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Summary: Time Magazine on Face-Time (January 18 issue)
Review: ...the reason people are talking about Face-Time, which Tarloff began long before the gap dress went under an FBI microscope, isn't that it offers an insider's look at explicit sex. These days you can get that on C-Span. In fact, the book's treatment of matters of the flesh is almost quaint; unlike Ken Starr, Tarloff leaves most of the steamy stuff to one's imagination. What makes the novel riveting is its almost anthropological description of the ebb and flow of power and status in Washington, where the ultimate currency is access to the President, or "face time." In his descriptions of aides scrambling up the West Wing ladder during the day and angling for an A-list invitation at night, Tarloff provides the context that's missing in disclosures by Starr, Larry Flynt and the tabloids. They tell us everything we always wanted to know about sex in high places, but nothing about life there.
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Summary: I haven't enjoyed a book this much in many moons.
Review: I bought this book from Amazon because I've read some of the author's exchanges in SLATE magazine and heard about it there. I liked PRIMARY COLORS well enough but thought it was generally pretty flat. This is a far better book than PRIMARY COLORS on the politics level, which is not to say that the book is purely about politics. Its facility with politics seemed like an afterthought when I'd turned the last page. As a story about interesting people and their relationships, the book has few parallels. No doubt there will be much hyperbole about the realness of the characters, the subtlety of the dialogue, the insights into the ways not of power but of powerful people. Most of that hyperbole will be justified. Tarloff hits every important note dead on. Is the book perfect? No, the sequence in Paris felt somehow out of place to me, and the telephone conversation between the narrator and his brother was jarring and disruptive. But these stumbles are inconsequential compared to the book's other countless passages, passages which occasionally left me breathless with their insight -- and green with envy at Tarloff's mastery of his craft. He manages to keep his story moving and (t)his reader caring about the characters, while lacing each sequence with meaning that often takes time to sink in. When I read a book like this, I am reminded of why I did not become a writer -- this is the competition.
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Summary: Seduction of power, high emotions, local detail
Review: A DC resident who lives a few blocks away from the protagonists of the novel, I was initially drawn simply because it was my hometown. But I was sucked in. I found the emotions related were vivid and believable, despite the implausible state of affairs. Tarloff does like to flaunt the vocabulary and literary knowledge, I have to say. A quick engaging read.
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Summary: Great summer reading. Topical, well developped characters.
Review: A very enjoyable read. Face Time is topical, in light of the Monica/Clinton story. It is also a very interesting exploration of modern relationships and the ways we justify prioritizing our work vs family.
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Summary: What dreadful characters! What dreadful writing!
Review: Care to spend a few endless hours with a couple of characters who have absolutely no respect for each other or for themselves? Do you like characters that are less appealing than a 2-day root canal? Enjoy reading a book of "light satire" written in prose that makes the telephone directory seem fresh and clever by comparison? Do you love a tortoise-like pace, a leaden style, and an approach to humor that considers the word "shit" the ultimate bon mot? If so, boy does Mr. Tarloff have a book for you. Consider just one sentence that demonstrates this author's distinctive style. You don't have to get far into the book to reach this first of many nadirs the book has to offer. It's in the second paragraph of the first chapter. Here it is: "They come accompanied by a certain measure of irony, even self-satire, since a good part of her youth and adolescence was spent in Washington, and she graduated from Georgetown; she isn't exactly fresh off the farm." What? There are 256 pages of sentences like this facing anyone masochistic enough to try and plow through it. Its almost impossible to make it all the way through, because the author keeps grabbing you around the ankles and throwing you to the ground with pointless, rambling, disjointed lines such as the quote above. This book is a total waste of paper and ink and, worse, people's time. Despite the fact another write got the title first, this book is the one that truly deserves the title "Less Than Zero."
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Summary: A "Couln't put it down until I was finished." book!
Review: Coming on the heels of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, I hesitated to read this book. It would have been my loss; however, as I enjoyed this book immensely from start to finish. Parallels can most certainly be drawn to well-know presidential dalliances past (and I'm sure present!), but as a Washington outsider, I enjoyed feeling "privy" to the political connections and power struggles in what seems to be a very one-dimensional, at times almost provincial, town. This book contains all the elements that make it a page turner--wit, humor, romance, intrigue, angst, power.... This book humbled me. I thought I possessed a fairly extensive vocabulary, then I read this novel! A suggestion: Keep a dictionary handy! I look forward to Erik Tarloff's next endeavor!
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Summary: Ugh
Review: Dreadful and depressing. I laughed out loud at some places where this foolish author tried to pretend he understood how men think and act. Worst line (in a fit of anger at his girlfriend): "Don't think that just because I'm a liberal Democrat I'm not capable of domestic violence." If that's your idea of good dialogue, you'll like this turkey; otherwise, give it a pass. (There's an obvious alternate title for this book. It is two words long and the first word is "Sloppy"). "Nuff said.
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Summary: A different slant on a President's affair.
Review: Face Time is a quick and enjoyable read. The author, Erik Tarloff (whose wife worked for Clinton), writes about an affair between the President and an attractive White House staffer. The story is not a Clinton-Lewinsky tale, however. Tarloff's story involves a mature woman who is attracted to the President because of his position and charisma. His story centers on relationships (the woman having the affair also has a boyfriend she deeply loves). Tarloff vividly and accurately describes life in the White House including insights on Air Force One, Camp David; life in DC; and the life of a political staffer. Tarloff's writing is witty and insightful, however, sometimes I felt that he was showing off his vocabulary. You'll find words like "lese-majeste" and the opposite of "noblesse oblige" which, of course, is "noblesse merite!!" Also, oddly enough, the story as told is much cleaner than the transcripts of Monica Lewinsky's deposition (truth is stranger than fiction). Overall, I'm glad I read the book.
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Summary: Tarloff relates to men and their emotions
Review: First of all I enjoyed this novel a great deal and was presently supprised how the author kept triggering little stabs at my emotions. I kept forgetting that this was fiction and not a true story .. a fine tribute to the Author. Secondly, I started not to buy this book as I had read most of the political non-fiction books relating to current sex events in Washington to which I have become bored. This was a fun and easy read, a pleasant break from the mainstream. I highly recommend this novel for other men, but be carefull because the Author has done such a good job you will start to see yourself in the characters. I believe that you will think like me.. maybe Erik Tarloff has lived this experience.
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Summary: Rational adults in an irrational time.
Review: hmmm....
"Face Time" follows the story of presidential speechwriter Ben Krause as his career ascends, unfortunately with help from his girlfriend--she has an affair with the president. In light of the Lewinsky scandal, I can see how a satire may be appropriate, but this was somewhat "light". The characters were quite implausible for the circumstances, especially Ben and Gretchen(the girlfriend/mistress). It seemed that Tarloff was struggling to reveal the plot, and what he did state was especially brief. This book came off as a "summer reading" type, though I found it difficult to sit on the beach with a dictionary in my shorts. The narrator's vocabulary was pathetically and unconvincingly immense...not to mention placed in long, unnecessary sentences. Of course this is my opinion, and if anyone wants to support some new, pretentious author go right ahead...but I want no more face time.
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