INSIDE CONGRESS: The Shocking Scandals, Corruption, and Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill

If the National Enquirer covered Congress, the result would be something like this. There's a lot here about the petty perks of power: the arrests of powerful members of Congress (and their sometimes even more powerful staffers) that somehow go away; members' use of the Capitol Police as personal chauffeurs; the fixing of members' parking tickets and the squandering of public funds on their custom-made office furniture and other interior decorations. The book also takes a look at the corruption of the current political fund-raising system and as an antidote, supports public campaign finance. But most of all, there's the drumbeat of congressional sex: furtive couplings with staffers and teenaged pages in congressional offices and "hideaways," in parked cars with streetwalkers in broad daylight, even on the steps of the Capitol itself. What makes this book more than just a cynic's delight is that Kessler is a thorough investigative reporter, an alum of both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. So don't be surprised if the stories he breaks here have further impact--after all, Kessler's book on the FBI brought down the Bureau's then director.