Let�s start with a paraphrase: I�ve read Primary Colors (1996), and this is no Primary Colors. Clearly, Simon & Schuster was hoping that lightning would strike twice if they were to publish a political novel by Anonymous: a publicity storm would ensue, and everyone would be talking about O. The problem is that Joe Klein, the Anonymous behind Primary Colors, was writing about a president, Bill Clinton, who liked to bonk as much as wonk, which added a salacious edge to that �inside story.� O�s chief personality faults are occasional pettiness, an inflated ego, and three cigarettes a day. Moreover, the first time out, there was the intriguing question of Klein�s motivation. Here, that seems clearer: the author, perhaps a disgruntled Obamaite, seems peeved that the president didn�t live up to the mantle of hope and change, though at times he (or she) suggests that an impatient electorate may be equally to blame. The plot, which imagines the events of the upcoming 2012 election, offers little that�s unexpected. Some of the characters are so obvious�David Axelrod, Arianna Huffington�that Anonymous could just as well have used their names. James Carville makes an appearance as a cadaverous media hound (also fairly obvious). Other characters are composites: the Republican candidate seems to be Mitt Romney, had Mitt Romney ever been a general in the army. Although the author is described as a D.C. insider, there�s not much here that couldn�t have been gleaned from reading, well, The Huffington Post. The flap copy notes that Anonymous has been �in the room with Barack Obama.� A ballroom seems more likely than the Oval Office. --Ilene Cooper
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