{"product_id":"capital-calamity-book-fred-kaplan-9781939282545","title":"A Capital Calamity","description":"\u003ci\u003eA CAPITAL CALAMITY - \u003c\/i\u003eA Novel by Fred Kaplan \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSerge Willoughby just wanted to make money and have fun. He didn't mean to start World War Three.\u003c\/i\u003e So begins \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e, the rollicking debut novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Fred Kaplan. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe War Stories columnist for \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, author of six books, mostly about national security (including \u003ci\u003eThe Insurgents\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a N.Y. Time best-seller and a Pulitzer Prize Finalist), Kaplan draws on four decades as an insider-outsider observer in this tale of manners-both satire and thriller-about the Washington scene. (The prologue reads, \u003ci\u003eMuch of what follows is true, except for the plot\u003c\/i\u003e), it tells the story of a cynical defense consultant whose mischief plunges the world into a cataclysmic crisis. Now, along with the CIA director (who is also a bitter ex-girlfriend), a former school chum who's now an NSA hacker, a garrulous Wall Street tycoon-turned-secretary of defense, and a beautiful intrepid journalist (who may or may not be flirting with him for a big story), Willoughby must now end the crisis, though he has spent his life avoiding commitment to any political cause or purpose. \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e is a funny, trenchant, deeply moral novel, in the spirit of \u003ci\u003eThank You for Smoking, Our Man in Havana, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDr. Strangelove.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAdvance praise for \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA joyful romp  Just when we need satire more than ever, one of our best political commentators has morphed into a brilliant and irresistible comic novelist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJOE WEISBERG, creator of \u003ci\u003eThe Americans\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFred Kaplan's new book gives us comedy, treachery, ideas, and shrewd cultural anthropology-all against a page-turner background of the highest-stakes international showdown. It's like the cast of \u003ci\u003eVeep\u003c\/i\u003e in a Tom Clancy book. Readers will learn a lot, and have fun while doing so.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJAMES FALLOWS, former chief White House speechwriter, author of \u003ci\u003eNational Defense\u003c\/i\u003e and other books\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKaplan pulls back the curtain hiding how Washington really works in this only slightly exaggerated, darkly humorous look at 'national security' and 'unthinkable' nuclear war. Sometimes you can tell more truth through fiction, and this true fiction is fun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRICHARD A. CLARKE\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eformer White House counterterrorism chief, author of \u003ci\u003eAgainst All Enemies\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Scorpion's Gate\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn experienced observer of the entanglements in Washington, Kaplan skewers the Beltway effectively in this satirical novel, a thriller and morality tale... The author claims that the plot is made up, but the knowing reader will recognize aspects of the main characters and events in contemporary figures and historical episodes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLAWRENCE FREEDMAN, \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKaplan is the undisputed master of nuclear knowledge. Needless to say, anything Fred Kaplan writes, I read. His new novel, \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e, is very dark and very funny... Five stars for this cautionary tale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eANNIE JACOBSEN\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eauthor of \u003ci\u003eNuclear War: A Scenario\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eCatch-22\u003c\/i\u003e of our day  \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e is a wry chuckle-filled look at how one savvy insider schlub starts a war. It's a genius work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMALCOLM NANCE\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eformer Navy intelligence officer, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Plot to Hack America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eI've learned so much from Fred Kaplan's knowing dissections of DC politics over the years, but \u003ci\u003eA Capital Calamity\u003c\/i\u003e finally reveals the full range of his insights and talents. Think \u003ci\u003eMichael Clayton\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Insier\u003c\/i\u003e-but funny.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSTEVE LICHTMAN\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eTV writer-producer (\u003ci\u003eThe Good Wife, The Medium\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51056767729937,"sku":"NIN9781939282545","price":0.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51421666771217,"sku":"CIN1939282543G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53216669532433,"sku":"GOR014810336","price":12.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53566901682449,"sku":"CIN1939282543VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1939282543.jpg?v=1751380663","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-ch\/products\/capital-calamity-buch-fred-kaplan-9781939282545","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}