This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral-Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!-in America's Gilded Capital

Product Description A #1 New York Times bestseller!From the New York Times bestselling author of Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous TimesWashington 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. Review "This Town is funny, it's interesting, and it is demoralizing ... I loved it as much as you can love something which hurts your heart."-John Oliver, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?In addition to his reporting talents, Leibovich is a writer of excellent zest. At times his book is laugh-out-loud (as well as weep-out-loud). He is an exuberant writer, even as his reporting leaves one reaching for Xanax?[This Town] is vastly entertaining and deeply troubling.?-Christopher Buckley, The New York Times Book Review "It's been the summer of This Town. What lingers from This Town is what will linger in Washington well after its current dinosaurs are extinct: the political culture owned by big money."-Frank Rich, New York Magazine"Many decades from now, a historian looking at where America lost its way could use This Town as a primary source."-Fareed Zakaria ?Here it is, Washington in all its splendid, sordid glory?[Leibovich] seems to wear those special glasses that allow you to x-ray the outside and see what?s really going on. Start to finish, this is a brilliant portrait - pointillist, you might say, or modern realist. So brilliant that once it lands on a front table at Politics & Prose Leibovich will never be able to have lunch in this town again. There are also important insights tucked in among the barbs?So here?s to all the big mouths, big shots, big machers, and big jerks. In case you?re wondering, Mark Leibovich is on to every one of you, and his portrayal of This Town is spot on.? -David Shribman, The New York Times?In his new book This Town, Mark Leibovich commits an act of treason against the Washington establishment? Thoroughly entertaining? Leibovich is a keen observer and energetic writer.?-Reid Pillifant, New York Observer  ?This Town is a frothy Beltway insider tell-all ?rollicking fun and sharply written. A big, sprawling fun beach read of a book-snappy and well-crafted.?-Susan Gardner, The Daily Kos ?This Town is as entertaining for the broader picture it paints of a capital that corrupts even the most incorruptible as it is for the salacious gossip that dominated early reviews. Books like Leibovich?s are important resources for historians who, a century from now, will use This Town as a trove of background information for a pivotal period when our politics became poisonous.?-Reid Wilson, The National Journal ?Leibovich delivers the reportorial goods. He is in all the parties, and supplies a wildly entertaining anthrolopogical tour.?-Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine ?Leibovich has written a very funny book about how horrible his industry can be? Uncommonly honest.?-David Weigel, Slate ?[Leibovich] is a master of the political profile? This Town is as insidery as Game Change?-Carlos Lozada, Washington Post ?Intensely anticipated?. [Leibovich] has a real affect