Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 27, 1994 TAG: 9403040007
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO BOOK PAGE EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ Larry Beinhart has put together the best combination of suspense and political satire since Richard Condon's ``The Manchurian Candidate.''
``American Hero'' is so ambitious and wide-ranging that it dilutes the pleasures that a good thriller can deliver, but in this case, that's not a flaw. It's also so devilish in its skewering of conservatives that right-wing Republicans and dittoheads will be enraged by the end of the first chapter. Other readers will be fascinated with Beinhart's deft mix of recent historical fact, conjecture and fiction. He begins with a simple premise. Suppose that on his death bed, political operative Lee Atwater came up with a plan that would guarantee a Republican victory in the 1992 presidential election.
Without giving too much away, Atwater's mad scheme involves a war made for television, a clean American victory that will sweep George Bush into a second term. His only caveat as he gives the details to James Baker is not to try it too soon. To transform Atwater's vision into reality, Bush and Baker turn - where else? - to Hollywood. That's where the more conventional thriller side of the novel takes over as the beautiful actress Magadalena Lazlo and security expert Joe Broz realize that something more important than industry infighting is going on.
Beinhart presents Hollywood as a snakepit of intrigue and deception where the objectives of the studios and agencies are closely tied to the objectives of the government and its agencies. It's an apt setting for his multilayered, conspiracies-within-conspiracies plot. But the most fascinating part of the novel are the nonfiction footnotes. Beinhart really did his homework. His ideas about the Gulf War, propaganda and the influence of popular films on public opinion are well taken. Perhaps the most disquieting are the parallels he points out between post-World War I Germany and post-Vietnam America.
In the end, if ``American Hero'' weren't so enjoyable and sexy, it would be required reading both in political science classes and in film classes.
by CNB