It's the weekend in Washington DC and all the most powerful man in the world wants to do is play golf. He knows, of course, he shouldn't: "CEOs can golf, generals can golf... but if I play a round or two, the press totals them up and runs stories about America's golf-crazy president," laments O, the central character in this "presidential novel" - a book that arrived amid considerable kerfuffle over who its anonymous author might be.
O begins at the end, on the eve of the 2012 presidential election, before rewinding to the near future of this year, to unravel an insider's guide to Washington, spiced with a little scandal and framed by the mounting tension of re-election season. In doing so, it sets up the White House incumbent as a battle- weary leader of the most meticulously planned campaign in history. Little, if anything, will be left to chance come next year.
It is nothing if not well-observed. Last weekend, the real president played his 60th round of golf since assuming higher office. His outing attracted heavy criticism from certain sections of the press.
* Nick March
