So I recently finished reading Exodus. No, not the original, by God, but the remake, by Leon Uris, published in 1958. It's a fun read, pure schlock and propaganda, and terribly written. It's a bit jarring for a person who considers themselves something of a left-wing Meretz type, at least when it comes to Israeli politics. And I know my Middle Eastern history relatively well, having read my share of Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Noam Chomsky, Tony Judt and others. I'd be lying, however, if some of Uris' pro-Israel screeds don't ring with at least some truth. The Arab states have fucked the Palestinians in the ass over and over again, to the point where at the very least, blaming Israel exclusively is kind of stupid.

But back to the case of the book itself, well, my buddy Julian recently mentioned this interesting factoid to me, apparently John McCain mentioned being inspired by Leon Uris' Exodus. Now, Barack Obama also enjoyed the book, as he states in this interview with Jeffrey Goldberg. But in the same interview, Obama also mentions have been moved by David Grossman's The Yellow Wind and by the novels of Philip Roth.

McCain knows only Uris, but Obama knows Uris, Grossman and Roth. In some ways, that's all you need to know about the differences between the two candidates. I'm very happy Obama won.