A Novelist In Charge

"Stack Of Books, Ballard, Seattle, Washington" by Wonderlane.

Pandora is batting a perfect 1.000 for Seattlest HQ this morning with Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" as the seeder (does it get better than Outkast, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, the GZA, and Missy Elliott on a Tuesday?). But what really put this morning over the top in terms of all-around greatness was finding this Wall Street Journal article about the writer's life, Obama, and the White House by local author Jonathan Raban, via Slog. An excerpt from Raban's essay:

In politics, "realism" is usually just another term for pragmatism, or Realpolitik. But "Dreams From My Father" suggests that for Obama the word is rooted less in a political than in a literary tradition, where it has a far richer meaning. It signifies the watchful eye and patiently attentive ear; a proper humility in the face of the multiplex character of human society; and, most of all, a belief in the power of the writer's imagination to comprehend and ultimately reconcile the manifold contradictions in his teeming world.

Raban asserts (and we agree) that Abraham Lincoln was by far the best writer to ever grace the presidency--Obama included. The author's strongest point, however, is the corollary between good writing and good leadership. As Inauguration Day nears, we're looking forward to what Seattlest Kim optimistically refers to as the New World Order. What will the country look like after four years with Obama at the helm? What will have changed? What will look, perhaps sadly, all too familiar? And what comfort can we legitimately derive from Obama's engaging books?