Brooklyn Bookbeat: Red Hook writer’s ‘The Petraeus Files’ spoofs recent scandal
This past November, Gen. David Petraeus resigned from his position as director of the CIA when his affair with Paula Broadwell, his biographer, was discovered and became the center of extensive media attention. ABC News reported that the FBI was able to uncover hundreds – if not thousands – of emails that had been exchanged between Petraeus and Broadwell, many of which contained inappropriate and scandalous remarks.
While the government has obstructed public view of the emails, Red Hook resident and comedian Ted Travelstead was determined to share some salacious exchanges – and through his new book he’s done just that. In “The Petraeus Files: All the Photos, Charts, Poems, and Other Super-Secret Emails They Don’t Want You to See,” Travelstead has compiled a slew of never-before-seen documents, including emails and photos, that promise to shock readers.
Of course, his book is a spoof, but Travelstead went to great lengths to create a chain of correspondence that appears real in format, even including the side and top navigation bars that appear in one’s online mailbox.