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Patriots
America's first black president has just lost re-election. A new leader tries to pull the country out of a terrible recession—only to face a devilish plot from inside his own party. David Frum's darkly comic satire PATRIOTS is not only a warning about the future of American politics. It is a scorching, intimate explanation of why the U.S. political system has so badly failed the American people over the years just past.
PATRIOTS tells the story of Walter Schotzke, the aimless young heir to America's largest mustard fortune. Walter is sent by his tough-minded grandmother to work in the office of a distinguished U.S. Senator. She hopes her otherwise worthless only grandchild might find purpose, and even appreciation for his country, from political service. Perhaps the job will also help Walter overcome the tragic loss of both his parents—especially that of his famous father, a genuine American hero, whose example Walter can't ever hope to live up to.
In Washington, Walter quickly proves to be a better student of the dark side of politics than he ever was at all the boarding schools he was thrown out of. He gains his education from a farcical faculty of blowhard radio hosts, outraged protestors, think-tank experts-for-hire, shady lobbyists, internet impressiaros, and the sexy but sinister talking heads of the "Patriot News Network."
Lunching and fundraising their luxurious way through economic depression and foreign war, the characters of PATRIOTS prosper by manipulating the fears and resentments of a country in crisis. Walter is used and abused - until, inadvertently and unexpectedly, he finds himself the unlikely hero of the angriest populist movement America has ever seen.
It is not the experience Walter, or his grandmother, expected. Walter must make some tough decisions fast—leading to the novel's surprising and hilarious conclusion.
PATRIOTS tells the story of Walter Schotzke, the aimless young heir to America's largest mustard fortune. Walter is sent by his tough-minded grandmother to work in the office of a distinguished U.S. Senator. She hopes her otherwise worthless only grandchild might find purpose, and even appreciation for his country, from political service. Perhaps the job will also help Walter overcome the tragic loss of both his parents—especially that of his famous father, a genuine American hero, whose example Walter can't ever hope to live up to.
In Washington, Walter quickly proves to be a better student of the dark side of politics than he ever was at all the boarding schools he was thrown out of. He gains his education from a farcical faculty of blowhard radio hosts, outraged protestors, think-tank experts-for-hire, shady lobbyists, internet impressiaros, and the sexy but sinister talking heads of the "Patriot News Network."
Lunching and fundraising their luxurious way through economic depression and foreign war, the characters of PATRIOTS prosper by manipulating the fears and resentments of a country in crisis. Walter is used and abused - until, inadvertently and unexpectedly, he finds himself the unlikely hero of the angriest populist movement America has ever seen.
It is not the experience Walter, or his grandmother, expected. Walter must make some tough decisions fast—leading to the novel's surprising and hilarious conclusion.
484 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
7 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
David Frum
26 books163 followersDavid J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency. His editorial columns have appeared in a variety of Canadian and American magazines and newspapers, including the National Post and The Week. He is also the founder of FrumForum.com (formerly NewMajority.com), a political group blog.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 21, 2022
Fun novel about what happened to the Republican Party
This is a fun little novel about how the Republican Party got to its current, as of 2012, and arguably also its current, as of Jun, 2022 state. David Frum is a long-time Washington insider. Originally from Canada, he was a speechwriter for President George W Bush. He was (and still is, in most ways) a conservative. However, he broke with the conservative movement in the USA, most famously in a column in which he predicted that the Republican party's opposition to health care legislation would fail, that the legislation (now known as the Affordable Care Act) would be passed and that the Republicans, even if they returned to power, would be unable to repeal it. He has, of course, proven correct in all those predictions. As a result, he was excommunicated from the Republican Party.
The novel fictionalizes Washington. Many familiar Washington players are present under pseudonyms. I particularly enjoyed fictionalized Grover Norquist.
This is a fun little novel about how the Republican Party got to its current, as of 2012, and arguably also its current, as of Jun, 2022 state. David Frum is a long-time Washington insider. Originally from Canada, he was a speechwriter for President George W Bush. He was (and still is, in most ways) a conservative. However, he broke with the conservative movement in the USA, most famously in a column in which he predicted that the Republican party's opposition to health care legislation would fail, that the legislation (now known as the Affordable Care Act) would be passed and that the Republicans, even if they returned to power, would be unable to repeal it. He has, of course, proven correct in all those predictions. As a result, he was excommunicated from the Republican Party.
The novel fictionalizes Washington. Many familiar Washington players are present under pseudonyms. I particularly enjoyed fictionalized Grover Norquist.
July 15, 2012
Well-known and vague commentators state that the political system in Washington is rotten to the core and needs to be scrapped and reshaped. David Frum, former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has given the reader a look at the inner machinations and nefarious actions of America's most powerful Senators, lobbyists, assistants, radio commentators, bloggers and anyone else therein.
Walter Schotzke, rich playboy son of the famous "mustard" family name, is mandated to employment by his grandmother who has had enough of his free-wheeling, uneducated, partying lifestyle. Initially, he is assigned to work as an assistant to an eminent Senator who supposedly is a fierce supporter of the "Constitutionalist" (Republican?) Party. But things begin to run amok when the newly elected President states he will be working to cross party-lines in all decisions, and the ire of the Constitutionalist Party awakens to become a destructive monster determined to destroy the President.
There's a war in Mexico and a horrific attack occurs in which it is believed that traitors within were responsible for the death and kidnapping of American soldiers. Add to that an economy that is about to tank, with a plan to rescue the looming crisis by taxing new homeowners, and the picture becomes clear. Other similar nightmarish scenarios follow.
What is specifically horrific is the political blurring of fact and fiction used by behind-the-scenes, well-paid agents of change who shape the news and thereby shape public policy enacted by our local and national politicians. Is this news? Not really to any intelligent, news-savvy, aware citizen but the blatant way Frum depicts the opulence and vicious nature behind the attacks is, as obviously intended by the author, quite revolting. The reader spends an inordinate amount of time working out who the "real" people behind this account are and the party affiliations, a process not very hard to decipher.
For those who eat up the Washington scene and the big players there, Patriots is a must read. It's satirical qualities reek off every page. Walter Schotzke starts off as an ignorant "yes" man but evolves into a man wanting to know all the facts and fiction and believing that the "truth" (which is very hard to figure out) must be allowed to rule the day rather than the "rotten in Denmark" conditions.
The reader is left to decide what the solution is, if one exists! After all, this is fiction, isn't it?
A bit overdone but all in all, a clever account of political fiction, David Frum!
Walter Schotzke, rich playboy son of the famous "mustard" family name, is mandated to employment by his grandmother who has had enough of his free-wheeling, uneducated, partying lifestyle. Initially, he is assigned to work as an assistant to an eminent Senator who supposedly is a fierce supporter of the "Constitutionalist" (Republican?) Party. But things begin to run amok when the newly elected President states he will be working to cross party-lines in all decisions, and the ire of the Constitutionalist Party awakens to become a destructive monster determined to destroy the President.
There's a war in Mexico and a horrific attack occurs in which it is believed that traitors within were responsible for the death and kidnapping of American soldiers. Add to that an economy that is about to tank, with a plan to rescue the looming crisis by taxing new homeowners, and the picture becomes clear. Other similar nightmarish scenarios follow.
What is specifically horrific is the political blurring of fact and fiction used by behind-the-scenes, well-paid agents of change who shape the news and thereby shape public policy enacted by our local and national politicians. Is this news? Not really to any intelligent, news-savvy, aware citizen but the blatant way Frum depicts the opulence and vicious nature behind the attacks is, as obviously intended by the author, quite revolting. The reader spends an inordinate amount of time working out who the "real" people behind this account are and the party affiliations, a process not very hard to decipher.
For those who eat up the Washington scene and the big players there, Patriots is a must read. It's satirical qualities reek off every page. Walter Schotzke starts off as an ignorant "yes" man but evolves into a man wanting to know all the facts and fiction and believing that the "truth" (which is very hard to figure out) must be allowed to rule the day rather than the "rotten in Denmark" conditions.
The reader is left to decide what the solution is, if one exists! After all, this is fiction, isn't it?
A bit overdone but all in all, a clever account of political fiction, David Frum!
August 15, 2012
This was a much better book than I expected. I read it because it's the first CreateSpace book I've seen reviewed in a major publication (the Economist). CreateSpace is Amazon's self publishing wing.
The book is interesting because I was written by a Republican 'food soldier' who was a writer for George W Bush. The book pretty much lambastes the current political situation in Washington and especially the ultra conservatives who now have so much say in Congress. The book starts out as a farce - a conservative president has just defeated the first black president (think BO and MR except that MR is an ex general). The country is entangled in an endless war in Mexico, of all places, where we are supporting the Mexican government in a war against the drug cartels. Into the fray comes the heir to a mustard fortune, a loser by the name of Walter Schotzke who must find job to keep his grandmother from cutting off his very substantial allowance. He goes to work as a Senatorial aide and is soon up to his eyes in the horrors that have become Washington.
It would be nice if what Walter sees is an exaggeration of reality, but from all I have read and heard, this is closer to the truth than any of us would like. We no longer have statesman trying to compromise the issues facing the country. We have crazy ideologues trying to prove with made-up facts that the country will collapse unless we follow their way and only their way. And of course, both sides are in league with people who are only in it for the money while trying to prove they are 'of the people'.
The book started as a farce, but ended up a tale of horror in my eyes, because what Frum is describing I think is far too true.
A very good novel and a great read.
The book is interesting because I was written by a Republican 'food soldier' who was a writer for George W Bush. The book pretty much lambastes the current political situation in Washington and especially the ultra conservatives who now have so much say in Congress. The book starts out as a farce - a conservative president has just defeated the first black president (think BO and MR except that MR is an ex general). The country is entangled in an endless war in Mexico, of all places, where we are supporting the Mexican government in a war against the drug cartels. Into the fray comes the heir to a mustard fortune, a loser by the name of Walter Schotzke who must find job to keep his grandmother from cutting off his very substantial allowance. He goes to work as a Senatorial aide and is soon up to his eyes in the horrors that have become Washington.
It would be nice if what Walter sees is an exaggeration of reality, but from all I have read and heard, this is closer to the truth than any of us would like. We no longer have statesman trying to compromise the issues facing the country. We have crazy ideologues trying to prove with made-up facts that the country will collapse unless we follow their way and only their way. And of course, both sides are in league with people who are only in it for the money while trying to prove they are 'of the people'.
The book started as a farce, but ended up a tale of horror in my eyes, because what Frum is describing I think is far too true.
A very good novel and a great read.
February 16, 2017
A spellbinding dark tale, a page-turner. I finished it in 4 nights and could not put it down.
To me, for the first time, a glimpse on Washington led to the disenchantment of American politics-so-called "real world".
To me, for the first time, a glimpse on Washington led to the disenchantment of American politics-so-called "real world".
December 30, 2012
David Frum has earned his reputation as the smartest man in America on the Right of the political spectrum through walking the walk and talking the talk. His books on American Politics are well written, decently argued and provocative. And his work in the trenches and in journalism have made him a major player, however you want to slice an issue. This is his first novel and it is a very nicely done political satire of Inside the Beltway Politics, a world Frum has inhabited for 2 decades. He skewers everybody in this slightly cynical take on how politics is really done and who pays and who benefits. It's a good read and loads of fun trying to figure out who the real characters are in this classic roman a clef.
May 15, 2013
I was curious about this book because I wondered how someone like Frum would do with fiction. It was a decent story but it's really his way of making fun of how awry the conservative movement has gone (which I agree with). 90 percent of the characters were absolute take-offs on real people and he made sure to use names that gave it away, e.g. Grover Norquist became Elmer (Elmo would have been even more obvious). The book would have been more interesting if it weren't such a transparent, self-serving exercise by Frum to say his views are right, etc, but the pacing of the story was good and it was fun to figure out who each character was based on. I can't imagine anyone outside the Beltway would give a rip about this book.
September 5, 2014
I got this from a list of "21 Conservative Writers to Read at the Beach". Open-Minded Liberals who had not read it promptly began posting vituperation of "Fascist!" online.
They obviously had not bothered to read it first. This novel follows semi-naive mustard heir Walter Schotzke in an alternate (but not that alternate) US, amid scathing caricatures of Cato, "Patriot News Network", "Constitutional Review" and .
No doubt many will find it refreshingly realistic about What Goes On In Washington (and does not stay there). But I found the unrelenting cynicism stifling. And it looks like real libertarians do not exist in Frum's world.
They obviously had not bothered to read it first. This novel follows semi-naive mustard heir Walter Schotzke in an alternate (but not that alternate) US, amid scathing caricatures of Cato, "Patriot News Network", "Constitutional Review" and .
No doubt many will find it refreshingly realistic about What Goes On In Washington (and does not stay there). But I found the unrelenting cynicism stifling. And it looks like real libertarians do not exist in Frum's world.
June 10, 2012
This is an interesting bit of political satire, assuming you are on the right side of the aisle. The main character is a sort of lovable lower, finding himself getting deeper and deeper into dark political dealings. The setting is a sort of America of the future, wherein the author basically files the serial numbers off of current events. And interesting read, certainly, though quite clearly with its own political agenda. Worst of all, this book's editing was truly atrocious, to the point where the kindle download will occasionally skip.
June 8, 2012
Patriots is a first novel by a pundit, and it shows. At its best it provides a funny, bitter look at the depredations of "movement" conservatism, a scene Frum knows well from personal experience. At its worst it's rather preachy and wooden, with many characters clearly written as stand-ins for real life analogues of Glenn Beck, Grover Norquist, etc. As a novel it only half succeeds; as a satire of the current GOP it's a little better.
January 19, 2013
Splendid and fun satire with inside-the-Beltway perspective. The sharpest barbs are directed at Frum's (former) comrades-at-arms in the "Constitutionalist" party and the "Patriot News," though not without heavy cynicism for the opposing "Nationalist" partisans. A delightful and hilarious read. Were it not fiction, it would be depressing. And were the characters not pastiche composites, it would be libelous.
May 14, 2012
This book was pretty good. There were some spelling and gramatical errors throughout but it didn't detract at all from the story.
Yes this book is fictionalized, but it's quite clear that David Frum based most of the characters on easily identifiable political players. Politics are a nasty game; one that I love reading about and a game I never want to play.
Yes this book is fictionalized, but it's quite clear that David Frum based most of the characters on easily identifiable political players. Politics are a nasty game; one that I love reading about and a game I never want to play.
June 1, 2012
Original, smart, and obviously written by someone who actually understands "Washington," and has lived in real DC. Someone with a political background will enjoy this book, and won't groan over obvious oversights in the governmental and political process.
This is a very fun, intriguing, and enjoyable read!
This is a very fun, intriguing, and enjoyable read!
November 7, 2023
I'd like to read more political fiction from David Frum for two reasons: 1) He sees politics clearly and makes cogent, insightful observations and 2) I think he might become better at writing fiction.
December 22, 2012
Dismal book with terrible editing. Whole sentences left out and many words mispelled. Gives a little bit of insight into the current political process but there are much more artful books out there.
May 31, 2012
Though not without its flaws, this book creates a picture of the kinds of shady deals being made in the darkened cloakrooms and corners of Washington DC.
May 13, 2012
It was hard not to laugh at this attempt at hip fiction. Waste of time.
Read
June 12, 2012read the first few chapters as part of an online tease, and loved them so much I--well, I didn't actually buy the book because I'm cheap, but I asked for it for Mother's Day, and my DD stood up, TY!
September 25, 2012
Too like the future.
September 30, 2012
Meh ..... did the proofreader call in sick?
January 2, 2015
I liked this book, although the numerous grammatical / punctuation errors were distracting.
March 29, 2019
Not well-written
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews