The Fall - by Michael Wolff

Book Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
--Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

"Michael Wolff's books were my foundation and port of entry for working on Succession."
--Jeremy Strong ("Kendall Roy")

Meet the Murdochs and the disastrously dysfunctional family of Fox News. Until recently, they formed the most powerful media and political force in the land, for better or worse. Now their empire is cracking up and crashing down.

For almost three decades, Fox News has not only made political careers (see: President Donald J. Trump) but also fundamentally altered the political landscape of the United States. It is a truism: as Fox goes, so goes the nation--into further divisiveness and awash in fake news, a gleefully polarizing company. But just as Fox has pushed America apart, now it too is coming apart. As is the family dynasty behind it.

In his irresistible trilogy on the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump--Fire and Fury, Siege, and Landslide--the gadfly journalist Michael Wolff led readers deep into the twisted corridors of the White House. Now, drawing on years of unprecedented access to the Murdoch family and key players in the world of Fox, he plunges us behind the scenes of another empire of influence, and the result is astonishing and unforgettable.

Here is Rupert Murdoch, the ninety-two-year-old Australian billionaire--a fading titan, concerned about his legacy but more concerned about profits. Here are his contentious progeny, jockeying to take over when the old man is gone. Here is star anchor Tucker Carlson, hiding out in his island homes, considering a run for the presidency while his bosses have other plans for him. Sean Hannity, the richest man in television, has his own plans: to put the former POTUS back in office, against the bosses' wishes. Meanwhile, Laura Ingraham is just trying to survive in the last man's man's world.

Empires fall. Kingdoms come to an end. As lawsuits pummel the financial bedrock and reputation of the network, anchors scramble, and the battling Murdoch heirs make the Roys of TV's Succession seem downright Brady Bunch, Michael Wolff documents, in riveting and revelatory real time, the final days of Fox News.

Review Quotes

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

PRAISE FOR THE FALL

"Riveting. . . . A dishy look at the decline of Fox News. Wolff offers his typically no-holds-barred look at the powerful personalities at the top of the network. . . . He harbors no qualms about consorting with some of America's worst people -- nor about burning them blithely in service of his narrative. . . . Fox's marquee talents are not spared Wolff's gimlet eye. . . . He offers countless lacerating portraits."
--The Washington Post

"Amusingly vicious and very well-timed. . . . In Wolff's telling, Murdoch is a sort of hapless Frankenstein, abominating the monster he set loose on the world but unsure how to fight him."
--Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times

"Wolff, author of a spate of books skewering the dysfunctional Trump presidency, returns to his investigation of the Murdochs with a fast-paced, gossip-filled recounting of family drama--rivaling Succession in intrigue and bitter strife--and the travails and scandals that have roiled Fox News. . . . Wolff is merciless."
--Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR MICHAEL WOLFF'S PREVIOUS WORKS

Landslide

"Landslide. . . is the one to leap upon. . . . Landslide is a smart, vivid and intrepid book. He has great instincts. I read it in two or three sittings. It's the book that this era and this subject probably deserve."
--Dwight Garner, The New York Times

"Cruel, unforgiving, muckraking, scandalous. I couldn't stop reading it."
--The Telegraph

Siege

"Michael Wolff is back and not with a whimper. The latest installment of his Trump chronicles picks up where Fire and Fury ended. Once again, it leaves the president bruised and readers shaking their heads. . . . Wolff's tale is credible enough to be taken seriously and salacious enough to entertain."
--The Guardian

Fire and Fury

"Wolff's lasting achievement here is not his headline-grabbing revelations but the skillful, enthralling, and utterly terrifying way he depicts the unqualified, unprepared, and downright unusual characters to be found wandering the halls of the White House."
--Entertainment Weekly

"[Wolff] is a wicked stylist and keen observer, with a justly earned reputation for approaching his subjects with fangs bared and talons sharpened."
--The Weekly Standard

"An undeniably juicy chronicle of a presidential administration that in just one year has been beset by numerous scandals and crises. . . . [Wolff] gives the reader a you-are-there sense of events without resorting to an unneeded dramatic writing style."
--The San Francisco Chronicle