Wag the Dog

by Larry Beinhart

Once upon a time there was a mean, dying GOP chairman who had a brilliant scheme to assure that his man would retain the office of president of the United States of America. And the only man who could pull off this elaborate plan was a celebrated Hollywood director. Add to the mix a left-coast gumshoe named Broz who is trapped among cover-ups, undercover work, and his own morality, a cast of bicoastal desperate characters, and the stage is set for a powerful D.C./L.A. production. From Edgar award winning author Larry Beinhart, Wag the Dog was the most brilliant political satire of the last decade. It was made into a classic film by Barry Levinson, and, fortunately, is now back in print.

Genres: Fiction, Politics, Satire, Novels, Media Tie In

392 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2004

About the author

Larry Beinhart is an Edgar Award-winning author whose American Hero became the movie Wag the Dog."

Reviews

[Janice (JG) · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I read this novel (when it was then titled "American Hero"), I was a little nervous for Beinhart because so much of this story seemed spot on. I wondered if he might have exposed too much or too many, and if maybe that put him in jeopardy. I needn't have worried, because then the movie Wag the Dog came out, which redirected the focus of the story and trivialized the plot, so that no one would take Beinhart's book seriously... which is strangely ironic and peculiarly self-fulfilling. Way to go, Hollywood. Read the book.

[Wentworth Boughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “Wag the Dog” movie is based on the “Wag the Dog” novel (originally published as “American Hero”), but the two have little in common. Author Larry Bienhart concurs that the plot and characters are totally different.

In the movie, a Hollywood producer creates an entirely fake war to distract the public from the President’s sexual scandal.

In the novel, President George Bush has Hollywood orchestrate a real war in order to boost his popularity for re-election and raise the country’s patriotic morale. He even strikes a deal with Saddam Hussein to be the villain. The novel provides this alternative history explanation as the cause of the first Gulf War. It seems plausible that a president could go to war for his own political gain and use Hollywood to package it for the public, but not plausible that Saddam Hussein agreed to start the war for Bush, so the United States could then attack Iraq.

The novel is primarily a detective mystery. After falling in love with a Hollywood starlet, tough guy detective Joe Broz tries to find out what the Hollywood director and the government are planning. Broz, a Vietnam vet, has military honed Rambo kill skills, and the story degenerates into battles with plenty of Ninjas, martial arts, shootings, and dead bodies.

The book is entertaining and thought provoking. It is fascinating how governments and the media use propaganda to manipulate the public. The author’s extensive footnotes provides historical background.

Fun Fact: A year after the movie came out, life imitated art when President Clinton ordered air strikes on Iraq during his impeachment hearings for lying about his affair to Monica Lewinski.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I loved the film based on it. And I'm absolutely stunned that that movie came from this book. Only the barest of ideas can be matched from one to the other. The movie was a brilliant, hilarious send up of both Hollywood and the government, playing on how both can use the media to manipulate the populace. And imagine if they did so together.
The novel was a mash up of hard-boiled detective, political thriller and extremely unsuccessful attempts at political humor, most of which I'm sure cracked up Beinhart, but fell flat on the pages. It wasn't all that great at mixing hard-boiled and political thriller together either.
While the film poked fun at both Hollywood and the mid-to-late-90s White House, this book was the author's attempt to criticize the Reagan-Bush years and first Gulf War. But attempting to do so in a "humorous" fictional story so as to be accepted and make money instead of possibly being dismissed as the author's personal political agenda.
For the most part the story was OK, but whatever good will existed through most of the book came crashing down in the final awful chapters, which ultimately did nothing but expound on Beinhart's personal grudge against the war.

[John Defrog: global citizen, local gadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

As in the novel that the movie of the same name is based on. The movie and the book are two different animals, which is nice, since the movie is quite good and the novel has the benefit of using real people – unlike the film, it’s not a fictional Clinton-esque president, but George Bush Senior, James Baker III and Lee Atwater at the heart of the plot to create a fake war to boost Bush’s ratings. There’s also plenty of Hollywood satire via the movie director’s private life and the detective hired to find out what the director’s big secret project is who also ends up dating an actress. It’s a bit convoluted, and some of it’s tedious, but overall interesting, and all too relevant at a time when war is still served up as entertainment in America.

[Anna Peace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has loads of footnotes, which drove me crazy! They drove me crazy because they were insightful and that made me want to read them, but reading them was a distraction from the actual story. And I found the story to be interesting and wanted to read it without distractions. Such a conundrum! The author asserts several times that the book is a work of fiction, however, numerous footnotes would suggest that at least portions of it are based in fact, which leaves you to draw you own conclusions. And very interesting conclusions can be drawn.

[Brian Almquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Hollywood satire and the political intrigues and footnotes. The whole thing is pretty gonzo, and really a product of the era of Spy magazine and their obsessions. A barely disguised Michael Ovitz, ridiculous hard-boiled storylines. I remember it being a blast with enough conspiratorial undertones (thanks footnotes!) to, if not challenge any existing contemporary US military messaging, but to really salt the well for future hagiographers of America's military ventures.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember enjoying the movie, but the book us very different. I liked that Beinhart used the names of real politicians, but not enough to finish the book. I found myself reading but not caring what was going on. This would be one of the few cases where I think the movie was better than the book.

[Jess Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought provoking because it makes readers think. Kind of trippy to be reading this in 2025 under the current social, economic President climate and social media so prevalent in our lives. Confusing at many parts. Readers be warned you need to sit with the book for a while because the switch in characters point of views is confusing.

[Nicole Dalton · Rating 1 out of 5]

The movie is better

[N. Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is a propaganda novel about propaganda. The plot revolves around the premise that the first Gulf War under Bush Sr., was conceived and developed as a war movie, with a big Hollywood producer and a famous film director in charge of the project. The story is packaged as a crime novel, with a Mickey Spillane type character—a masculine, tough, wisecracking covert security agent who becomes romantically linked with a famous and gorgeous actress—whose mission is to retrieve the memo written by a dying Lee Atwater that gave birth to the idea.

The style is witty, the plot has the required complexity and requisite twists and turns, and moreover, is very well written. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book, savoring it like a delicious snack.

It does have some unusual traits. Third person omniscient narrative is interspersed with the first person of the hero. Also, because the book is sort of 'faction', rather than pure fiction, Beinhart has footnotes at the end of the chapters, which is strange for a novel. Some people might wonder why he didn't write a straight non-fiction book, but for me I thought the concept worked well. So reader be aware, my rating is subjective and you might not appreciate it in the smae way as I did. If you like straight crime drama, you might want to check out his Tony Cassella series, which I intend to read and rate.
(By the way, if you've seen the movie 'Wag the Dog' with Hoffman and DeNiro, it won't spoil the book for you, since, in Beinhart's reply as to whether the movie was faithful to the book, he said yes. 'They only changed the plot and the characters!' Funny coming from him, since he himself wrote the screenplay!)

[Wendy Beckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Wag the Dog" was an interesting read. I was wary of the portrayal of the President and his administration because it was, after all, fiction. Another interesting aspect was how the different story lines were in different fonts. That drove me crazy! I met Larry Beinhart at the Antioch Writers' Workshop years ago. I asked him what he thought of the movie that was made from his "Wag the Dog" (which was then called "American Hero"). He said that they had made a great movie; he had written a great book; and they didn't have much to do with each other. So if you've seen the movie, go ahead and read the book, and make your own conclusions.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive. Quite different to the film. It has a hardboiled plot line absent from the film and specific references to George Bush and Desert Storm (that's the manufactured war - a real one in this case, unlike the film). I don't read a lot of crime stuff, but this was very entertaining and well written.

[Phdals · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read this book yet but saw the movie and it's actually NOT about dogs, but about a concept that is a bit scary to see played out. I was told this was a response to the Clinton mess, not sure if it's true or not but a must read at any rate!

[Greendavis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the movie, but the book was quite different. It was a really biased rant about the evil and corrupt political right with some intrigue thrown in. I thought the film was brilliant.

[RunRachelRun · Rating 4 out of 5]

All about how the media manipulates what we believe.

[Miyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

the political machine spins out of control

[Lmckinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie ahead of it and loved it. The book has a lot of footnotes, which first made it hard to read. Once I jumped those it was a plesant book.

[Monique Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping, involved, fascinating.

[Gem · Rating 2 out of 5]

funny

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far better than the movie, and entirely plausible.