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50 Years Reporting in Washington
Crown
July 2007
On Sale: July 15, 2007
Featuring: Robert Novak
673 pages
ISBN: 1400051991
EAN: 9781400051991
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Long before Robert Novak became the center of a political firestorm in the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal, he had established himself as one of the finestโand most controversialโpolitical reporters in America. Now, in this sweeping, monumental memoir, Novak offers the first full account of his involvement in that affair, while also revealing the fascinating story of his remarkable life and career. This is a singular journey through a half century of stories, scandals, and personal encounters with Washingtonโs most powerful and colorful people. Novak has been a Washington insider since the days when the place was a sleepy southern town and journalism was built on shoe leather and the ability to cultivate and keep sources (not to mention the ability to hold oneโs liquor). He has covered every president since Truman, known (personally and professionally) virtually all the big movers and shakers in D.C., and broken a number of the biggest storiesโthe Plame story, we see here, being far from the most important. In this book, he puts it all into perspective. He also reveals the extraordinary transformations that have fundamentally remade Washington, politics, and journalismโand his own role in those transformations. Moving beyond the โfirst draft of historyโ that is daily journalism, Novak can at last tell the stories behind the stories. He vividly recalls encounters with the Kennedys (angry meetings with Bobby, a scary ride home in Jackโs convertible), his unusual relationship with Lyndon Johnson (who hosted Novakโs wedding reception and who, โdrunk as a loon,โ had to be carried out of a bar by the youngnewsman), a decidedly odd off-the-record lunch with Ronald Reagan, and his first meetings with George W. Bushโat which the veteran journalist seriously underestimated the future president. We meet other fascinating characters as well, from Deng Xiaoping to Ted Turner to Ezra Pound. Writing with bracing candor, Novak tells us how politics and journalism truly operate at the highest levels, both publicly and behind closed doors. He is equally open about his private experience. He writes frankly about the days when his drinking reflected too closely the boozy ways of the town. He acknowledges times when his job took precedence over his family. He is reflective about his political journey to the right. And he writes more personally than ever before about his spiritual journey, from his early life as a secular Jew to his conversion to Catholicism at the age of sixty-seven. Packed with riveting, never-before-told stories, The Prince of Darkness is a hugely entertaining and equally perceptive view of fifty years in the life of Washington and the people who cover it.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - August 6, 2007
Charlie Rose - August 3, 2007
Today - July 15, 2007
Meet the Press - July 15, 2007
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