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Author | Allen Drury |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Mark Coffin, U.S.S. |
Genre | Political novel |
Published | 1979 (Doubleday) |
Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
Pages | 343 |
ISBN | 0-385-14434-2 |
Preceded by | Anna Hastings |
Followed by | The Hill of Summer The Roads of Earth |
Mark Coffin U.S.S. is a 1979 political novel by Allen Drury which follows the titular young U.S. Senator as he navigates Washington politics. It is set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent , which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. [1]
The novel was out of print for several years until WordFire Press reissued it in paperback and e-book formats in 2014. [2] [3]
Young, idealistic Mark Coffin wins a surprise, upset election victory, turning the 30-year-old Stanford University professor into the junior senator from California. Additionally, in the concurrent presidential election, his party's presidential candidate rides Mark's coattails to corral California's electoral votes and the White House. Mark has studied politics as a professor but has never run for office. However, his father-in-law is Jim Elrod, a powerful senior senator from North Carolina and chairman of the Armed Services committee, and Mark's father owns one of the largest newspapers in the state. Indeed, his own wife, who had wanted Mark to run, is fearful because of the election results: the new President will want to show that he owes nothing to Mark by making his life difficult. Mark goes to Washington amid the glare of the media spotlight, and reporters Bill Adams, Chuck Dangerfield and Lisette Greyson take an interest in his career from the start, praising him as one of the most idealistic and promising senators to hit town in decades. Other Senate wives warn Mark's wife that Lisette has tried to seduce several married Senators.
Mark's hopes of sitting on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are damaged when he takes strong positions on two hot button issues: his father-in-law's bill to add ten billion dollars to the defense appropriation, to be used to try to catch up with the Soviets; and the Attorney General nomination of Charlie Macklin, the tough D.A. of Los Angeles County, whom Mark considers a demagogue that runs roughshod over civil liberties. He also makes an enemy of the governor of California, who had pushed Coffin's candidacy, as the governor had also suggested Macklin to the new President. Older senators who agree with him warn him to tread lightly, but Mark feels that he must make a stand on the issues he promised his supporters to fight for. Mark leads other junior senators in bucking the Washington establishment on these two issues. These so-called "Young Turks" include Rick Duclos of Vermont, who has an eye for the ladies and a teenage son, and Bob Templeton of Colorado, who recently lost his family in a plane accident. When Mark will not soften his opposition, he loses the committee assignment to Duclos.
During the celebrations of the President's inauguration, a mere 17 days after Mark himself took office, he gets extremely drunk because of the bitterness he feels at the setback. He goes to Lisette's apartment, and later returns home. At first it seems that no one knows, but then it slowly leaks out. A furor ensues, with Lisette apparently milking the story for her own advantage. His wife is devastated. Mark thinks he has already failed in his mission and considers resigning. However, his wife, her father, and her father's girlfriend, who is also a powerful Senator, are all political animals, and unite to get him through the problems he has caused. Macklin uses the story in his own confirmation hearings to try and discredit Mark, but ends up insulting a number of Senators. His nomination is narrowly defeated. On the defense appropriations fight, his own father-in-law effectively beats back his opposition. Mark has now won one fight and lost another, and he goes on to an effective career, but his failure at the beginning is brought up at critical moments for the rest of his life.
Later Drury books in the same timeline are The Hill of Summer (1981) and The Roads of Earth (1984), a two-part series dealing with a major crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union. Drury's 1977 novel Anna Hastings is also set in the same timeline, with its title character Anna appearing in a supporting role in The Hill of Summer and The Roads of Earth.
Kevin James Anderson is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E. and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequel series. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award–nominated Assemblers of Infinity. He has also written several comic books, including the Dark Horse Star Wars series Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Dark Horse Predator titles, and The X-Files titles for Topps. Some of Anderson's superhero novels include Enemies & Allies, about the first meeting of Batman and Superman, and The Last Days of Krypton, telling the story of how Superman's planet Krypton came to be destroyed.
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Pentagon is a 1986 political novel by Allen Drury which follows the American military bureaucracy as it reacts to a crisis with the Soviet Union. It is a standalone work set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Capable of Honor is a 1966 political novel written by Allen Drury. It is the second sequel to Advise and Consent, for which Drury was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960.
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Advise & Consent is a 1962 American political drama film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Advise and Consent by Allen Drury, published in 1959. The film was adapted for the screen by Wendell Mayes and was directed by Otto Preminger. The film, set in Washington, D.C., follows the nomination process of a man who commits perjury in confirmation hearings for his nomination as Secretary of State. The title derives from the United States Constitution's Article II, Sec. 2, cl. 2, which provides that the president of the United States "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States." The ensemble cast features Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Burgess Meredith, Eddie Hodges, Paul Ford, George Grizzard, Inga Swenson, Betty White and others.
The Orphan Master's Son is a 2012 novel by the American author Adam Johnson. It deals with intertwined propaganda, identity, and state power themes in North Korea. The novel was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U.S. Senator Huey P. Long, who was assassinated in 1935. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty."
The Throne of Saturn is a 1971 science fiction/political novel by Allen Drury that explores the preparations for a near-future crewed mission to the planet Mars.
Anna Hastings: The Story of a Washington Newspaperperson is a 1977 political novel by Allen Drury which follows the titular reporter as she climbs her way to the top of the Washington media elite. It is set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Decision is a 1983 political novel by Allen Drury which follows a newly appointed Supreme Court Justice as he is faced with the most difficult decision of his life. It is a standalone work set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
A God Against the Gods is a 1976 historical novel by political novelist Allen Drury, which chronicles ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten's attempt to establish a new religion in Egypt. It is told in a series of monologues by the various characters.
That Summer is a 1965 novel by political novelist Allen Drury which chronicles melodrama among the elite in the California town of Greenmont. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Michael Joseph, and then by Coward-McCann in the United States in 1966.
A Thing of State is a 1995 political novel by Allen Drury which follows the U.S. State Department's response to a crisis in the Middle East. It is a standalone work set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Allen Drury's University series is a trio of novels written by political novelist Allen Drury between 1990 and 1998, which follow a group of university fraternity brothers for a span of over 60 years from 1938 to 2001. Drury graduated from Stanford University in 1939, and his experiences there provided the basis for the series. The novels are set in a different fictional timeline from Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Courage and Hesitation: Notes and Photographs of the Nixon Administration is a 1971 non-fiction book by Allen Drury. It is an inside look at U. S. President Richard Nixon and those closest to him midway through his first term in office, with photographs by Fred J. Maroon.
The Nickel Boys is a 2019 novel by American novelist Colson Whitehead. It is based on the historic Dozier School, a reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and was revealed as highly abusive. A university investigation found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths and a history into the late 20th century of emotional and physical abuse of students.