Washington

by Meg Greenfield (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $23.61

  With Washington , the illustrious longtime editorial page editor of The Washington Post wrote an instant classic, a sociology of Washington, D.C., that is as wise as it is wry. Greenfield, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, wrote the book secretly in the final two years of her life. She told her literary executor, presidential historian Michael Beschloss, of her work and he has written an afterword telling the story of how the book came into being. Greenfield's close friend and employer, the late Katharine Graham, contributed a moving and personal foreword. Greenfield came to Washington in 1961, at the beginning of the Kennedy administration and joined The Washington Post in 1968. Her editorials at the Post and her columns in Newsweek , were universally admired in Washington for their insight and style. In this, her first book, Greenfield provides a portrait of the U.S. capital at the end of the American century. It is an eccentric, tribal, provincial place where the primary currency is power. For all the scandal and politics of Washington, its real culture is surprisingly little known. Meg Greenfield explains the place with an insider's knowledge and an observer's cool perspective.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $4.69

  An instant classic on the way Washington works-and a witty, provocative portrayal of the tribes that run it-by a revered Washington writer and editor. Meg Greenfield, the illustrious long-time editorial page editor of the Washington Post, has written an instant classic that is as wise as it is wry. Greenfield came to Washington in 1961 at the beginning of the Kennedy administration and joined the Washington Post in 1968. Her editorials at the Post and her columns in Newsweek were universally admired in Washington for their insight and style. Here Greenfield provides a portrait of the United States capital at the end of the American century. Washington is an eccentric, tribal, provincial place where the primary currency is power. For all the scandal and politics of Washington, its real culture is surprisingly little known, and Meg Greenfield explains the place with an insider's knowledge and an observer's cool perspective. She likens the political scene to a high school, where the inhabitants are completely self-absorbed in the peculiar life of the place, freshman congressmen undergo the rituals of indoctrination, and most individuals may be categorized as teacher's pets, hall monitors, or big men on campus. And the biggest shock for all of these over-achievers? When they finally arrive in Washington, they are surrounded by equally qualified and talented people and the competition is relentless.