Power and Class in Political Fiction

David Smit is Emeritus Professor of English at Kansas State University, USA, where he taught courses on Post-War American Literature and Culture, Henry James, and Expository Writing.  His previous books are The Language of a Master: Theories of Style and the Late Writing of Henry James (1988); The End of Composition Studies (2004); and Ingrid Bergman: The Life, Career, and Public Image (2012).

• Introduction.- Chapter One Elites, Class, and Power.- Chapter Two Gore Vidal’s Washington D.C.: Maintaining Legitimacy.- Chapter Three Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent: Elite Ideology.- Chapter Four Joan Didion’s Democracy: The Elite as Celebrities.- Chapter Five: Ward Just’s Echo House: Implementing Policy.- Conclusion.