Biden's In

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden entered the Democratic presidential race today, and if the early reviews are indicative, I would say that there is good reason to believe that this really is Joementum II. Or after the 2006 Connecticut Senate race, are we now at Joementum III? Or maybe Joementum: The Next Generation?

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil

Last night, during a bout of insomnia, I read The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, by George Saunders. It wasn't hard to read it all in one sitting. For one thing, the book is a short 130 pages, laid out like a high-school term paper — big font, generous margins, and some extra line-spacing. Cover to cover, it took me about 90 minutes, and I'm not a very fast reader.

But it wasn't hard in another, more important way — it was excellent, biting satire, and very hard to put down. I'm not going to bother with the plot summary or excerpts; I'm sure you can find those at your favorite online bookseller when you put this in your shopping cart or on your wish-list. But just know that, if you have anything like my political sensibilities, you'll be amazed at how the title character Phil — who literally steals his presidency and exudes the arrogance and pitiful meanness of the powerful-and-stupid — captures similar characteristics (and many more) of another President we might know, and does so with such vivid images paired with a remarkable economy of words.

But don't get lazy, as I found myself doing about half-way through the book. What I liked best about Phil was that as soon as you unpacked one level of satire, you found yourself in the middle of another. Almost every character has an important line or two, and you'll miss a good deal of the fun if you don't pause to figure out what they are all really saying.

The book's briefness probably works to its credit, since it is forced to be so sharp with few wasted moves (only the section where Phil meets his "special friends" seemed to drag a little). In a similar way, the fantastical setting and circumstances means that much of the background and detail doesn't need an in-depth explanation. When I finished the book, I did want a few more pages, but at the distance of only a few hours, I'm happy it stopped right where it did. I'll enjoy mulling over the meaning of the last two pages for a while, I'm sure.