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  • Published: 2 November 2015
  • ISBN: 9780345805560
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $36.00

Dewey Defeats Truman




A masterful retelling of a legend and famous headline of modern American history--Harry Truman's upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election.

A masterful retelling of a legend and famous headline of modern American history—Harry Truman’s upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election.

Set in Dewey’s hometown of Owosso, Michigan, this is the captivating story of a local love triangle that mirrors the national election contest. As the voters must decide between the candidates, so must Anne Macmurray choose between two suitors: an ardent United Auto Workers organizer and his polar opposite, a wealthy young Republican lawyer who’s running for the state senate. Weaving a tapestry of small-town secrets, the people of Owosso ready themselves for the fame that is bound to shower down upon them after Dewey’s “sure thing” victory. But as the novel—and history—move toward election night, we watch the townspeople, along with Anne and her suitors, have their fates rearranged in a climax filled with suspense, chagrin and unexpected joy.

  • Published: 2 November 2015
  • ISBN: 9780345805560
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $36.00

About the author

Thomas Mallon

THOMAS MALLON is the author of eleven novels, including Henry and Clara, Dewey Defeats Truman, Fellow Travelers, Watergate, and Landfall. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and other publications. In 2011 he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award for prose style. He has been the literary editor of GQ and the deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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Praise for Dewey Defeats Truman

  • COVER QUOTE: "A warm, touching, and richly textured novel; a classic American movie filmed in glorious prose deluxe." --Entertainment Weekly
  • "A lovely meditation.... Effortlessly summons the feel of a bygone era." --The New York Times Book Review
  • "Charming...Mallon is a master of detail about a place and a time." --Chicago Tribune
  • "A beautifully written and absorbing novel, with richly drawn characters and a wealth of bubbling plots." --Detroit Free Press