O: A Presidential Novel

{{short description|2011 novel by an anonymous author}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{Infobox book

| name =O: A Presidential Novel

| image =O A Presidential Novel.JPG

| caption =

| author = Anonymous, reported to be Mark Salter{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48287.html|title=McCain adviser pegged as 'O' author|website=Politico |publisher=|accessdate=August 17, 2016}}

| illustrator =

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| genre = Political novel

| publisher = Simon & Schuster

| release_date = January 25, 2011

| media_type = Hardcover and e-book

| pages =353

| isbn =978-1-4516-2596-7

|}}

O: A Presidential Novel is a fiction book by an anonymous author (speculated to be John McCain's 2008 senior campaign advisor, Mark Salter) about the 2012 U.S. presidential race. It was released on January 25, 2011. The marketing strategy for the book has been compared to the 1996 roman à clef, Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, which was also initially ascribed to an anonymous author. Its stated objective is to "offer some resonant truths about what President Obama is really thinking".

As part of its pre-publication publicity, Simon & Schuster sent an e-mail to numerous writers and journalists asking them to decline to comment if they are asked whether they are the anonymous author. The publisher has said that the author "has been in the room with Barack Obama." This prompted speculation on whether the author was a political reporter, an administration insider, or a Democratic Party strategist. The New York Times remarked, however, that "much of what passes for inside knowledge in these pages would be known to anyone who’s read a bunch of campaign accounts".

Shortly after the book was published, Mark Halperin of Time reported that his sources had confirmed the author is McCain aide Mark Salter.{{cite magazine | url=http://thepage.time.com/2011/01/27/o-mark-salter/ | magazine=Time | date=January 27, 2011 | title=The Page by Mark Halperin | access-date=January 28, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129134307/http://thepage.time.com/2011/01/27/o-mark-salter/ | archive-date=January 29, 2011 | url-status=dead }}