‘My Search for Warren Harding’ by Robert Plunket (1983, 2023) – 277 pages
With his handsome looks, Warren G. Harding looked like a United States President. That’s about all he had going for him. Due to all the fraud and corruption during his administration, Harding was always considered the worst President in United States history until he got Trumped recently.
Perhaps the accomplishment Warren Harding is most famous for is fathering an illegitimate child while serving as a US Senator.
‘My Search for Warren Harding’ is a novel written way back in 1983 that was surprisingly republished this year. Apparently this novel struck a chord with enough readers including novelist Danzy Senna who wrote the introduction to the now republished novel.
It’s about this obnoxious young guy named Elliot Weiner who believes he has found his way to fame and fortune. He has tracked down Harding’s granddaughter Jonica from this mistress Harding had a long time ago. Better yet, the mistress Rebekah herself is still alive, now in her eighties. Maybe Elliot can even track down the correspondence between Harding and Rebekah. Actual letters from a former President could be very valuable.
As I mentioned before, this Elliot is very cynical and obnoxious. He is always fat-shaming Jonica, the granddaughter he is pretending to be smitten with. Elliot finds fault with everyone he comes in contact including former Hollywood stars who are friends with Rebekah and Jonica.
“So here you are Elliot – on a Texas millionaire’s yacht, in the company of a big Hollywood star (snort) and a granddaughter of a President of the United States. Enjoy it while you can . . . So the yacht was tacky, so she was a washed up alcoholic – still I was thrilled.”
If you’re expecting to find out anything useful or even interesting regarding Warren Harding forget it, you are out of luck here. This is what is known as a shaggy dog story, a long rambling joke of a story that is amusing because it is so pointless.
We all want to take a Great Leap forward with our reading, but sometimes it’s fun to just stop and get the joke.
I am a fan of shaggy-dog stories, but perhaps this one went on for a little too long, by a hundred pages or so.
Grade: B
Tony's Book World 
Posted by Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead on July 26, 2023 at 4:54 AM
Hi Tony! Hope all is going well & that you’re enjoying your current book a bit more than Plunkett’s re-discovered “masterpiece!” I’ve noticed the recent Plunkett boomlet (did you see the New Yorker article about him?) and have been quite curious about this book. I’ve been sitting on the fence about giving it a try, as it seemed to me that I might not find the humor all that appealing. After your review, I’m afraid that I’m still occupying that fence! Never say never, but there are many books in my TBR mountain that are ahead of this one. Speaking of which (and changing the subject), I’m finally getting to Elizabeth Taylor’s Wreath of Roses. Have you read it, or any of her other novels? I’ve become quite a fan!
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Posted by Anokatony on July 26, 2023 at 5:43 AM
Hi Janakay,
I have read a lot of novels and story collections by Elizabeth Taylor because she wrote many wonderful ones that were under 200 pages which is what I like. By the time I started my blog in 2009 I didn’t have any more Elizabeth Taylor fiction to read. I did write this appreciation in the blog:
I see Elizabeth Taylor as a modern Jane Austen. Another writer who I read and really liked mostly before my blog is William Trevor who also kept to the 200-page ideal.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Posted by Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead on July 26, 2023 at 5:03 PM
I just finished reading your very thorough tribute to ET, which I enjoyed very much. I’ve read several of her novels, but over an extended time period and many years ago. Although I liked them at the time, it’s only now that I’m beginning to realize just what a great writer she is! I think I’m probably going to read/re-read the entire list, although it will take me some time to do so. I’ve also dipped into her short stories, which, as you observed, are masterly!
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Posted by Anokatony on July 26, 2023 at 6:31 PM
Yes, the writer Elizabeth Taylor left us with a lot of good novels and stories to read.
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