By Ray Saadi – Book Editor

THIS TOWN By Mark Leibovich, Blue Rider Press, $27.95  

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This book is about a funeral in Washington, DC. Not just any funeral but one commemorating the life and career of the most beloved broadcaster on TV, Tim Russert, longtime Moderator of Meet the Press. Leibovich, chief national correspondent for the New York Times, uses that event as a springboard for his incisive and funny look at the people who made this funeral the “social event of the year.”

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TIP AND THE GIPPER By Chris Matthews, Simon & Schuster, $29.95

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The usual acerbic TV pundit, Matthews, settles down a bit to remind those of us who were there, and inform those who weren’t, that the bitter rancor being displayed between our two congressional parties wasn’t always like that. That was a time when, as he says, “Politics worked.” When Ronald Reagan was President and Tip O’Neil Speaker of the House, the two leaders fought tooth and nail for their positions but never let that interfere with their friendship. It’s a wonderful look at what our government could be again, maybe.