A Woman First: First Woman is one of those books that’s written “by” a fictional character, in character. I read the audiobook and this was especially true, with the character voicing humorous asides to her henpecked bagman, Gary, throughout, and verbally abusing him when she’s not just rolling over him. The characters in question are from Veep, an absolutely hilarious political satire starring the worst people you’ve ever seen vying for influence and power in Washington DC while continually fumbling easy marks and being so incompetent as to almost be intentionally sabotaging themselves and their boss, Selina Meyer the vice president. Ex-DC insiders who’ve seen the show say it is the most accurate behind the scenes of American politics ever put to film.
The book continues the hilarity of the show, in particular the insults. The insults in Veep are like a work of art unto themselves. It’s not just one of those things where someone thinks bundling a bunch of gross words together makes for an insult; each one cuts to the absolute quick, obliterating the targets of each insult and leaving you, the reader, absolutely busting with laughter (or shocked at the foulness). The difference is that in the book, Selina is left mostly to her own devices, and is suitably in character to deviate from the script in order to tell gnarly insider gossip about herself, her staffers, and even her constituents, all of it hilarious.
I’m really hamstrung here because I can’t say any more without spoiling the show or the book. If you like thoroughly adult humor, follow American politics with your head in your hands, and love the creative abuse of the English language, twisting it into vile combinations of aggressive vitriol you’re almost surprised can exist, then Veep is for you, with this book being a satisfying chaser.