The mystery author of O: A Presidential Novel is former John McCain speechwriter Mark Salter, according to Time magazine’s Mark Halperin.
Halperin writes that Salter’s authorship was “confirmed by sources.” In addition, Halperin notes that the books publisher, Simon and Schuster chief Jonathan Karp, was the editor of the books Salter co-authored with Senator McCain. Halperin also says Karp’s descriptions of the anonymous author are a match for Salter, that Salter has been keeping a low profile in Maine since leaving McCain’s office, and that “there is a story early in the book based on a real-life tale that would have been known only to a McCain campaign insider such as Salter.”
Although Salter declined to comment for Time, Halperin says that his “non-denial denial was the closest to a confession of any suspect who was publicly asked.”
The book, released on Tuesday to mixed reviews, was “written by an anonymous author who has spent years observing politics and the fraught relationship between public image and self-regard” according to Simon and Schuster’s website.