When recent college graduate Allison Amundson, a small town girl from South Dakota, lands the highly sought after job of scheduler to the newly-elected and rising star of the United States Senate, Senator Anders McDermott III, she thinks she is on the fast track to success.
However, she quickly learns that crazy co-workers, a high maintenance boss, an over-the-top family and an unexpected Presidential bid make Capitol Hill seem even more dysfunctional than portrayed on TV. In fact, it is Capitol Hell.
The second Allison sets foot in the prestigious Senate Russell Building, things begin to go awry. Allison soon realizes her co-workers consist of a Chief of Staff who has little to no control over the antics in the office, a Press Secretary who is not only pompous, but who is constantly primping and preening, and worst of all the Senator himself, who cares more about his rise to fame than the people of Minnesota.
As Allison struggles to juggle a new career, her blooming love interest in Cam (a quiet but loyal Legislative Assistant), and her ever-declining bank account, she is comforted only by her co-worker Janet, a fireplug who spends the majority of her time on-line dating, trying to land a Senator of her own.
Just as Allison and Janet begin to figure out the ins and outs of Capitol Hill, their lives are turned upside down when Senator McDermott announces his bid for President of the United States. Soon, Allison and Janet find themselves at the center of one of the craziest campaigns in history, and hilarity ensues.
A witty combination of Devil Wears Prada meets Capitol Hill!
Capitol Hell offers a hilarious glimpse into the life of Alison Amundson, small town hayseed with political dreams that spiral into nightmares, when she lands a job as a Capitol Hill staffer. All too soon Alison realizes that her paycheck does not come close to compensating for the diva of a Senator she works for, the playground antics of her co-workers, or the outrageous demands that are placed on her virtually every hour of the day (thank you Blackberry).
If she was not already underpaid and overworked, the Senator places a bid for the Presidential candidacy, which is when all hell really breaks loose in Alison’s life on the Hill. Enter the Senator’s loony family complete with aspiring actress wife, horny live-in father, and coke blowing nanny. The outrageous calamities in the life of Alison Amundson just keep adding up, as do the antics of the Senator and his entourage.
This read is for the discernible, young, politically driven mind, who likes a little comic relief with their political affairs ( yes, there is an innuendo there). If this book does show any reality in the life of a Hill staffer, which is highly possible as the authors both spent time in the political arena, it appears that government officials might have the rock stars beat on their outlandish behaviors, requests, and family drama.
4 stars for the read on the Pure Textuality scale of 5. I enjoyed the lightness of the tone of the book, and, the ease of dialogue. In contrast, I felt that some sections dragged on a little too much, delving me a little more into the world of politics than I care to go when I am reading a book as entertaining as Capitol Hell. A big congrats to the authors for putting their time and effort into this book! It was well worth the read and I thank you for the hours of laughter it provided!
CAPITOL HELL
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I think this is on my kindle….I’ll have to check! Sounds cute.
Was worth the read. Highly entertaining and makes me cringe to think how much reality might be in these pages about what we do not see behind the scenes of government! Enjoy!