A masterful blend of political satire and edgy social commentary, here is a wildly entertaining trip through recent American history and into the impending future. An incisive look at how we love and hate our political leaders, and how they love and hate us back, The X President touches the very heart of what it means to be president—and what a president means to America.

It is the year 2055 and America is entangled in a devastating world war—and losing badly. As the threat of homeland invasion grows stronger, the United States is desperate to change the tide, anyway it can.

Enter Sal Hayden, official biographer of a former president known as BC, now 109 years old and all but forgotten. Charismatic, controversial, and always willing to feel another person’s pain, BC’s political career, like his personal life, is marked by both uncanny triumphs and key blunders—some of which may have doomed the U.S. to defeat. Recording his story has not always been easy, but it has been straightforward. That is, until the day Sal is asked to rewrite it—and not just on the page. For Sal will be granted a biographer’s most fantastic dream, one that will thrust her into the greatest moral dilemma of her life—and the world’s most daring, dangerous, and spectacular spin job. . . .

"Clever, satirical, hilarious—and horrifying in its all too

plausible projection of the future."

--Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series

"Revisionist history never looked so good, or so scary. That the earthquakes of current events will produce future backlashes is the premise and the promise of this taut, stylish novel. The X President rockets along on the fuel of our American disposition to revere and despise our leaders simultaneously. You’ll flip the pages at the speed of now, except when you have to slow down to bite your nails."

--Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

"An entertaining, delightfully inventive novel . . . Even those of us who loathe our ex-president will be moved by Baruth’s sympathetic, hauntingly human rendition."

--Bill Kauffman, author of Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette and co-author with Gore Vidal of America First!

“Begins with . . . a brilliant piece of misdirection . . . Baruth's portraits of young BC and very old BC are touching, even loving caricatures, warts, wens and all. Cheerfully embracing the paradoxes inherent in time travel, THE X PRESIDENT provides as good an explanation as any for the uncanny political instincts and against-all-odds success of one of the last century's most engaging and enraging public figures."

—The New York Times Book Review

“History won’t stand still in this clever time-travel romp about mid-21st century spooks who try to unmake a war by changing a presidential decision in the past.”

—The New York Times Book Review (text from Notable Books listing)

**a New York Times Notable Book**

“Ingenious, often hilarious…if you can handle a fanciful plot and an onslaught of irreverence, you’ll devour it the same way the young BC did his first Big Mac.”

—Washington Post Book World

“No matter how you think history should view our most recent ex-president, Baruth’s book delivers an engaging, action-filled adventure.”

—San Francisco Chronicle

“Orwell’s 1984 with a high-tech gloss…Baruth’s real strength [is] as a character-driven storyteller.”

—Kirkus Reviews

"Imaginative...page-turning reading...readers who thought PRIMARY COLORS was too tame will appreciate this wacky speculative fantasy, and Friends of Bill with a sense of humor will be delighted to spend more quality time with James, George, and BC."

—Publishers Weekly

"Baruth is especially good at manipulating his narrative, surprising us with sudden twists and turns that leave heroine and reader alike first confused and then forced to reconsider recent history in ways that, oddly, make perfect sense. Students of politics will enjoy picking apart the characters' arguments, alternate-history buffs will be delighted with the author's world building, and comic thriller fans will love the wild ride. Face it: anyone who picks this book up will be thoroughly entertained."

—Booklist (starred review)

“An on-the-road book that is both zany and profound. Readers of Washington novels will enjoy a frisson of the silly-willies with this exuberant experiment in the retelling of recent American history.”

—Library Journal

"The desire of some to blame our country's problems on former President Bill Clinton is very entertainingly brought to life in "The X President"...Baruth makes the twists and surprises that work on Sal also work on the reader. The story proceeds with the pace of a rapid-fire thriller with a clever satirical tone. The former president's strengths and failings are brought out in a world that justifies ideas of conspiracy and paranoia."

—The Denver Post

“Pointed and intelligent speculative fiction/political satire…Inhale this one.”

—The Kansas City Star

“Ambitious…winning…Baruth's recreation of familiar historical events draws on the powerful emotional reservoirs created by those moments in the first place. Anyone wishing to relive the history of the Clinton presidency–and seeing it twisted into new shapes–will want to catch The X President.”

—Sci Fi Weekly

A masterful blend of political satire and edgy social commentary, here is a wildly entertaining trip through recent American history and into the impending future. An incisive look at how we love and hate our political leaders, and how they love and hate us back, The X President touches the very heart of what it means to be president--and what a president means to America.

It is the year 2055 and America is entangled in a devastating world war--and losing badly. As the threat of homeland invasion grows stronger, the United States is desperate to change the tide, anyway it can.

Enter Sal Hayden, official biographer of a former president known as BC, now 109 years old and all but forgotten. Charismatic, controversial, and always willing to feel another person's pain, BC's political career, like his personal life, is marked by both uncanny triumphs and key blunders--some of which may have doomed the U.S. to defeat. Recording his story has not always been easy, but it has been straightforward. That is, until the day Sal is asked to rewrite it--and not just on the page. For Sal will be granted a biographer's most fantastic dream, one that will thrust her into the greatest moral dilemma of her life--and the world's most daring, dangerous, and spectacular spin job. . . .

It is the year 2055 and America is entangled in a devastating world war--and losing badly. As the threat of homeland invasion grows stronger, the United States is desperate to change the tide--any way it can. Enter Sal Hayden, official biographer of a former president, who is hired to create the world's most daring, dangerous, and spectacular spin job.

Philip Baruth is a professor of English at the University of Vermont and an award-winning commentator for Vermont Public Radio. His previous works include The Dream of the White Village and The Millennium Shows.