The Mysterious Author ofthe Book about Obama

No one has been able to put a hand on it yet; not even one page of the manuscript has found its way into the hands of a journalist, and yet it is the book about which everyone is talking. On Jan. 25, Simon & Schuster, one of the big American publishers, will publish a novel of 368 pages titled “O: A Presidential Novel.”

Behind this “presidential novel,” as the title suggests, is an anonymous author. At a time when the White House political staff is in the middle of being reshuffled, all of Washington is wondering who is behind this roman à clé.

In The Daily Beast, Lloyd Grove found it strange that the book is coming out just three weeks after the resignation of Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. This book, which describes life inside the White House, is the work of someone who is very familiar with the workings of everyday life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and Gibbs is one of the members of Barack Obama’s closest circle.

The publication of this roman à clé brings to mind another anonymous novel. In 1996, “Primary Colors” was an enormous success. Signed “Anonymous,” it describes Bill Clinton’s life and later became a movie starring John Travolta in the role of Bill Clinton. The mystery surrounding the author’s identity was so well-kept that even the CEO of Random House Publishing Group, Harold Evans, did not know the name of the novel’s author. In the end, his identity was discovered by two journalists. It was Joe Klein, a journalist at Time.

The list of those within the intimate circle of the 44th president who would have the time and the talent to write such a book is short. There would be David Axelrod, former journalist and political advisor to the president, but, according to Lloyd Grove, he is too disorganized to write a novel. Or still yet, David Plouffe, the strategist for the victorious campaign in 2008, who produced a memoir that is quite readable.

Thus, it will be necessary to wait a while longer until the mystery is solved.