In a re-enactment of the 1963 Dallas motorcade for a reality TV show, one JFK lookalike is killed and another injured. The unhinged widow and the wounded survivor, both disguised in black burqahs, drive from Dallas to Detroit in a gold SUV to hear a murderer's confession.
Tune in to The Big Dealey, a betting show with a line-up of colourful assassination suspects. Watch as colossal brands, religious forces and infotainment wreak havoc with the truth. Race towards HyperFriday, when gamers, viewers and voters are promised the greatest election ever seen. Part mystery, part road-movie, 'The TV President' offers a wholly original and blackly funny switchback ride fuelled by an unholy mix of celebrity, democracy and reality TV.
'Elise Valmorbida's strange and timely novel is set at an unspecified point in the near future. America is gripped by a television show that pits two JFK impersonators against each other in a national election . . . Valmorbida seems most concerned to show how far people will go in a bid to run away from themselves, and how skilfully this desire is courted by corporations . . . Luridly entertaining fiction.'
- Times Literary Supplement
'This self-contained satire, where intelligent devils have been surgically planted in every detail, deserves more readers.'
- Reeling & Writhing, Austlit
'Full of wit and incident, and with a compelling rogue's gallery of suspects, this very funny book is first and foremost a satire on America's obsession with itself . . . If Tarantino were to devise a reality TV format it might feel something like this.'
- Annemarie Neary, author
'This is a novel of breathtaking originality, drawing on the history of our lifetimes and setting it under the influence of today's reality TV madness. The result is funny, moving, thought-provoking.'
- John Simmons, author
'Valmorbida has a writing style that draws you in to the many characters you come across on the journey, and you can't help but think that something like this could really happen. That feeling of reality in part must stem from the author's research, during which she went on a road trip from Dallas to Detroit.'
- Angel Magazine
'A satire cutting very close to the bone, this novel takes you on a desperate road trip where there is no escape from mass media or the populace who lap it up hungrily every day. Set in a not-too-distant world, where truth and justice are lost in a quagmire of consumption, I found this disturbing and darkly comic tale all too plausible. The characters were so vividly drawn and the landscapes so carefully detailed I wanted to jump into the SUV alongside them. For best results read when on the run.'
- Amazon reader (JFM) review
'Elise Valmorbida's latest novel is a trip into the future of entertainment via the bloody history of Dallas, Texas. Following the quiet, meandering beauty of her previous collection of stories, 'The Book of Happy Endings', 'The TV President' is a shocking plunge into the narcissism and mob rule of reality television. An A+ read.'
- Richard Simmons
Genre: Literary Fiction
Tune in to The Big Dealey, a betting show with a line-up of colourful assassination suspects. Watch as colossal brands, religious forces and infotainment wreak havoc with the truth. Race towards HyperFriday, when gamers, viewers and voters are promised the greatest election ever seen. Part mystery, part road-movie, 'The TV President' offers a wholly original and blackly funny switchback ride fuelled by an unholy mix of celebrity, democracy and reality TV.
'Elise Valmorbida's strange and timely novel is set at an unspecified point in the near future. America is gripped by a television show that pits two JFK impersonators against each other in a national election . . . Valmorbida seems most concerned to show how far people will go in a bid to run away from themselves, and how skilfully this desire is courted by corporations . . . Luridly entertaining fiction.'
- Times Literary Supplement
'This self-contained satire, where intelligent devils have been surgically planted in every detail, deserves more readers.'
- Reeling & Writhing, Austlit
'Full of wit and incident, and with a compelling rogue's gallery of suspects, this very funny book is first and foremost a satire on America's obsession with itself . . . If Tarantino were to devise a reality TV format it might feel something like this.'
- Annemarie Neary, author
'This is a novel of breathtaking originality, drawing on the history of our lifetimes and setting it under the influence of today's reality TV madness. The result is funny, moving, thought-provoking.'
- John Simmons, author
'Valmorbida has a writing style that draws you in to the many characters you come across on the journey, and you can't help but think that something like this could really happen. That feeling of reality in part must stem from the author's research, during which she went on a road trip from Dallas to Detroit.'
- Angel Magazine
'A satire cutting very close to the bone, this novel takes you on a desperate road trip where there is no escape from mass media or the populace who lap it up hungrily every day. Set in a not-too-distant world, where truth and justice are lost in a quagmire of consumption, I found this disturbing and darkly comic tale all too plausible. The characters were so vividly drawn and the landscapes so carefully detailed I wanted to jump into the SUV alongside them. For best results read when on the run.'
- Amazon reader (JFM) review
'Elise Valmorbida's latest novel is a trip into the future of entertainment via the bloody history of Dallas, Texas. Following the quiet, meandering beauty of her previous collection of stories, 'The Book of Happy Endings', 'The TV President' is a shocking plunge into the narcissism and mob rule of reality television. An A+ read.'
- Richard Simmons
Genre: Literary Fiction
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