The Faking of the President: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir

by Peter Carlaftes (Editor), Eric Beetner (Contributor), Christopher Chambers (Contributor)

“The stories put arrows in the red .... [with] “Manchurian Candidate”-style Cold War paranoia ... exploitation ... actual history [and] first ladies who are the power behind the throne. ... The actual present is left until last, when [editor] Carlaftes himself appears for an audacious final story.” —The New York Times. In an era where anything in politics seems possible, THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT is a unique creative act of resistance, and a must-have for fans of politics, noir, and speculative fiction. THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT does for today's presidency what The Making of the President did in 1960: pulls back the curtain and gives readers a new perspective on America's highest office. And what a view! This collection of seventeen stories by renowned mystery and noir authors takes readers across the chasm of reality into an alternate universe--where Abraham Lincoln struggles with a racial secret; where a time-traveling renegade targets members of the George Bush administration--to disastrous results; and where a spy finds opportunity after Woodrow Wilson's stroke. The stories are outlandish--but when it comes to the White House, what isn't these days?

Spinning new tales of White House noir, these yarns prove that absolute power absolutely corrupts, with twisting stories of presidential oddities and aberrations that no longer seem implausible in today's political climate. THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT acknowledges the wacko state of politics today, and openly wonders how far down the rabbit hole the American presidency can go.

Included are works by renowned, diverse, award-winning mystery authors Eric Beetner, Peter Carlaftes, Christopher Chambers, Sarah M. Chen, Angel Luis Colón, S. A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Mary Anna Evans, Kate Flora, Adam Lance Garcia, Danny Gardner, Alison Gaylin, Greg Herren, Gary Phillips, Alex Segura, Travis Richardson, S. J. Rozan, Abby Vandiver, and Erica Wright.

Genres: Short Stories, Humor, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Politics, Noir, Alternate History

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 2020

About the author

PETER CARLAFTES is a New York-based performance artist, playwright, fiction author, actor, and poet. He is co-director and acquisitions editor for Three Rooms Press, a fierce, independent publisher inspired by Dada, punk and passion. Most recently, he edited the anthology THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: Nineteen Tales of White House Noir. He is co-editor of the annual Dada writing and art journal, MAINTENANT: A Journal of Contemporary Writing and Art and several editions of the short story collection, HAVE A NYC. Additionally, Carlaftes is the author of A YEAR ON FACEBOOK (humor), DRUNKYARD DOG, I FOLD WITH THE HAND I WAS DEALT (poetry), TRIUMPH FOR RENT: Three Plays, and TEATROPHY: Three More Plays.He has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions, including his comic solo performance piece, “Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well,” as well as “Barefoot in the Park” and Stephen Adly Guirgis' “Den of Thieves.” He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grab bag of satirical shorts centered around the White House and its most famous residents. A few of the stories really hit it out of the park, particularly the opening stories about Elvis and Nixon and drugs, Eisenhower and the squirrels on the White House lawn, and, of course, the unique secret clause describing how to settle the hanging chads in the 2000 election by virtue of a fist fight between Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Gore. Historical figures as diverse as Andrew Jackson, LBJ, and Woodrow Wilson are humanized and brought to life in ways your history texts probably glossed over. Overall, though, the selections didn't always live up to the billing.

[Chrissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book about potential realities in the past presidencies of this country named after an Italian tough guy. Written by 19 highly talented writers who really know their American history, these great fictional takes on what could have happened, what might have happened, and what didn't happen are really marvels and wonders to take in and to then think about what directions we might have taken, and often tragically did not, particularly in the face of the most genetically twisted presidency we've yet experienced.

Published by longtime stalwart indie publisher Three Rooms Press in NYC, The Faking of the President was just released last month. In it you'll find JFK assassination theories and Oswald, 9/11 alternate realities, time travellers, Elvis, John Wilkes Booth, Dan Quayle, wooden robot hearts, and the secret lives of most of the well-known presidents and a few of the lesser known historical figures, the task of the writers herein appearing to be to deconstruct and reverse engineer the times and spaces of American presidential history. Calling it noir is fitting because of the persistent darkness of the job and the dark heart of American "exceptionalism". Or as Bob Dylan called what we live through, the "dark land of the Sun", that alternate version of reality that we force ourselves to believe, our American lies that continue and have manifested as the Orange Crush of the Art of the Deal presidency.

Obviously this is a perfect book for an election year and one definitely learns a lot about the real history of this American country and the potential futures. This is not the first presidency that has gone awry and has subsisted largely on a steady diet of untruth and insanity (although it could very well be the deepest ditch), so the perspective granted upon reading this book, edited by contributing writer Peter Carlaftes, is survival, despite all this deep shit.

It's a really fun and loose book. It takes what might have been a depressing task and turns it into some wonderfully demented surreal grand guignol of political satire.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of what could of been an alternate history of the presidency.A really interesting funny sci-fi and more group of stories about how different our country could of been,Thanks @goodreads for my advance copy,

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 'what if' short stories regarding U.S. presidents wasn't quite as much fun as it sounds. I did like many of the ideas other than I was burning out on the number of stories where the first ladies (and other spouses) were really the power behind their men. Fortunately, those stories ended. Most of the stories seemed more intent with sitting up the situation creatively than with a true resolution or any sort of 'deep dive'. Still there were a number I liked such as eerie and off the beaten track Old Pharaoh and The Dreadful Scott Decision about a researcher obsessed by James Buchanan. Quite frankly some of the stories about still living presidents really didn't appeal to me. (And I'm a person who gets a big kick out of the Biden mysteries.) I guess it's because they were unflatteringly mean-spirited even in a fictional way. In any collection of short stories, there are those one likes better than others. I rate this at 3 stars for although there were stories I liked better than the others, none of them amazed me or left me impressed.

[Marge Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a fun read. I enjoyed the stories of the presidents that I've lived through more than the ones that I only know through history books.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Faking of the President: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir, edited by Peter Carlaftes, is a bit uneven but overall good collection of stories. The unevenness is typical of anthologies that include multiple authors, so as long as it appears that nothing horrible was included, I treat unevenness as a non factor.

These stories range from slightly unusual to downright bizarre, but that is what makes it fun. Keeping too close to plausible might not be a good idea in a time when seemingly functional people believe conspiracies about anything and everything. QAnon as a case in point, though believers of that don't actually appear functional.

I am hesitant to discuss any particular story because while the writing is only a little uneven the appeal from story to story is likely to fluctuate wildly, much like Trump's opinions on just about anything, contradictory and overwhelmingly illustrative of his ignorance. But the fun had at the expense of these public figures is less partisan and more a statement about power and those who seek power.

Recommended for those who enjoy alternative history (and future) with actual people and events as part of the stories. If you're brainwashed into believing that a President, any President, is above having fun poked at him, you may not like this book. You may also be a miserable old coot, but either way...

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Faking of the President: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir
Edited by Peter Carlaftes
2020

A LibraryThing Early Reviewers book. This review is for the Advanced Reader Copy/Uncorrected Proof.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this title, beyond that it would be about U.S. Presidents. Happily, I was quite pleased with the alternate history stories in this volume. The short stories fell into all sorts of genres, not just noir: horror, action/adventure, humor, satire, and Science-Fiction describe just some of them. My favorite stories were "Old Pharaoh" by Danny Gardner, a dark and scary tale during the time of President Abraham Lincoln, and "Long Live Long" by Kate Flow, a tale of the assassination of Huey Long, when he was campaigning for the nomination against FDR. The ending of that story really surprised me and the similarities of the situation to our current democratic nomination process was eye-opening.
Being an uncorrected proof, there were some glaring typos, but I am sure that will be taken care of in the final version of the text.
I strongly recommend this cathartic text to readers who are trying to get through the trauma of the current administration.
4 stars.

[Charlie Carpet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise of "What if all US presidents of the past acted with the same impunity as this one" has led to a exhilarating collection of stories from some top names in mystery including Gary Phillips, S.A. Cosby, Allison Gaylin, and many more. Many of the tales are outright funny, starting with a premise of something that actually happened, then using the writer's imagination to expand into a universe of alternate histories. The cast of authors is refreshingly diverse, and the editor's own tale, which deals with No. 45 himself, is the real cherry on top of this consistently outstanding collection. Need a creative form of resistance? This is it.

[Exapno Mapcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everybody loves to play “what if” with the presidents of the U.S. The readers are provided with a mostly dark collection of stories about different eras of the presidency, from Buchanan to Nixon.

Free review copy.

[Heather Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection of noir short stories all set in various presidential eras. I enjoyed every story-these alternative histories are especially welcome right now! My favorites were: “Y2 Effin’ K” (actually wouldn’t surprise me), “Article 77” (would have been interesting to see!), “Is This Tomorrow” (squirrels!), “Services Rendered” (explains a whole lot), “Mother of Exiles” (should have happened), “In Mother We Trust” (argh!!!), “The Event That Didn’t Happen” (definitely could have happened), and “But One Life To Give” (if only!!!!!!!). I strongly recommend this anthology-top book and favorite of the year!

[Tomasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn, was that a showcase of second-rate talent (using the word loosely) trying to do a good job? Or just the editor making sure nobody overshadowed him? Mostly ho-hum ideas packed in pedestrian prose, jokes only mother could love, and noir so watered down it was pale grey. Rounded up for aspiration.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read 999 Points of Light by S.A. Cosby. It was well written but pretty weak overall. An interesting mix of political, current events, and sci Fi/conspiracy theory. But I didn't really like any of the characters and found the plot resolution silly.

[Allen Pasternak · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Al Gore (yes,President Gore) story is especially good.

[LaShana Claude]

Peter Calaftes
Alison Gaylin
Angel Luis Colon
Gary Phillips
Eric Beetner
Mary Anna Evans- All Men Are Big Dreamers

[Floyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It sounded fun when I chose to review it, but I found it less so. The stories are darker than most cozy mysteries with the focus being on the commission of a crime, rather than the discovery of their perpetrators.

The Presidents are guilty of murder or planning the murders. What makes these stories interesting is that most are rooted in historical events - not the murders themselves but the circumstances and people involved. They forced the reader to review Google for historical events and people mentioned in the stories - always a pleasure when reading historical fiction.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.