Monday, July 2, 2007

Romney's shaggy dog story

Last week, Phoenix media critic Adam Reilly did a spit-take over a particular passage from the Globe's serialized biography of Republican presidential nominee hopeful Mitt Romney. Here it is, with Reilly's emphases added:

As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.

Tom Nealon, of Roslindale's Pazzo Books, wasn't merely amazed by this anecdote (and the Globe's take on it); he was inspired. In the spirit of anarchist art critic Felix Feneon, who in 1906 worked for six months writing the faits-divers column for a Paris morning paper -- New York Review Books will publish Luc Sante's incisive translation of Feneon's 1,220 short-short news items next month -- Nealon's Pazzo Blog offers us the following:

Mitt Romney was not unmoved by his wind-weary Irish Setter's befouling of his rear windshield in 1983. He acted swiftly to cleanse the animal, the glass, and restore order.

Fine stuff.

Posted by Joshua Glenn at 07:59 PM

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