A Man You Could Love
by By Callahan, John
Category: Fiction , Political

It's the day after the disputed 2000 presidential election, and political strategist Gabe Bontempo is feeling that familiar itch. From a semiretired state in the forests of the Northwest, he begins to look back on a lifetime of politics and his generation's hastened coming of age.This novel follows the lives of Bontempo and his friend Mick Whelan, a young idealist from Oregon. They first meet at the March on Washington in 1963, then continue to cross paths on the presidential campaign trail - Whelan stumping for Eugene McCarthy, Bontempo for Robert Kennedy.Whelan is a "half brooder, half wild man" with visions of a better America. Bontempo grows to love him like a brother, and when Whelan launches an underdog bid for Congress, their fates become intertwined. Together they weather decades of political upheaval, from the civil rights and Vietnam era into the 1990s, while facing personal crises of their own.Offering a fresh look at the ins and outs of Washington politics, the thrills and surprises of the campaign trail, and the ongoing complexities of war, A Man You Could Love is also a tribute to friendship and families - the ones you are born into and those you find along the way.