The Coup: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sly Washington satire, the second novel from Playboy managing editor Malanowski (Mr. Stupid Goes to Washington), a scheming U.S. vice president sets out to dethrone the president. After four years in the Senate, Godwin Pope, a rich and handsome Princeton grad, decides to run for president against the incumbent, Jack Mahone, a slick, folksy former Louisiana governor who crushes him in a primary debate. In a surprise move, Jack asks Godwin to be his running mate and Godwin accepts. Soon after their victory, Godwin becomes bored and covets the top job for himself. Enter Irene Kim, a comely trade mission rep (spy?!) from China, who Godwin suspects could snare Jack in a sex scandal of impeachment proportions. The flirtatious fly in the ointment is Newsbreak journalist Maggie Newbold, a disgraced Pulitzer Prize winner struggling to expose—or embrace—Godwin, a brilliant manipulator who presents a delicious paradoxical choice to Maggie at novel's end. Malanowski's portrait of a master political double-dealer is as entertaining as it is scary. (July)
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Review

Advance Praise for The Coup


“Jamie Malanowski has written a biting and hilarious satire of the Journalistic-Political Scandal Complex. A hapless president and a hooker. An evil, conniving vice president, and a journalist horny for her next big scoop. They fall in and out of power while they fall in and out of bed. Where does Malanowski come up with this stuff?”

—Paul Begala, contributor to CNN’s The Situation Room and author of Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W. Bush --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition first Printing edition (July 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385520484
• ISBN-13: 978-0385520485
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Coup has impressed everyone, not just me., November 26, 2007

By	Kenneth B. Smith (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Length:: 3:31 Mins

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as satire gets., October 8, 2007

By	Rebecca Lavoie (NH, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What Malanowski is able to accomplish with The Coup is rare. He gives the reader an insider's view in to the broad scope of D.C. arenas where deals are made, and it feels strangely authentic, even though the prose is so tight as to provide almost no exposition at all.
I loved this book. It's sarcastic, slick, scary, and even a little romantic. A LOT better than your average airplane read, this book is a must-buy if you love politics, satire, and snappy and smart writing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious but Sobering, August 21, 2007

By	Charles Rowe (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with the previous reviewers who note that, while this is a biting and funny political satire, Malanowski's imagined bloodless coup doesn't seem so farfetched. In fact, he makes the gaslighting sound easy. The Coup is seamless, and very entertaining. I think it works especially well because Malanowski gets the details right.