A bridge-burning, riotous memoir by a top PR operative in Washington who exposes the secrets of the $129-billion industry that controls so much of what we see and hear in the media - from a man who used to pull the strings, and who is now pulling back the curtain.
'Hilarious and harrowing, and hard to put down.' - Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for SmokingThe man who used to pull the strings of the global media is now pulling back the curtain: a bridge-burning, riotous memoir by a top PR operative who exposes the secrets of the $129-billion industry that controls so much of what we see and hear in the media.After nearly two decades in the PR business, Phil Elwood wants to come clean, by exposing the dark underbelly of the very industry that's made him so successful. The first step is revealing exactly what he's been up to for the past twenty years - and it isn't pretty.From helping win the Qatar World Cup bid, to a four-day Las Vegas bacchanal with a dictator's son, and helping to land a Middle Eastern dictator's wife a glowing profile in Vogue at the same time the Arab Spring broke out, Elwood reveals all his slippery tricks for seducing journalists in order to create chaos and cover for politicians, dictators and spies.But as Phil moved up the ranks, he felt worse and worse about the sleaziness of it all - and his role in it - until he received a shocking wake-up call from the FBI. This risky game nearly cost Phil his life and his freedom. Seeing the light, he has decided to tell the full truth about who is the worst human._____'A redemption story about becoming a better human, a story Elwood tells with vulnerability, heart, and brutal honesty.' James Kirchick, New York Times bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington'An exhilarating ride through the underbelly of global power structures.' Ben Smith, author of Traffic and editor in chief of Semafor'I raced through this book and was gripped by every page.'' Sophie Heawood