Note: The same material appears on the current homepage of this website. I’m leaving in the plot page since search engines point to it. The Solomon Scandals is a provocative Washington suspense novel inspired by now-forgotten history. A deadly high-rise collapse happened in Northern Virginia, and a U.S. senator and a Supreme Court Justice held […]
Read MoreThe Jonathan Stone-David Rothman Q. & A.
Jonathan Stone, the reporter in The Solomon Scandals, grilled me for this Q. & A.—uncut. Last updated April 10, 2024. STONE: Why’s Scandals copyrighted in your name? It’s my newspaper memoir. ROTHMAN: Er, faux memoir. Without me, you wouldn’t even have been born…or have worked for the Washington Telegram…or have struggled to avert an IRS-CIA […]
Read MoreBudd Schulberg, ‘What Makes Sammy Run?’ and ‘The Solomon Scandals’
Originally posted on Aug. 6, 2009. Moved back to play up basics of The Solomon Scandals. – D.R. RIP, Budd Schulberg. I hated to see the Washington Post obit blog remind us you’d outlived your fame. Of course, I was glad you reached 95, but I wish the media and the public hadn’t been so […]
Read MoreChapters One, Two, and Three—samples
Chapter One Wendy Blevin’s obituary in the Washington Telegram ran only 578 words—a notably miserly length. As much as anyone, she was a natural for a long feature in the “She had everything to live for” vein. I say this despite the Solomon scandals. She was thirty-three, slender, and WASP-pretty, with pale blond hair that […]
Read MoreFree audio of ‘Scandals’ start is now online for everyone
A free MP3 of the start of The Solomon Scandals—one hour of a total of about eight—is now online for everyone to download for iPods or other players. You don’t have to be print-challenged to qualify. Click here to get the file, which includes an audio overview. Big thanks to librarian Tom Peters, the narrator […]
Read MoreJuly 21 global chatcast—with free ‘Scandals’ MP3s for the blind and other print-challenged people
The Solomon Scandals will be featured on July 21 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in a global chatcast hosted by Tom Peters, main interviewer for Online Programming for All Libraries. You’ll be able to hear Tom (first photo) and author David Rothman (second) and ask questions. Go here for instructions for the chatcast, and […]
Read MoreTruman dog quote mystery: Help for me from ex-Senator, but still no solution
Update: I’ve now traced the quote to a Reagan Administration official, who, however, can’t recall where he heard it. See addendum. – D.R. For close to a year, I’ve tried to crack a Washington mystery. What’s the origin of the famous Truman quote, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”? In The […]
Read MoreWashington novels: A few uppity observations, plus a guide to D.C. fiction guides
Washington, D.C., is a perilous place about which to write fiction. In more than a few of the guides to D.C. fiction, a major premise is that the Great Washington Novel has yet to be written or has already been written. Uh-oh. And no pleasing everyone. One student of the genre holds up Allen Drury, […]
Read MoreThe Watergate editor and the society legend: A loving look at them by their son who lives ‘A Different Life’
The Solomon Scandals is not about the Washington Post. I invented not just a D.C. newspaper but also a presidential administration to go along with it. Fiction, as I see it, isn’t about facts—rather, about greater truths. But for those who want a look inside the household of two Post-linked Names, Ben Bradlee and Sally […]
Read MoreLast hurrah for newspaper movies? ‘State of Play’ opens this week
Well, for an opener, State of Play is a variant on His Girl Friday in a one way at least. Over here we have Cal McAffrey, a reporter of the old school. In the other corner? A female blogger named Della Frye, also working for the Washington Globe. State is a thriller starring Russell Crowe […]
Read MoreLobbyists profiting off stimulus package
In The Solomon Scandals, reporter Jon Stone’s father works for a lobbying and PR firm in Washington. Among its clients? A bank financing some construction projects of Sy Solomon, Jon’s investigative target. K Street—that’s the unofficial name for the lobbying community. So how are real-life K-Streeters faring during this recession? Not so badly in many […]
Read More‘Indignation,’ by Philip Roth: A belated review
Although verbose in places, Indignation is witty and engrossing with wonderful caricatures. I spent time in Northern Ohio eons ago, not that far from some of Sherwood Anderson‘s old haunts, and I enjoyed Philip Roth‘s depictions of the mythical Winesburg College. Roth lives up to his reputation with hilarious attacks on both Jewish moralists and […]
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