John Dean’s “Unmasking Deep Throat” Published
Caveat lector!
On May 7 I made mention of an ‘e-book’ (i.e., PDF file) by John Dean to be released today by Salon. The 158-page file costs $8 ($5.95 for Salon Premium subscribers) which, considering that it fails to deliver in the most crucial way, may or may not seem reasonable to you. The original article in Salon said:
Now, on the 30th anniversary of the June 17, 1972, Watergate break-in, John Dean and Salon.com will unmask the real Deep Throat.
Did we really think that was going to happen? Hmm… maybe. Anyway, it hasn’t. What we get is a shortlist of four men who, based on Dean’s sleuthing, are the most likeliest candidates (and no, even after being duped out of my six bucks I’m not going to repeat that list here; it will undoubtedly be available elsewhere in a matter of hours).
To be fair to Salon – fairer than they’ve been to their readers I’d say – they did publish a Q&A article with Dean by Scott Rosenberg in which Rosenberg’s final question is “Are you disappointed that you have not named one person as Deep Throat, but instead identified a very small group who could be Throat?” but this seems a less than full-hearted attempt to rectify their earlier hyperbole.
Disappointment aside, the ‘book’ does seem like a worthwhile read (I’ve only given it a quick skim) although ultimately of course we are not much closer to knowing the identity of “history’s most elusive news source.”
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Posted to Books • 2002.06.17 (Mon) • 14:17
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