The Dream Team

New York: Random House, 1972. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. Richard Smith (Jacket illustration). [10], 213, [1] pages. Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads To Larry--Many thanks for your excessive praise--must say meeting you was the highlight of my year--Joe. Front board had some weakness and was restrengthened with glue. Joseph Ralph McGinniss Sr. (December 9, 1942 - March 10, 2014) was an American non-fiction writer and novelist. The author of twelve books, he first came to prominence with the best-selling The Selling of the President 1968 which described the marketing of then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon. He is popularly known for his trilogy of bestselling true crime books—Fatal Vision, Blind Faith and Cruel Doubt—which were adapted into TV miniseries in the 1980s and 90s. His last book was The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, an account of Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska who was the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee. McGinniss's first book, The Selling of the President 1968, landed on The New York Times Best Seller list when he was 26 years old, making him the youngest living writer with that achievement. The book was on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller list for 31 weeks from October 1969 to May 1970. The book described the marketing of Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential campaign. Derived from a Kirkus review: Mr. McGinniss has written about a nameless writer who, along with a casually annexed young girl, Jennifer, and a friend, Blaine, has been playing the horses for 25 years with a System and a blind assumption that he can win. They go to Hialeah. True about half the whipped excitement here is off the track and in the motel where Jennifer, just as screwy as she is screwable, plays all kinds of games. Actually she wants to be taken very seriously although it is indeed difficult. But then there's the daily outing with the nags and before the sixth day is over, our man is down 2000 dollars. Jennifer leaves; Blaine quits; and the narrator. . . well, that's the seventh day. Easily entertaining and those horse race sequences really hug the rail.