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More Buzz for Mike Allen '86

A new e-book co-written by Mike Allen, the 1986 W&L alum who is chief White House correspondent for POLITICO, and Evan Thomas, former Newsweek and TIME editor, is generating lots of buzz in political circles these days.

The Right Fights Back is the first of four “instant digital books” about the 2012 presidential election. It became available at midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 30. It quickly climbed the charts on the Apple Store and was being quoted widely for what the Deseret News called its “slice-of-life nuggets about Republican presidential candidates on the campaign trail in pursuit of the GOP nomination.”

Discussing the project with NBC’s David Gregory on PRESS Pass, an online supplement to the TV show “Meet the Press,” Mike said the main question he and Thomas wanted to answer was, “What are like?” The book is based on interviews with the candidates and with several outliers who have stayed out of the race so far.

On Dec. 1, both authors appeared on the “Charlie Rose Show.” The video from that appearance is available on the “Charlie Rose Show” website.

In introducing the e-book series, POLITICO editor-in-chief John Harris explained that Mike has so many tips and tidbits that don’t get into print or on the website. The “prospect that more of Mike’s reporting and analytical intelligence could be shared with readers was one reason — among many — that we were so intrigued by the idea Random House editor Jon Meacham presented us some months back. His proposal was to write a series of eBooks telling, in serialized form, the story of the 2012 presidential campaign.”

You can download the book (78 pages in paper) from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.