American Notes Bureaucrats

A bureaucratic battle over missile throw-weights would not seem to be the stuff of which best sellers are made. But when the author is Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle, the Administration's outspoken hawk, some publishers are willing to take a chance. Perle wants to write a novel about his arms-control struggles with the more dovish former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Burt, now the U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Perle has circulated a five-page outline for his first work of fiction, and bidding for the book has reportedly passed $300,000.

The book auction also got a rise out of Georgia's Sam Nunn, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Ethics laws ban federal officials from using their office for private gain, and Nunn complained that Perle's proposal was a convenient fiction designed to cash in on his Government experience. Perle replied that he does not intend to begin writing or accept the money until he leaves office.