Description

After nearly two decades in the PR business, Phil Elwood wants to come clean…

In All the Worst Humans, Phil Elwood reveals the secrets and slippery tricks of the $129 billion industry that controls what we see and hear in the media. Masterfully crafting chaos for politicians, despots and spies, he helps Qatar win the World Cup bid, lands Asma al-Assad a Vogue feature the week the Arab Spring breaks out, and even ends up on a four-day Las Vegas bender with a dictator’s son.

But, as the job takes its toll and Phil begins to question what exactly he has gotten himself into, a shocking wake-up call from the FBI might just cost him his freedom, and his life…

‘Hilarious and harrowing, and hard to put down’ Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking

‘Might be a career-destroying book… highly enjoyable’ Daily Telegraph

‘A spin doctor to the rich and corrupt spills his secrets… starts with the crack of a Jack Reacher thriller’ The New York Times

Publisher Review

[A] romping memoir of a career spent manipulating the media on behalf of the bad guys… Perhaps it’s just a mark of how good he is at spin, but by the end I came round to rather liking the guy. * Guardian * Journalists often wonder what spinmasters are doing to influence them. The reality Phil Elwood reveals is worse-and more interesting-than we usually imagine. All the Worst Humans is an exhilarating ride through the underbelly of global power structures. — Ben Smith, author of Traffic and editor in chief of Semafor Hilarious and harrowing, and hard to put down. Indeed, I didn’t put it down. — Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking With All the Worst Humans, he spills the secrets, surpassing the tired genre of Washington tell-all with a gripping, nonfiction bildungsroman… Ultimately, All the Worst Humans is a redemption story about becoming a better human, a story Elwood tells with vulnerability, heart, and brutal honesty. — James Kirchick, New York Times bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington Exciting and full of bluster, this thrilling tale is hard to look away from… A rowdy, dirty-pleasure story of how it feels to cater to unsavory people for money and excitement. * Kirkus * I have raced through this book and been gripped by every page… it is absolutely exactly what I wanted to read. * Sophie Heawood * This memoir by a former public relations operative for the wealthy and the corrupt is greasy fun – stocked with scoundrels, cocktails and guns, and showing off the charm and quick wit that catapulted Elwood to the top of the sleazy, amoral world of high-end spin. * New York Times *