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The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide to Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government Paperback – September 27, 2016

by Eliot Nelson (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 48 ratings
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Every American’s owner’s manual for Washington D.C., our functionally dysfunctional seat of government.

How is legislation crafted? How do you lose an election? What do “bundler,” “quorum call” and “omnibus” mean? Why do some of the White House’s most important meetings occur at a Starbucks? Why are Washington insiders obsessed with something called Jumbo Slice? What, exactly, is a “skintern?”

Eliot Nelson, one of Washington’s funniest and most admired young journalists, knows how the sausage factory works and The Beltway Bible is every citizen's must-have owner’s manual.

Arranged from A to Z, The Beltway Bible provides an insider's perspective of politics and government, breaking down both into easily-digested entries on subjects like how legislation is formed, the scope of the president’s power, and an overview of federal agencies. Nelson also looks at D.C.'s less-well-known power structures: the internal pecking order of White House aides, the high school cafeteria power struggles behind party invites and the petty congressional arguments over how highway on-ramps are named.

The Beltway Bible makes our complex government accessible in a way that will please everyone from Jon Stewart to John Doe.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Griffin
  4. Publication date
    September 27, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.96 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1250099250
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250099259
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ELIOT NELSON is a political reporter and editor at The Huffington Post's Washington, D.C. bureau where he covers campaigns, Congress and the intersection of culture and politics. He is the author of HuffPost Hill, a daily humorous political tip sheet with over 250,000 subscribers both inside and outside the Beltway. He has also helped developed a number of products for The Huffington Post, including a popular series of satirical political videos and The Morning Email, the site's 1,000,000 subscriber general interest newsletter. Born and raised in New York City, he is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin; Edition Unstated (September 27, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250099250
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250099259
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.96 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 48 ratings

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Nelson, Eliot

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
48 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

brittany wallace
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is hilarious and sad.
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
Hi thoroughly enjoy this book, even for not being anywhere close to being in the political field. It's hilarious, you can open it up and read at any point in the book, so finishing it from beginning to end is not necessary, and it actually gives a ton of useful info that I never would've known had I not read the book (or at least a lot of the book). There is a ton of content and I sincerely LOLed.
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MEREDITH
4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and informative.
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
Verified Purchase
It is a pretty humorous guide to the DC Beltway environs, culture, workings. As the title indicates, topics are organized alphabetically so you can pick a subject and look for it to read the authors take or simply flip through the book and randomly read about an item that catches your interest. It is fun and instructive and provides a fair number of chuckles.
One person found this helpful
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Barry Cutler
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2017
Verified Purchase
Full of insider info about how DC rocks. Fun to read with tons of references in the back of the book.
One person found this helpful
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Jahn H.
4.0 out of 5 stars and often funny. Now I have a hankering for a "jumbo ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2017
Verified Purchase
Informative, especially with respect to the various caucus groups and the interactions with lobbyists, and often funny. Now I have a hankering for a "jumbo slice".
One person found this helpful
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Susan Gannon
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
A fun read as well as informative about our government. Great writing.
2 people found this helpful
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olivers
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT read for our times
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
Eliot Nelson is one of the best political writers I follow. This is a GREAT eye-opening description of how our federal government works. You can also follow him online by registering with Huffpost Hill. Highly recommend!
2 people found this helpful
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Katy Flowers
5.0 out of 5 stars It IS a laughing matter
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2016
Verified Purchase
All you’ve ever wanted to know about our capital, capitol, D.C., and government – lots of inside the Beltway information served up with wise-cracking wit and (non partisan) insight. I’ve made notes for my next trip to D.C., and I’ve found the perfect gift for the politicos in my life.
5 people found this helpful
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Found Highways
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Bedtime Reading
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2016
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Eliot Nelson is obviously someone who loves politics and follows it like some people follow sports. And apparently he still has a sense of humor about it, so he's probably not very old yet. I love to follow politics as well, but sadly, I have lost my sense of humor at this late date. Well, I thought I had, but when I started Nelson's new book, The Beltway Bible, I couldn't stop laughing.

It's set up as an alphabetical guide to Washington politics, so there are entries on legislation and lobbying and PACs and so on. But there are also entries for Senator Grassley's Twitter account and Accents (as in when politicians talking to crowds in the South suddenly start drawling even if they aren't personally from the South). I was enjoying all these amusing entries and then realized that I was also learning a few things, such as how politicians get around the one or two year ban on working as lobbyists after they leave office.

Nelson mentions in his introduction that he imagines his book will end up in a lot of bathrooms, which may well be true, but I think it would make an excellent bedside book, with short sections on lots of subjects and there's no danger of getting engrossed in a thrilling plot. And there are just enough longish articles on things like campaign finance and the difference between "pork" and "earmarks" that will have you falling asleep in no time. He also has a good section at the end for further reading on several topics that you may want to read more serious works on.
3 people found this helpful
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