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Live, From Politics & Prose…It’s Saturday Night
Not surprisingly, this week’s Saturday Night Live started out with a sketch involving the David Petraeus sex scandal. But it also marked a breakout moment for D.C.’s very own Politics & Prose bookstore, where the skit was set.
The cold open brought in “Paula Broadwell,” played by Cecily Strong, to read portions of her Petraeus biography All In, on C-SPAN’s BookTV. However, the All In on SNL reads a bit more like Fifty Shades of Grey. What’s remarkable about the sketch is how closely it resembles Broadwell’s actual appearance at Politics & Prose last February, down to what she wore — a color-blocked pink-and-orange top and khaki skirt.
The excerpts–to the horror of the genteel bookstore patrons–turn out to be steamy, soft-core sex scenes. (“Pull my hair, General, pull it hard, and spank me.”)
Where’d they get the inspiration? Well, Broadwell actually did a reading at P&P in February, accompanied by her co-author and our colleague Vernon Loeb, which was broadcast on C-SPAN, and it seems the SNL folks neatly mimicked many of the details. The store seemed to welcome the exposure. “Wow, Wow, WOW!!” wrote whoever was manning P&P’s Twitter account late Saturday. “So books and pop culture can converge!”
(from the Washington Post and DCist)
