O: A Presidential Novel
The 2011 novel of a presidential campaign published as by Anonymous, someone 'in the room'. Press analysis identified former McCain aide Mark Salter.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- 2011
- Form
- Novels
- Authorship
- Revealed: Mark Salter
- Attribution source
- Wikidata P50; contemporary press identification
- Revealed
- 2011, identified in press reports after publication
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- In copyright
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
O: A Presidential Novel was published in January 2011 by Simon and Schuster with its author given as Anonymous, marketed on the claim that the writer had been in the room with the sitting president. The gambit invited a parlor game the press promptly played with textual and biographical analysis, and the identification that emerged and held was Mark Salter, the longtime aide and co-writer to John McCain. Salter did not stage a reveal of his own, and this site records the attribution at press-identification strength rather than as a self-acknowledged fact. As anonymity-as-marketing, the book is a case study: the byline was the launch campaign.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote O: A Presidential Novel?
O: A Presidential Novel was published anonymously and is documented as the work of Mark Salter. The authorship became public in 2011 (identified in press reports after publication). Source: Wikidata P50; contemporary press identification.
Can I read O: A Presidential Novel for free?
No. O: A Presidential Novel is under copyright, so this site links to buy and borrow options instead of reproducing the text.
When was O: A Presidential Novel published?
O: A Presidential Novel was published in 2011 without an author’s name.
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