Ghostwriter in a Hurry

Let’s start with the acknowledgments, usually the best place to begin in a political memoir. Here the author admits that he is less composer and more collaborator. Although his name appears on the cover and the story is his own, the real work of compilation is done by a shadow army of ghostwriters, developmental editors, line editors, copy editors, and fact checkers. No one feels any compunction about this arrangement. It is just the way the business works. The writers and editors offer their services, the author accepts, and everyone who participated in the project gets half a line of thanks. Most people know you can’t judge a book by its cover. Only those in publishing understand that you must consult the acknowledgements.