Viewing the Wake from a Comfortable Chair: The American Life and Death of Digital Whitman A novel by Eric Riley Moore A satirical view of American culture through the story of a President's millionaire brother waiting on death row. Anticipated target audience: College-educated readers 25 to 45 years old. Plot summary: Viewing the Wake tells an irreverent, hyperbolic tale of the fate of one man in the not-so-distant future. In this world, a former rap star has become Governor, the preserved brain of Clarence Thomas makes Supreme Court decisions, and a holographic Mickey Mouse delivers the nightly news on ABC/Disney. Our hero is Delbert "Digital" Whitman, whose father became a billionaire software magnate by bringing the game "Pong" to the world. We first see Delbert's childhood as he vies for his father's approval against his bullying brother Delwood ("Woody"). Delbert manages to make a friend of another outcast at school, Jermaine, until one night a fight gets out of hand, and Jermaine is left for dead. As an adult, "Digital" inherits his father's company and becomes a millionaire while his brother Woody campaigns for President of the United States. Digital is happily (though secretly) involved with his smart, beautiful assistant Rosalie, and all seems well in his world. But then Digital becomes convinced that Governor MC Cold Cube is really his long-lost friend Jermaine, and sets out to expose him. A darkly comic series of events leads Digital to life in prison, and eventually death row. Will his brother, now the President, or his former friend, the Governer, rescue him from the electric chair? Or will 3-year-old Timmy, the youngest person ever sentenced for termination, receive a reprieve instead? Style: Viewing the Wake is a comic novel in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen, Kurt Vonnegut, Ishmael Reed, and George Saunders. Cutting back and forth between flashbacks of a coming-of-age story in Pennsylvania in the 1980s, with a first-person narrative and newspaper stories and TV reports of a future Bill Gates-inspired America, the novel makes a fast-paced, exciting read. With a vision as dark and cynical as David Foster Wallace, but with a hilarious, accessible plot, Viewing the Wake is sure to appeal to a wide literary audience. To name only some of the elements of American culture satirized in this novel: the justice system, animal rights, family dynasties, corporate culture, media monopolies, relations between the sexes, punk music, the death penalty, Christianity, race relations, and modern technology. The author is very publicity-inclined and can use his comedy performances and connections in New England to effectively promote the book. Author contact information: Email: emoore2020@yahoo.com