Robert Novak’s “Prince of Darkness”

I needed a new bathroom book, so I threw the “uncorrected proof” copy of Robert Novak’s ”The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington” into the bathroom.  I’m about a third of the way through this ponderous tome.  Here’s what I know so far.

1. Novak is seemingly proud of the number of times he’s subverted journalistic integrity in order to cultivate as a source, protect or destroy any given politician.  I’m only up to 1968 and he’s done it any number of times.  Bragged about it, in fact.  Shown remorse for falsifying a single fact in a single story exactly once.  Amazing.

2. Bob Novak can’t write to save his life.  If the stories being told were not compelling (and potentially false or exaggerated, I suppose) then I would have thrown this book in the trash a week ago.  The book, like his life’s work, is packed full of opinion and information, but it’s also very poorly written.

3. He’s amazingly cavalier about meeting, marrying and divorcing his first wife, and routinely tells stories about abandoning his second wife, or dragging her through South America while she was three minutes from labor, all to get a story. 

4. Most of his reporting in those days was done over drinks and feasts and so forth as he so constantly reminds the reader.  Trips to Vegas, long liquid lunches at DC eateries.  Oh, and also he uses the word “luncheon” all the time.  I know it’s technically correct, as “luncheon” literally means noon meal designed to meet or entertain guests.  What I am saying is the constant use of the word is ponderous and pretentious, much like Robert Novak himself.

There’s some interesting stuff in there about Nixon, LBJ, The Kennedy boys (John & Bobby) and Barry Goldwater though.  It’s a bit hard to figure out what’s true and what’s invented and what is simply an old man’s memory creating a reality he can live with, though.  The problem I now face is, aside from struggling through the rest of this thing, is that I will have to read other books by other writers about each of these men just to try to figure out what’s real.

He starts the book with an account of the Plame incident, if that interests anyone anymore.  If Novak is telling the truth, the whole thing was just a bunch of people that assumed the open secret wasn’t a secret anymore.  Valerie Plame had long been declassified, so to speak, and wasn’t managing any assets in the field.  He’s no fan of her hubby either.  It’s another side of the story, in any case.

The really odd thing is, as bad as the book seems to be so far, I can’t stop reading it.  I suppose that counts for something…

Posted by JimK at 02:44 PM on December 02, 2007
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Categories: News,  Politics,  The Fourth Estate
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