Books: Clintonian Rhapsody

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Especially in the aftermath of Edmund Morris' Reagan biography Dutch (in which the author created a fictional narrator and events), the latter device is a lightning rod in a book that already invites controversy with its unapologetic raunchiness. Yet Rhapsody lambastes Oliver Stone for mixing fact and fiction in JFK and Nixon--"utter and absolute lies." The difference, the author contends, is that his fictions are set in a different typeface. "Is it irresponsible?" says Knopf publisher Sonny Mehta. "We've done everything possible to distinguish the fiction from the nonfiction." (The book also had an exhaustive libel vetting.) Yet even the nonfiction often picks up hearsay--like rumors linking Clinton with Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand--and the book is marketed as "nonfiction."

Say this for Rhapsody: it's better than Jade--often funnier, more nuanced and insightful than one would expect, given Eszterhas' screen oeuvre. The first third of the book cleverly ties together Clinton's political-sexual resume and boomer cultural history: "[Fellatio] was ours the way the missionary position was our parents'." (Small surprise that Eszterhas is most insightful on sex.) And while some monologues are caricatures--Starr comes across as a cliched Elmer Gantry--others, such as Al Gore's reminiscence of Tipper, are well imagined, even touching.

But the book loses focus, swerving from flat, partisan snipes at Clinton enemies like Tripp and Arianna Huffington ("The Ratwoman" and "The Sorceress") to non sequiturs (a John McCain monologue?). A raft of tell-alls--including much of Eszterhas' source material--has left little to tell. Much of his punditry is secondhand--that Clinton is "the first black President," that he may have worn one of Monica's ties as a signal to her.

And while Eszterhas tries to shoehorn his bitchily fun Tinseltown anecdotes into a larger political picture, it's not the most original observation to say politics has become like show biz. We're told that Clinton was fixated on Stone, that he had Hollywood bigs stay in the Lincoln Bedroom, that he was a fan of Eszterhas' movies. Uh, yeah...and? This isn't cultural criticism; it's Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. There's a sense that Eszterhas is hitching his wagon to Clinton's motorcade to give his movies historical import. I know all about witch-hunts! They protested Showgirls!

Rhapsody does merit an adjective few have attached to Eszterhas projects: moral. And its indignation cuts both ways. He calls impeachment a "figurative assassination," but would he vote for Clinton again? "No. He's made this a better America. But what I find unforgivable finally is the lying."

Some have guessed that post-President Bill will take an exec spot at DreamWorks. Eszterhas doesn't. "Reagan learned all about the presidency through Hollywood," he says. "Bill Clinton may be just the reverse. But I don't think he'll end up with the black Dodge Ram and David Geffen's masseur and the girl with the nipple ring waiting for him at the end of the day. I certainly don't wish that upon him."