Obvious in Hindsight | Bradley Tusk

episode SUMMARY:

In this episode of the Books for Men podcast, host Douglas Vigliotti discusses a new novel called Obvious in Hindsight by Bradley Tusk. The book follows the story of Lisa Lim, an underling of Nick Denevito, the owner of a political consultant group, as they try to legalize flying cars in three cities—New York, Austin, and LA. Vigliotti describes the book as reading like a piece of autofiction, a genre that blends elements of an author's autobiography with a fictional narrative, saying, “There is nobody better suited to write this story than Tusk.” He praises the book for its usage of multiple point-of-views, present-tense narration, satirical elements, and its ability to make readers question the industries and decisions that shape society. He also reminds listeners that Tusk owns an indie bookstore in NYC, P&T Knitwear, and shares a favorite quote from the book. Vigliotti encourages everyone to check out the book and support the podcast by sharing it with others, and reminding them they can always connect with him on Instagram @douglasvigliotti.

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Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have a really fun book to share with you. It's a book that's only been out now for two or three weeks, so it's a brand new book, I was able to get my hands on an early copy, and I'm happy that I did because I really enjoyed it. And I think it's a book that will either confirm some beliefs or open your eyes to some other ones. And I also think it pairs really well with the book that I shared last week. Not in its content of course, because last week's book was a recovery memoir or an addiction memoir. But the theme of the episode was talking about blending fiction with reality and the blurred lines that many writers take when they're creating their works, whether it be fiction or nonfiction.

(00:59)

I posed the question at the end of the episode, how many novels are actually more reality than they are fiction? And how many memoirs are actually more fiction than they are reality? Now, I don't want to go into a complete reiteration of that theme or that idea because I covered it in good detail in last week's episode, but I wanted to lead with that because I think today's book is a great example of a novel that you could find a lot of truth in. Even though it is clearly a tale of fiction, it reads to me very much like a piece of autofiction. And so for those of you who don't know, the genre, autofiction is basically an author utilizing parts of their own autobiography and blending it together with fictional elements, a completely made-up narrative, whether it's events or characters or any of the above.

(01:59)

And like I said, this book has that feel to it. I haven't featured a piece of autofiction on the podcast, although interestingly, I've sort of been on an autofiction kick lately, not intentionally. I guess. I recently read Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards, which came out last year, and that definitely has autofiction elements to it, as well as Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility, which is another book that undoubtedly has autofiction elements in it. Neither of those books is like the book that I am sharing with you today, which I don't think I even told you the name of yet. So let me do that. It's called Obvious in Hindsight, and it's by Bradley Tusk. You might recognize the name. He's been on the podcast before in interview form. If you go back in the archives, you could probably find that interview.

(02:48)

It was a really fun conversation. We did it around his book at the time called The Fixer, which was a non-fiction book, detailing and documenting his life as a political fixer. So somebody who would help politicians get shit done. And so you might instantly see a link to his background or his work and the story that is obvious in hindsight. But to me, this is a great strength of the novel because it gives it a sense of realism. And I think all satires or good satires do that. And it makes this particular book really entertaining because it feels like it could happen or it will happen potentially. On that note, I should probably tell you what the book is about. So I already told you the genre satire and autofiction, but it's also right in the sweet spot of page count that I like … so 290, 300 pages.

(03:42)

To me, that is a good length for a book. You're never going to want to put this particular story down. It's got a lot of energy to it. It's written in the third person, it's written in the present tense, which is a decision that I love because it gives it a sense of immediacy and it really ups the pace of the novel. It doesn't have the constraint or confinement element that a lot of present tense stories have because it is written in the third person and there is a lot of point of view, but I'll get to that in just a moment. So the book, what is the story about? Right? It's a kaleidoscope look at trying to legalize flying cars. So it follows really two protagonists. One of them is the main protagonist, Lisa Lim, who is the underling for who I would consider to be a secondary protagonist. Nick Denevito, who is the owner of this political consultant group.

(04:29)

Lisa is, as I said, his underling, and they are hired to run a campaign for Susan Howard, the fictional owner of a flying car company. And they're trying to get a bill passed to legalize flying cars in one of three cities, primarily New York City, Austin, or LA. And so I don't want to share too much about the actual plot because I don't want to ruin it for you, but what I will say is that another one of the strengths of this novel, and it's something that I just alluded to talking about the multiple points of view, it gives you a very well-rounded look at this predicament or this challenge legalizing flying cars. Can Lisa and Nick get the bill passed for Susan Howard? And it looks at the tech angle. So you have Susan Howard's point of view, or Yevgeny, who is one of the engineers of the flying car company.

(05:32)

And then you have the political point of view. So you get to meet the mayors of the different cities. And then the protestor point of view, which to me was, sorry, don't want to offend anybody out there, but it was hilarious to me in the first opening sequence, there is this scene where protesters are outside and they're chanting whose sky is it? Birds. And so it's this animal rights support group that you get their kind of angle, you get the media point of view, and then you get what I would consider to be the true power point of view, which is the money that controls the mayors and the political movement in these cities, which in this story comes by way of the Russian mob. And then I would say the final perspective that you get is the FBI point of view. So they're investigating whether there is fraud going on in multiple capacities, and I'm not going to talk too much about the plot, but yeah, you get a very well-rounded look at this situation.

(06:34)

And I think ultimately the book really forces you to consider how pathetic or fickle some of these major decisions that get made in our society that shape our society actually are, and what the hinge points that move the needle one way or the other are. And I think for a lot of people, this is a really painful reality. It's something that they almost would rather ignore or maybe even refute and say doesn't exist because they'd rather have their pie-in-the-sky ideal viewpoint of what tech is or what the political world is. But to me, that just ignores everything that we know about human nature. And while this book definitely forces you to ask what's more pathetic politics or tech at times, I think if you zoom in on any industry, to be fair, you can satirize it and make it humorous in a way.

(07:42)

But again, not to hammer on the same nail. I think what makes this super interesting is that it combines the tech and political worlds, which are probably the two most powerful industries in our society today, at least for how society is shaped. And I can't think of a better individual than Tusk to write this novel, not just for the obvious link in his career as a political consultant, and venture capitalist, but also as a thinker. He has a very common sense, practical, non-bureaucratic way of thinking about things. And it's something that I've always appreciated from the very first conversation that I had with him on my old podcast. But I think that when you have those type of sensibilities as a person, it sets up perfectly to write the story that he has written. I think the best way to describe it is really an outsider's angle.

(08:43)

So I once heard Walter Isaacson describe Steve Jobs, and Jennifer Doudna, the woman who discovered gene editing, he wrote books on those people. He was in an interview and he said the secret sauce for all those people is that they're insiders, but they view themselves as outsiders. And so I really think that Tusk views himself that way as an outsider in the industries that he is in. And because of that, I think he offers a very unique perspective on them. And that's probably why the voice in which the story is written and the content that is in the actual story is highly entertaining. And lastly, I should mention that Tusk is also an indie bookstore owner. So among the many other things that he's got going on, he's a lover of books, obviously as a novelist, but he owns a bookstore in Manhattan called PT Knitwear.

(09:38)

He opened it I think only about a year or two ago. I've heard a lot of great things about it. I'm looking forward to go down and checking it out. But anybody who supports books and novelists and authors, they're all right in my book. And there is a treat at the end of the novel that I loved. It was a list that says 10 rules that demystify politics. And it ties into the plot because Nick, the owner of the political consultant group, he has these “10 Rules That Demystify Politics,” but I find it hard-pressed that they're not Bradley Tusk's “10 Rules That Demystify Politics.” Now, I'm not going to share them with you, I'll save it for you to read the book. They may make you rethink and question the way that you look at politics in the political spectrum. But what I will do is leave you with my favorite quote from the book, and it's a really simple one-liner that I loved.

(10:36)

It was a bit of dialogue and it said, “Sometimes the sack fly wins the game.” And obviously what that means is you don't always have to hit it out of the park, you don't even have to hit a single. You just have to do what's necessary. Alright, so I've been going on long enough. I think you know enough about the book and the author. If you enjoyed today's episode, then one, obviously I'd highly recommend checking out the book. Additionally, I'd love for you to share it with a friend, a family member, or somebody else who you think might enjoy it because word of mouth is everything. And with this podcast specifically, it's to inspire more men to read. And I need your help to do that. You could double down on that support by rating, liking, following, subscribing, any of that good stuff, all of that good stuff on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on because doing any of it helps more people find the show.

(11:32)

Also, if you want to connect with me, you could do so on Instagram @douglasvigliotti. It's the only social media that I have. And lastly, if you want more information, you could always visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for all of the episodes, as well as sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of every episode complete with full book and author information, all the best quotes. There will be plenty from today's book, Obvious in Hindsight, I don't think I mentioned it in the episode, but I loved the title of the book. And the newsletter also has newsletter-only book recommendations. So if you're interested in that, all you have to do again is head over to BooksforMen.org.