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CROOKED
by Austin Grossman
Mulholland, July 2015
368 pages
$26.00
ISBN: 031619851X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

The presidency of Richard Nixon is one rife with opportunity for reinterpretation and revisionism, with the mystery of how a president with such potential and much realized success came to crumble so thoroughly during his abbreviated second term. Perhaps because of Nixon's enigmatic approach to politics and his tendency towards paranoia and secrecy, both non-fiction and fiction authors cannot stay away from re-imagining our 37th president. Alan Moore's landmark graphic novel WATCHMEN presented a version of Nixon that survived the Watergate scandal. More recent and more grounded works, such as Thomas Mallon's WATERGATE, not to mention the ongoing historical re-evaluation and revisionism of Nixon's presidency by serious historians suggest that Nixon as subject is far from exhausted.

CROOKED is the third book by video game designer Austin Grossman, and it's no doubt the author's background that contributes to the very postmodern and fantastical approach that he brings to the fictional revelations about Nixon's ascent to power and eventual downfall. Beginning in his early career and told from Nixon's point of view, we see the future world leader as an ambitious Congressman looking to make a political splash with his investigation of suspected Soviet spy in 1948. When Nixon finds his investigation lacks concrete evidence to ensure a conviction, he makes a kind of pact with the devil that provides him with the evidence he needs but ensures a life of misery.

Grossman's Nixon is a good deal of fun. He is self-effacing, full of humility and has a matter of fact, blunt sense of humor, which is a welcome approach to a historical figure with a decidedly morose edge. Early on in the book as we get to know Nixon and the supernatural elements that help him rise to power; we see a politician seemingly always on the brink of either greatness or obscurity, and we find ourselves rooting for this hapless, yet conniving man.

The momentum however starts to slow as we approach Nixon's actual presidency as the conceit of the novel starts to wear a bit thin. The combination of Nixon becoming entangled in a bizarre Soviet love triangle and the never fully-explained supernatural elements that haunt the president result in a bit of a narrative mess that never seems to come together cohesively. Grossman's prose is compelling enough, though the stagnation of momentum halfway through the book indicates that perhaps that this was a premise predestined to work better as a pitch or even as a short story than as a full-fledged novel. While CROOKED makes no pretense that it's a grounded work of historical fiction, it manages to delve deeply enough into the Nixon biography and mythology to be interesting; but sloppiness in terms of continuity and an obvious superficial understanding of the history is another disappointment as the novel progresses.

CROOKED is not without its merits - a solid first half and accessible most of the way; but it's a project that works better in theory than in practice. With a decidedly post-modern approach, it is not successful in blending elements of the political thriller, historical fiction, science-fiction, and absurdist humor. It is not immediately clear who the target audience even is; this will be an easily skippable work for most readers.

§ Ben Neal is a librarian who likes to fancy himself an amateur writer, humorist, detective, and coffee connoisseur in his spare time. He can be reached at beneneal@indiana.edu.

Reviewed by Ben Neal, October 2015

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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