Title: A Capitol Idea
Author: Bill Hause
Publisher: Fulton Books
ISBN: 979-8887317847
Pages: 190
Genre: Fiction / Politics
Reviewer: David Allen
Hollywood Book Reviews
Some folks out there are spreading the malicious rumor that literary fiction is dead. Not true. A Capitol Idea, a novel by Bill Hause, puts that notion to rest decisively. It is rare to come upon a novel that is so bristling with brio, charm, manic humor and — timeliness. Meeting the crazies and their oh so crazy world in Hause’s fiction would be, I imagine, something akin to waking up in the early 18th century and cracking open a brand-new edition of Gulliver’s Travels…that’s how crazy, variegated and ultimately caricaturing the denizens of A Capitol Idea really are.
In a somewhat mythic dystopia — more than faintly evocative of our own time, right down to the names and specific politics and issues under fire – a most unlikely antihero, Sean Fidwitter aka King Sean I, aka Sean the Commoner, or Sean the Benevolent, proclaims Ebony Rock (“Isla de Granita de Ebano”) the new homeland for the homeless impoverished and neglected peoples of the world. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions: imagine the three ring circus of grief and catastrophe this announcement then creates!
A steeplechase of corrupt self-promoters, politicians, lawyers and consultants descend upon the scene, eager to squirrel away their portion. Me Me Me…you know the drill. Isla de Granita de Ebano may just as well be Greenland, or Mars: the allusions in this book to current political events are spot on and uncanny. (In the book, Isla de Granita may be, for example, the next hot source of lithium, or even diamonds. See what I mean? The analogy to space exploration is key here.) Lieutenant Colonel Karl Helmut Wolfgang von Schvinghammer, Alexandre Begré (idealistic attorney for human rights), and A. Gunner-Ellis (crafty political pretender), are just a few of the very eccentrically named and very memorable characters making an outright spectacle of themselves in this blasted landscape of competing egos and ecological ruin.
There is so much to praise in this book. Not only is it a hair-raising ride through a kingdom of political woe; it is also a cautionary tale for our time. The protagonists and creeps and bad guys in this roiling madcap novel are mirrors held up to our society and up to our ever-scrambling selves. In their desperate machinations to turn a profit, to grab power, it is easy to trace the author’s take on today’s headlines: Trump, Musk, Greenland, Mars, all the rest…I suspect the book was written quickly, in response to recent political events, but it sure is a powerful write, a most rousing one.
A few words on the structure and cadence of this book. Hause is clearly a fan and student of 18th century novels. His book shares some of the rollicking sensibility you see in amazingly funny books from that time like Tristam Shandy. Not just that, but the author brackets the text with topical headers and captions, really like one would see in the works of Victorian and earlier authors.
Yes, Bill Hause writes from the shoulders of giants, giants of comedy novels like A Confederacy of Dunces and The Sot-Weed Factor. Hause taps into this living literary tradition and succeeds in making it ever fresh. A Capitol Idea, Bill Hause’s take on America 2.0, is a fast-moving morality play/novel that leaves the reader breathless, as do the bounteous associations, historical allusions and rich language of the narrative. Hause is an amazing storyteller for our time.
Bill Hause’s writing encourages readers to reflect on the delicate balance between benevolent intentions and the pervasive influence of corruption, making it a noteworthy addition to contemporary literature.