Word: agnew
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...irony of this passage is Spiro Agnew's implied claim that he's writing a novel that is more than just popular fiction. Through his most intelligent, honest, noble characters he is trying to say that the situation he has created rises above the mundane, ordinary plot concoctions of pop novels. If the language doesn't clue you in, that fact that Zack and Amiri fall deeply and irrevocably in love in no time flat, and that this passage is an example of their wittiest repartee should tell you that Agnew's implied claim isn't quite true...
...passage not only describes Agnew's novel, but Ehrlichman's The Company as well: intrigue, lavish and exotic settings, vapid romances, powerful men doing important things, and a sense of vacancy surrounding it all. The passage doesn't describe some of the other aspects of these two pop gov thrillers: an overriding concern with power, fame, the good life, and the ambition that drives people to seek such things. Ehrlichman actually describes what these two novels are about in a short preface. He writes that while the characters are fictitious, "the forces--the stresses, pressures, fears and passions--that motivate...
...Agnew sets his novel in 1983. The Democrats are in office, second-term President Walter Hurly is vying with Vice President Porter Canfield over important foreign policy matters. Canfield is seeking his party's nomination and to gain the spotlight he stumps around the country on the off-year-election circuit saying the U.S. should give Israel nuclear weapons. This posture threatens to ruin the latest round of SALT talks; nevertheless, Canfield won't follow lame-duck Hurly's orders to lay off the Israel stuff. The press--which under the appellation of 'Operation Torchlight' is secretly conspiring to boost...
...Agnew's story-line is far-fetched, Ehrlichman's is only slightly more plausible. Because Ehrlichman writes about clearly recognizable figures in the not-so-distant-past, you could even say that his plot is more ludicrous. He starts with a quick summary of the 1960s: President William Curry (Harvard grad) dies in a plane crash and is succeeded by President Esker Anderson (who "exudes...a crude inelegance" and decides not to run for reelection). The main story begins with the presidential campaign between Republican Richard Monckton and former Vice-President Edward Gilley...
First, you can see what Agnew and Ehrlichman's primary concerns were during most of their public lives. Both novels contain lengthy descriptions of the Oval Office (in all of its awesome splendor), Airforce Two (Agnew), Airforce One (Agnew and Ehrlichman), and Camp David (Ehrlichman). The material spoils of power are given prominent places in both books: the authors dwell on chauffeur-driven limos, deferring butlers and maids, posh furnishings, fancy restaurants, sumptuous Government repasts (Agnew likes to show that he's a connoisseur by having Canfield comment on the quality of food and wine), and above all, alcohol. Booze...