From the Campaign Trail or Thereabouts

When inept journalist Harold Carlyle is assigned to report on the 2016 Presidential Election, he hatches a scheme to save his marriage by taking his wife Pattie with him across the country, pledging that they’ll be able to reach San Diego’s idyllic shores on his publication’s dime. As Harold lackadaisically covers the Republican campaign, the couple encounters America’s absurdities and dark contradictions, from a Neo-Nazi group preoccupied with following parliamentary procedure, to Iowa state fairs, a pair of 9/11 Truthers celebrating their golden anniversary on a cross-country train trip, a Russian food cart vendor who seems to pop up at campaign events around the country, pay-by-the hour motels, online trolls, combination truck stops and adult emporiums, I Love Lucy, and the dubious efficacy of their marriage counselor’s communication exercises. Despite his elaborate schemes and quick-witted excuses, Harold’s career and marriage continue to unravel, until he stumbles upon a flash drive with transcripts of off-color conversations revealing collusion between Donald Trump and a Kremlin emissary.

About the Authors

Michael Bleicher and Andy Newton on Points in Case – Michael and Andy's work has appeared in the Weekly Humorist, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Vulture, National Lampoon, and Points in Case. Michael is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He is an attorney living in Washington, D.C. Andy has a Master's degree in Italian literature from UCLA. He is an editor living in New York City. Their debut novel is From the Campaign Trail or Thereabouts. They are above average in height and know the harmony parts to most Simon and Garfunkel songs.

Editorial Reviews

“I almost died laughing. In fact, I probably should be dead.”
— Richard Lewis (Recovering comedian)

“In their debut novel, Michael Bleicher and Andy Newton make it clear they are in the forefront of a new generation of political satirists. They are funny, and they are smart. I recommend that you read their new book as soon as possible.”
— Corey Brettschneider, PhD, author of The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents

“Part satire, part romp, and wholly enjoyable. From the Campaign Trail or Thereabouts will take you into the most absurd, darkest corners of our American psyche. Michael Bleicher and Andy Newton are talents to watch.”
— Caren Lissner, author of Carrie Pilby

“Reading this book made me feel exactly how Sir Alexander Fleming must’ve felt when he discovered penicillin: ‘OMG, I’ve accidentally found the cure to every ailment I have. My marriage, my desire to drive across country, the lack of laughter in this library, Republicans, Russians, this gross staph infection. I think it’s a staph infection. Is it? Is it cancer? Hi-larious!’ Read it now, and you can feel all that, too.”
— Jeff Kreisler, author of the bestselling satire, Get Rich Cheating, winner of the Bill Hicks Spirit Award for Thought
Provoking Comedy, Exec. Producer of The Final Edition Radio Hour, probably a cancer victim

“This is political satire in 3-D. So much of our liberal angst in this Age of Trump targets the bombast and vulgarity of political discourse. But this novel, painfully funny, deadpan in delivery, gets at greater depths. It shows the absurdities inflecting all ranks and factions of American politi-cal life—and it puts a mirror to the reader, as well.”
— Philip Gould, PhD, Brown University

“Since real-life politics caught up to fictional politics in terms of absurdity and ridiculousness, it takes a talented comic mind to push satire to the next level. Or as is the case with Bleicher and Newton, two of them. From the Campaign Trail or Thereabouts is equal parts insightful, frightening, and totally hilarious.”
— Brian Boone, Splitsider

More Book Details

• Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
• Paperback : 318 pages
• ISBN-10 : 0359807267
• ISBN-13 : 978-0359807260
• Product Dimensions : 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Publisher : lulu.com (September 6, 2019)