01 September 2020

A Red in the White House?



Their Man in the White House
Tom Ardies
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1971
198 pages 
One of the wealthiest men in the United States is running for the presidency, and intelligence agencies are concerned because Russian operatives are exercising influence. Do they have something on him? Does blackmail play a part? And what are we to make of the peculiar relationship between the candidate and his blonde adult daughter?
So begins my review, just published online at Canadian Notes & Queries.

A novel for our times, don't you think?

You can read it here:
Cold War, Warm Bed
Do not judge this book by its cover.

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6 comments:

  1. I kind of like this version of the book cover more than the one at your review at CNQ. Looking at it made me hope it was an amazingly prescient oracular roman a clef fitting the current Putin Puppet in the White House.

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    1. Karel, you were quick off the mark. The cover presented at CNQ was the 1971 Macmillan (UK) edition. I think they've since fixed the error. I have things to say about that ugly jacket illustration, but I'll leave that for next post.

      Not to spoil anything, but I agree that the M&S cover is better.

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  2. Ha! A fun review. I missed the other cover, but the M&S one is pretty brilliant.

    But I figure the reason a certain other Russian operative doesn't want us to see his tax returns is because he's not really but rich, but two steps ahead of broke.

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    1. I'm with you, reese. My favourite part of Michelle Wolf's 2018 monologue at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was this:

      "People call Trump names all the time, and look, I could call Trump a racist, or a misogynist, or xenophobic, or unstable, or incompetent, or impotent, but he’s heard all of those and he doesn’t care. So tonight, I’m going to try to make fun of the president in a new way, in a way I think will really get him.

      Mr. President, I don’t think you’re very rich. I think you might be rich in Idaho but in New York you’re doing fine. Trump is the only person that still watches Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and thinks, 'Me!'"

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  3. Brash Books (http://www.brash-books.com) is republishing this book, and the entire Tom Ardies/Jack Trolley backlist this year.

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    1. Good news! Are you with Brash Books, Lee? I ask because I don't yet see mention of the reissues on their site. If so, please keep me informed. I'll make certain to mention the reissues in Canadian Notes & Queries.

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