Culture Corner: Manchurian Candidate Author – A Trove of Political Satire

Best known for his classic 1959 novel, The Manchurian Candidate, author Richard Condon is a greatly overlooked talent who had his finger on the pulse of American politics. Using often thinly-veiled satire, Condon was a ruthless critic of both Republicans and Democrats, who used his wit to lance the Uniparty system in the course of his long career.

With a talent for political comedy and edge-of-the-seat thrills, Condon authored 26 fiction novels, each encompassing his distinctive style. But why is it that The Manchurian Candidate has endured when so many of his other works are long out of print? Perhaps it was the 1962 movie version (faithful to the source material) starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury that gave it the Hollywood legs? Or, more likely, is that it is a story that works so well in any age.

Condon is a rare treat that becomes addictive. Utilizing the same character names, and occasional personality, across many books, the author invites us to view this madcap political world as what it truly is: A theatre production where the story remains the same, and only the names are changed.

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Read more from Mark Angelides.