Landfall

A Novel

By: Thomas Mallon

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Set during the tumultuous middle of the George W. Bush years - amid the twin catastrophes of the Iraq insurgency and Hurricane Katrina - Landfall brings Thomas Mallon's cavalcade of contemporary American politics, which began with Watergate and continue with Finale, to a vivid and emotional climax.

The president at the novel's center possesses a personality whose high-speed alternations between charm and petulance, resoluteness and self-pity, continually energize and mystify the panoply of characters around him. They include his acerbic, crafty mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush; his desperately correct and eager-to-please secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice; the gnomic and manipulative Donald Rumsfeld; foreign leaders from Tony Blair to Vladimir Putin; and the caustic one-woman chorus of Ann Richards, Bush's predecessor as governor of Texas. A gallery of political and media figures, from the widowed Nancy Reagan to the philandering John Edwards to the brilliantly contrarian Christopher Hitchens, bring the novel and the era to life.

The story is deepened and driven by a love affair between two West Texans, Ross Weatherall and Allison O'Connor, whose destinies have been affixed to Bush's since they were teenagers in the 1970s. The true believer and the skeptic who end up exchanging ideological places in a romantic and political drama that unfolds in locations from New Orleans to Baghdad and during the parties, press conferences, and state funerals of Washington, D.C.

©2019 Thomas Mallon (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Entertainingly bitchy... Landfall is smart and knowing and absorbing. It is to novels as good studio movies are to movies - extremely well-made, satisfying if you have a taste for [a] genre occasionally excellent. The prose is a pleasure... Landfall is fascinating.” (Kurt Anderson, The New York Times Book Review)

“As in Mr. Mallon’s many other novels, the writing is crisp and witty, the central characters complex and sympathetic in surprising ways, the narrative structure tight... [a] superbly written novel... Mr. Mallon has a gift” (The Wall Street Journal)

“For lovers of American politics, a new novel by Thomas Mallon is always a mouth-watering prospect... Many of the characters from that era will be brought to life on the page with Mallon’s trademark wit and, crucially, no little sympathy.” (The National)

“Fantastic.... Mallon provides juicy, humanized depictions of interactions between the familiar talking heads of state... This novel makes a fascinating flesh-and-blood spectacle out of moments now relegated to history.” (Publishers Weekly)

Well written and fun frolic

Although I only do Audible these days, I want to read his very early books, which unfortunately, are not on Audible. I have listened to the Nixon, Reagan and Bush novels. All are intelligently written and laced with humor. I was not sure I would enjoy the subject matter of this book, but the book is so well-written, I listened to it outside of my car—-a rarity. The narrator did a great job too! As an aside, a great homage of sorts to Ann Richards. And.....the book was an enjoyable vocabulary workout! 😀

Wonderful Read! Especially for Texans

I loved the author’s imagination of actual events and people, places and things I knew personally or knew about.

As a Texan, a comment for the reader: a Texan should have had been engaged for a proof listening. Texans, I can’t speak for other states, refer to the Legislature as ‘the Lege.’ That is pronounced like ledge, not leg.

Also, found the characters engaging and the book passed the test...I came to care about them.

Superb!!!

I couldn’t stop listening. This book humanizes a now distant administration in a most interesting way. Chockful of gossip and fun, sadness and frustration. Well read too.

HINDSIGHT (G.W.'S LEGACY)

Thomas Mallon’s book is a fictionalized account of George W. Bush’s administration. Mallon cleverly includes a fictional love story that adds some drama to his story. What one should be wary of is Mallon’s political bias and how it might color the story. George W’s administration fails to understand nation-building is folly, and natural disasters are not about the dead but about quick and organized aid to survivors. "Landfall" is a reminder of how difficult it is for any organization’s leader to become great in the eyes of history. Mallon’s novel concludes G.W.’s legacy is the Iraq debacle and the mishandling of the Katrina disaster in Louisiana.

Overly long colossal bore.

Having read two of this authors books, I was surprised at how bad this book was. Even at half its length, it would have still been a waste of time.