First published 2013
Robert Draper takes readers into the corridors of power during what could become the most dysfunctional congressional session in American history. The House of Representatives has transformed into something unrecognizable, populated by an unprecedented cast of lawmakers who seem determined to break rather than build. Draper secured access to the key players and chronicles their backstage maneuvering with unflinching detail. He shows how laws get made, or in this case, how they fail to get made at all. The author previously applied this same investigative approach to President George W. Bush in Dead Certain, burrowing into his subjects until he understands them completely. The result captures a bitterly divided political moment through the lens of one institution's spectacular breakdown. Draper presents an evenhanded account that reveals the full scope of congressional dysfunction, offering readers a front row seat to the machinations that turned America's lower house into a theater of conflict.
Genres: american, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, political-drama
Setting: America, United States
Period: 21st Century
352 pages · Paperback · Simon Schuster