I love Charles McCarry’s fiction, and I liked Lucky Bastard well enough, though I don’t think it’s his best. (His best is Shelley’s Heart. I haven’t read Old Boys yet.) And although there are a few funny parts, it’s not a laugh-out-loud, knee-slappin’ ha-ha kind of novel. But it is a powerful satire of the Clinton presidency, with a special emphasis on the president, his wife, and their unusual relationship. Welcome to the country of the blind, as they say in the book.