Isn't Mannion pretty much explicitly Ken Clarke - who is of course the to the Tories what Arnie Vinick is to the Republicans?

"I'm all ears.  I'm Andrew fucking Marr"

"I'm all ears.  I'm Andrew fucking Marr"

There's also the fact that Bartlett got into the previous election as the Stackhouse figure - the unelectable elder statesman running to make points and keep Hoynes honest - so it figures that they'd all be paranoid about the tactic.

There's also the fact that Bartlett got into the previous election as the Stackhouse figure - the unelectable elder statesman running to make points and keep Hoynes honest - so it figures that they'd all be paranoid about the tactic.

The pool scene is still the summation of everything great about the Sopranos - the way it flips from black comedy to real heartbreak in an instant

He's also - because he's a pimp - the one who they mostly turn to for violence against women.

I noticed that little and less

It's quite jolly, though, even if it's a good 650 pages too long.

This is absolutely on the money.  And, yes, Reamde has all of Stephenson's favourite riffs; the bit where the main character confronts the kind of cultural relativity PC-gone-mad academic ninny that only exists in rightwing fantasy, the bit where he confronts the prejudice liberals show towards some kind of right wing…