The 500 (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

• Michael Ford: Add a description of this character.
• Eric Walker
• Lawrence Clark
• Natasha
• Tina
• Breckinridge Cassidy
• Ray Gould
• Michael Roebling
• Henry Davies
• Miss Annie Clark: senior associate at Davies Group.
• Aleksandar Šrebov
• Jack
• William Marcus
• Jen
• Margaret
• Erik Rivera
• Rado Dragović
• Hal Pearson
• Lawrence Catena
• Miroslav Guzina
• Kendra
• Luis
• Karl Langford
• Daniel Lucas
• Charles
• Gerald
• Carolyn Green
• Malcolm Haskins
• Accurso
• George Cartwright
• Robert Ford
• Nixon
• Irin Dragović
• Ramón
• James Perry
• G. Gordon Liddy
• Squeak

Quotes edit see section history

• “These outfits are run by Washington heavies -- ex-House Speakers, ex-secretaries of state, ex-national security advisers -- and they exert a far more powerful and lucrative influence through the Beltway's back channels. They're not registered as lobbyists. They don't do volume. They don't advertise. They have relationships.”

• “Everyone measures his life by cells on a spreadsheet: hours billed. You have to hit your numbers. From day one, you're on the hamster wheel.”

• “You'd scrounge for any little project at first, and typically they'd have you do research on a mark -- sorry, that's the old Mike's lingo -- on a "decision-maker" the firm wanted to influence.”

• “In the government affairs business, when you're needling some politician or bureaucrat to give you what your client wants, there comes a moment called the ask. No matter how byzantine the issue, it ultimately comes down to one question: Will he give you what you need? Yes or no.”

• “You can't know the why until you know the who. These things always turn on one man.”

  William Marcus

• “It's a variation of a technique we call grass topping. You slowly, subtly lobby everyone close to the decision-maker -- wife, chief fund-raisers, grown kids even -- until he comes around.”

  William Marcus

• “That's where we make it look like we have broad bottom-up support -- from the grass roots -- but we're faking it. You don't need to waste time with the roots when the legislator can see only the tops.”

  William Marcus

• “Here at Davies, instead of casing, we "assessed" our subjects. The hook became "development," the roper and the shill became "access agents," the take became the "ask," and cooling the mark and the blow-off became "termination."”

• “I must say, the lingo sucked. Instead of the Jamaican switch, the rag, and the old pig in a poke, we had the "501(c)(3)s," "PACs," and "affiliated committees."”

• “If there was one thing to learn about human-asset recruitment -- the jargon Marcus occasionally let drop for what we were doing -- it was this: MICE. That stands for money, ideology, compromise/coercion, and ego. For our purposes, those were the only reasons anyone did anything.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Washington
• Colombia
• Paris
• Virginia
• Georgetown
• Davies Group
• New York
• Kalorama
• Irin

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Matthew Quirk (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers
• Books › Literature & Fiction

More Books Like This edit see section history