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This Town
This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral-Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!-in America's Gilded Cap ital | Mark Leibovich
6 posts | 10 read | 9 to read
Washington D.C. might be loathed from every corner of the nation, yet these are fun and busy days at this nexus of big politics, big money, big media, and big vanity. There are no Democrats and Republicans anymore in the nation's capital, just millionaires. Through the eyes of Leibovich we discover how the funeral for a beloved newsman becomes the social event of the year; how political reporters are fetishized for their ability to get their names into the predawn e-mail sent out by the city's most powerful and puzzled-over journalist; how a disgraced Hill aide can overcome ignominy and maybe emerge with a more potent "brand" than many elected members of Congress. And how an administration bent on "changing Washington" can be sucked into the ways of This Town with the same ease with which Tea Party insurgents can, once elected, settle into it like a warm bath. Outrageous, fascinating, and very necessary, This Town is a must-read whether you're inside the highway which encircles DC - or just trying to get there.
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keithmalek
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🤣 This is in reference to the fact that Andrea Mitchell is married to Alan Greenspan.

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keithmalek
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Verity
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Mehso-so

Honestly this feels like it‘s from a different age. It‘s only five (ish) years old, but so seismic have the changes been that it feels incredibly dated and it‘s really hard to work out whether it was good/offering a new perspective when it was new

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crhealey
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#reccommendsday My former roommates are doing a Christmas book swap. Debating between these two for my political junkie friend. On one hand I know he loves JFK a lot but on the other I figure he's read a bio of him before. This Town is also a fun, kind of soapy look at DC but is also really insightful about the political culture & process.

BookishMarginalia I vote for This Town, based on your blurb. 8y
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Susannah
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Next audiobook. I've been looking for a fun, gossipy book about Washington, DC, and had forgotten about this one before it popped up on my Book-a-Day calendar yesterday. I'm only about an hour in but entertained so far.

Well-ReadNeck Sounds intriguing! Interested to hear how you like the audiobook. 8y
Susannah @Well-ReadNeck, it helps that the it's recent. Since the events discussed (so far) are in 2008, I recognize most of the names. I'd be lost trying to listen to an audiobook with a zillion real-life characters from any earlier than about 1950. This is why I can't listen to history audiobooks. 8y
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PennyNotSoDreadful
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Easy, gossip-y, (& a bit shameless) read by Washington insider - pretty fun!

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