Scandalmonger

March 1, 2000

Just in time for Election 2000 and exploding any notion that the political sex scandal is a recent phenomenon, our press-hounded Founding Fathers star in an outrageous -- and fact-based -- novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist William Safire. With dialogue drawn from letters and historical records and notes that scrupulously separate fact from fiction, Safire's novel is studded with masterly portraits of George Washington, John Adams, and Aaron Burr. Read our excerpt from the prologue to Scandalmonger below.

Of Ages Past

Scandalmonger is dramatized history at its best and presidential politics at its most fascinating. For those who think that Washington sex scandals and lurid journalism are recent developments, this novel will be a revelation, for Safire shows vividly how media intrusiveness into private lives--and politicians cool manipulation of the press--are as old as the Constitution.

William Safire is a senior columnist for the New York Times. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary and is also the most widely read writer on the subject of the English language. A former speechwriter for President Nixon, Safire is the author of twenty-four books, including On Language, Lend Me Your Ears, and the novels Freedom and Sleeper Spy. He lives in Washington, D.C.