Book Review: The Pa-la-ti-shan

Follow a young idealist, Bernie Green, through the intrigue, backstabbing, secret-keeping world of Pennsylvania Democratic politics as he starts out as an Iraq war vet working as a “Constituent Service Representative” to foul-mouthed Gov. Slattery as he is somehow talked into running for state representative by the Governor, who just knows he’d be perfect for the job. His life seems to be falling into place - he wins the race, marries the woman of his dreams and gets a posh job at a prestigious law firm (state rep is only a part time gig, you know.) However he has a penchant for making enemies quickly thanks to his refusal to compromise on certain issues, and he manages to make those enemies right off the bat, within 10 minutes of meeting powerful NRA lobbyist Bob Worthington. All of a sudden he is embroiled in a number of scandals, and his past, as well as his wife’s, is coming back to haunt him. He’s pretty sure Worthington is behind it, but can’t figure out how.

This was a great political novel, although I have my doubts as to how many state reps are pushed into office and retain their ideals as Green did. The novel had short chapters and a lot of characters, but it did come together nicely in the end. My one complaint was the punctuation was a little lax, unless the lack of the Oxford comma was intentional, in which case I’m seriously annoyed. But it was a good read, especially if you have always wondered what goes on behind closed doors at the local level.  

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