Two kinds of parties show up in The Solomon Scandals, my D.C. media novel: the private variety (“party-parties”) and “name-in-the-paper parties” (where the givers and the guests want publicity). For both, the location is still the Georgetown section of Washington, famous over the years as home to the liberal elite. I’ve never applied for “elite” […]
Read MoreThe nuts and bolts of bribing a bureaucrat—or at least the guy in the photo
How to bribe a corrupt bureaucrat? No need for cash in brown bags. In The Solomon Scandals I tell of a lower-mid-level ‘crat whom Sy Solomon flies to New York and treats to a $110 lunch. Sy is the biggest of the real estate tycoons renting office space to the feds, and not just by […]
Read MoreF. Scott Fitzgerald’s tax returns, D.C.’s would-be Gatsbys, and the new defense scandals
The Solomon Scandals mentions F. Scott Fitzgerald—rather fittingly, given his family’s ties with the Washington area, the main setting of the novel. He and Zelda are even buried in suburban Maryland, and their daughter, Scottie, wrote for the Northern Virginia Sun newspaper and was married to a Washington real estate man. Where else could Scandals […]
Read MoreD.C.’s power lunchrooms: Then and now
The Solomon Scandals mentions the Sans Souci, where so many members of the D.C. elite plotted and dined. In real life JFK almost surely ate there on occasion, and aides such as his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, most definitely came. So did dealmakers and celebrities like the late Art Buchwald, seen in the right photo. A […]
Read More‘The Solomon Scandals’ vs. Dan Brown’s latest, ‘The Lost Symbol’: Same city, different books
Tip: You can add us to your RSS feeds and receive free updates like this one. Dan Brown’s new bestseller, The Lost Symbol, is a conspiracy novel set in Washington, D.C., just like The Solomon Scandals. Brown even includes a power figure with the last name of Solomon. If you want to read about a […]
Read MoreSubway etiquette and the social order: Are you a Left-Stepper, Right-Stepper or Parker?
Washington, D.C., the main setting of The Solomon Scandals, is like Hollywood or an Army base. It’s a city of hierarchies, both official and social. Read on and find out where you stand in the social order. You don’t have to live in D.C. to take the related poll in this post—one visitor has even […]
Read MoreHow some newspapers sell out to Wall Street
The corrupt Washington Telegram in The Solomon Scandals is, mercifully, fictitious. But in real life, some newspapers are selling out in a different way—by diverting money from their newsrooms to jack up profits and please Wall Street. So much for the Net as the only major villain. Here’s an excerpt from The Withering Watchdog: What […]
Read MoreMajor characters—from the real estate tycoon to the Spinoza-crazed reporter
Rebecca Kitiona-Fenton: Great-grandniece of Jonathan Stone, the narrator. Tireless student of “previrtual media,” the inky old paper kind. Jon Stone, the narrator: A reporter whose curiosity might kill his career and maybe him. Sees Washington as a white-collar factory town. Covered the Kent State massacre while working in a blue-collar town. A Jew raised in […]
Read MoreHow to buy ‘Scandals’ outside the U.S.
Scandals may be as close as your keyboard even if you live outside the U.S. Try the Book Depository. It offers free shipping to dozens of countries. Also see other buying info.
Read MoreIs a big newspaper a military-style organization—or factory in disguise?
Military veterans have been some of the most appreciative readers of The Solomon Scandals. I’m not surprised. Jon Stone, the newsroom maverick, is rebelling against a Pentagon-inflexible bureaucracy headed by an intel alum wired into D.C.’s old boy network. From Chapter 32: “What was Mac’s city room but a military organization at the core, despite […]
Read MoreA regular visitor? What would you like to read about?
As far off from D.C. as mainland China and the Philippines, surfers are dropping by. Some visit this site regularly, and I’d like to reward them for their trouble. What should I be writing about here? Also, I’m curious about your own impressions of local and national journalists and how they deal, or don’t, with […]
Read MoreFrom Bob Dylan to D.C.’s white-collar crooks: U.K. music site’s 3,000-word Q&A with David Rothman
Pennyblackmusic, a U.K. music site, has just posted a 3,000-word Q&A with David Rothman. Here’s the start. Can Bob Dylan fit into a Washington novel? Actually yes, if you go by ‘The Solomon Scandals’ (Twilight Times Books). Investigative reporter Jon Stone loves to swap ‘Dylan albums and pulpy old spy novels’ with a friend. Stone’s […]
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