingeniously plotted story, The Coup is deliciously cynical, unsurpassingly witty?and dismayingly believable.
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