Watergate
By Thomas Mallon
- Release Date: 2012-02-21
- Genre: Historical Fiction
Description
From one of our most esteemed historical novelists, a remarkable retelling of the Watergate scandal, as seen through a kaleidoscope of its colorful perpetrators and investigators.
For all the monumental documentation that Watergate generated—uncountable volumes of committee records, court transcripts, and memoirs—it falls at last to a novelist to perform the work of inference (and invention) that allows us to solve some of the scandal’s greatest mysteries (who did erase those eighteen-and-a-half minutes of tape?) and to see this gaudy American catastrophe in its human entirety.
In Watergate, Thomas Mallon conveys the drama and high comedy of the Nixon presidency through the urgent perspectives of seven characters we only thought we knew before now, moving readers from the private cabins of Camp David to the klieg lights of the Senate Caucus Room, from the District of Columbia jail to the Dupont Circle mansion of Theodore Roosevelt’s sharp-tongued ninety-year-old daughter (“The clock is dick-dick-dicking”), and into the hive of the Watergate complex itself, home not only to the Democratic National Committee but also to the president’s attorney general, his recklessly loyal secretary, and the shadowy man from Mississippi who pays out hush money to the burglars.
Praised by Christopher Hitchens for his “splendid evocation of Washington,” Mallon achieves with Watergate a scope and historical intimacy that surpasses even what he attained in his previous novels, as he turns a “third-rate burglary” into a tumultuous, first-rate entertainment.
Reviews
Watergate a novel
5By akechaveWatergate a novel is marvelous! I lived the era, followed the characters and although it is well understood that this is fiction based in history it did not detract from my enjoyment. Mallon's recreation of the characters is so rich and in most cases sympathetic I actually felt some sympathy for them! I loved the portrayal of Pat Nixon, a woman that I knew very little about and now look forward to reading a true biography of her. Whether you are from the Left or the Right there is something to enjoy in this novel. The most fun is of course Alice Roosevelt Longworth, I now have to go back and read Teddy's autobiography! Enjoy!Watergate
5By MsrhaThis novel captures all of the characters around Watergate. I especially enjoyed Alice Roosevelt Longworth. My brother reminded me that she used to come to our elementary school, Phoebe Hearst, and read to the kids. Some of the best dialogue,in the book, is written for her character. It's a page turner, despite the fact that the reader knows the outcome.Watergate
5By Omega62234A wonderful, compelling read! I listened to the same interview between Diane and Thomas Mallon on NPR and being a political junkie fascinated by the Watergate era, I felt drawn to read the book. I could not put it down. I followed the Watergate scandal from when it began to when it concluded with Nixon's resignation. Thomas Mallon emphasizes that this book is a work of fiction and is not meant to be taken as history. Yet, I found the development of his characters eerily realistic in comparison to the impressions I formed of the actual principals at the time in the early '70's. I can understand why some might mistake this book as a work of history--perhaps because the story is so believable--a marvelous integration of well-researched fact and convincing story-telling. Even though Mallon admits he is manipulating history to tell this story, I am left with the feeling that I know Richard and Pat Nixon and the other Watergate principals a little better than before I read this story.
