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<DIV><SPAN class=830440817-01042009><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>In the opening
chapter of An Evil Guest, Wolfe <SPAN class=480515815-02042009>takes
</SPAN>us inside the White House <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>for a few moments where we get a brief look
at the inside game of </SPAN>a cowboy president and <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>his</SPAN><SPAN class=480515815-02042009> wily
</SPAN>assistant. I wondered for a bit whether these two figures might have
historical analogs<SPAN class=480515815-02042009>. N</SPAN>ot that everything on
a printed page will have its cunning duplicate in the natural world, but it
does seem likely that Wolfe's imagination might draw on something he lived
through or something that in some way connected to his personal
history. <SPAN class=480515815-02042009>Hypothetically, this
scene draws on Wolfe's </SPAN><SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>memory of Texas in the early 50s, when a
certain senator was politicking his way to national
prominence.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=830440817-01042009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=830440817-01042009><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>To be sure, t</SPAN>here's a dash of <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>a several administrations </SPAN>seasoning this
presidential chili, but the conversation reminded me <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>most </SPAN>of <SPAN class=480515815-02042009>the
way</SPAN><SPAN class=480515815-02042009> </SPAN><SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>LBJ might handle an interview, which would make the
aide "John" into an analog of Johnson's close associate, Jack Valenti.
</SPAN><SPAN class=480515815-02042009>Recent bios of LBJ by</SPAN> <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>Dallek and Caro show </SPAN>Johnson <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>as a man</SPAN> driven by a conviction that
'knowledge is power', and the flip side of that conviction is a touch of
paranoia about a man like Reyes who similarly wields knowledge
to build power--all of which would fit in with a scene<SPAN
class=480515815-02042009> of the cowboy</SPAN> <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>president </SPAN>attempting to manipulate an
academic <SPAN class=480515815-02042009>wizard </SPAN>like Gideon
Chase<SPAN class=480515815-02042009> so the president can eliminate a
competitor</SPAN>.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=830440817-01042009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=830440817-01042009><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>The scene reminded me of something <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>we</SPAN> might find in a transcription of the
Johnson tapes. Caro's bios haven't caught up with Johnson's presidency
yet, but m</SPAN>aybe Dallek's <SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>'</SPAN>Flawed Giant<SPAN
class=480515815-02042009>'</SPAN> <SPAN class=480515815-02042009>has</SPAN>
a similar scene<SPAN class=480515815-02042009>. No matter. The cognitive link to
what follows in AEG is not through the president but through
the </SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=480515815-02042009><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Valenti analog. The 'real-life' figure was intimately
entwined with the world of actors and acting, one of the larger threads
from which AEG is woven.</FONT></SPAN></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>