Books: Up Simba! By David Foster Wallace

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John McCain wouldn't give him much face time, so Wallace, in this narrative, available only as an e-book, tries to make a virtue of exile by telling the story of the Senator's failed presidential bid from the perspective of the TV crews and others on the overflow buses. But the mash note to his fellow riders turns to wholesale gush as he pants over their observations, the banal as well as the smart, reminding us that this is Wallace's first up-close look at a campaign. Worse, some details are made up, tainting the sharp insights he does offer.

--By John Dickerson