O bother | Michael Tomasky

As usual, our own Ed Pilkington delivers a nicely turned story about the new novel O, the presidential novel written by Anonymous. But I have to say, I don't know that anyone is talking about it all.

I live in Washington. I'm fairly plugged in. Why last Saturday I even went to a dinner party full of swells and elitist types. I didn't hear anyone mention it.

It seems sort of desperate and silly, does it not? Joe Klein came up with the Anonymous idea. When Joe thought of it, it was original and clever. Pulling that a second time is humiliatingly lame. It's like, hey, let me tell you about this idea I have for a screenplay. It's set during World War II, and the action takes place in this cafe called Rick's...

I suppose there's a chance the novel is good. But that strikes me as a long shot. It's very rare that these kinds of novels are any good as novels. And Ed says Obama comes off well. What is the point of that? Someone hides their identity and writes puffery? That's kind of ridiculous.

There is also the problem that Obama isn't very good for satire because he just isn't funny. Nothing about him is funny. He's too moderate. In his personal habits, I mean. He looks good, he speaks well, he has no tics, he talks rather flatly without any colorful language. He's unfunniest president since...I don't know who. Calvin Coolidge. Or maybe Eisenhower. It is of course in general a good thing that nothing about the Obamas leads to the kind of salacious tongue-wagging and jibber-jabbery that followed the Clintons around incessantly.

Barack ObamaMichael Tomasky
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