The Big Break

The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind

By: Ben Terris

Narrated by: Tim Andrés Pabon

In this fascinating investigation into the real life inner workings of a post-Trump American government, uncover the odd and eccentric personalities grappling for their own bit of power in D.C.

The Big Break investigates how Washington works, and how different kinds of people try to make it work for them. Ben Terris presents an inside history of this crucial moment in Washington, reporting from exclusive parties, poker nights, fundraisers, secluded farms outside town and the halls of Congress; among the oddballs and opportunists and true believers. This book is about the people who see this moment as an opportunity to bet big—on their country or maybe just on themselves. It will take a close look at Washington’s bold-faced names as they try to get their bearings on the post-Trump (and possibly pre-Trump) landscape. And it will introduce readers to the behind-the-scenes players — MAGA pilgrims and Resistance flamekeepers and shapeshifting veterans — who believe they know what Washington, and America, must do if they’re going to survive, or even thrive.

Trump’s arrival in Washington represented a big break in how the city operated. He surrounded himself with outsiders; power structures reorganized around those who knew him or his family and those who could flatter and influence his base. He changed the way the game was played, only it wasn’t actually a game at all. When pro-Trump elements both inside and outside of government plotted to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, the Capitol became a combat zone, then a military fortress.

It was, to put it lightly, a destabilizing time. But how much did the Trump years really change Washington? Has Joe Biden’s presidency heralded a return to normal, as many had hoped? What did ‘normal’ mean before Trump, and what do people think it means now?

The Big Break will follow a cast of D.C. characters in search of answers to these questions. They are a diverse crew—a pollster with a gambling habit, an oil heiress with a big heart, a cowboy lobbyist, a Republican kingmaker who decided to love Trump and his right-hand man who decided he couldn’t any longer. They all share at least one thing in common: They had seen their country go through a Big Break, and they’d come to get theirs.

©2023 Ben Terris (P)2023 Twelve

Critic reviews

"Many books promise to reveal 'how Washington really works.' THE BIG BREAK actually does—by zooming in not on the principals—the politicians and talking heads—but instead on the worker bees: the staffers who make our capital work each day, a hard to decipher mix of craven opportunists and the true believers who are sometimes one in the same. What happened next can only be understood through the eyes of Ben Terris, one of the most principled and perceptive reporters in Washington, who masterfully guides us through the destabilizing decade that followed the first black presidency."—Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and author of American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress

Devoured this book!

Usually when I buy political books, I start with enthusiasm, but rarely finish them. They just get too heavy. This book, on the contrary, gets into the minds of a lot of political insiders; and those minds are full of strange complexities. A fascinating read.

Hm. People in politics can be interesting

This is about the people around the Big Wig politicians. They their spot for awhile and then change. Thank goodness

Sad But (Is It?) True

Having worked for the Federal Government in the last century and early part of this, I will say there were more good guys or at least those who tried. Trump and times clearly appear to have brought out the worse in people. How sad.

Good dive into modern DC pool of insanity

All the characters are sick. Meaning, they all have degrees and forms of mental illness. The author is great at forming their stories and showing just how wild these modern times are. Good listen if you like a bleak look at the human condition

Washington DC insight

This was a very educational read for someone who had and continues to have no real interest in politics. Or in Washington DC, other than making sure there our country stays afloat. So I DO study and vote.

Performance was the best part...

I downloaded this book because I had seen Ben on a cable show and it sounded like it would be worth an Audible credit. It was a pretty good book, but the best part was Tim's narration. Tim made it seem like you were in the room with him. There were things in the book that were "new news" and unfortunately totally believable given the state of our politics today. Of course, this gives me really awful heartburn and a feeling of dread for the future.

A sad expose

I guess the crews that play the game and get paid very well had to be this way. Opportunists who scheme and dream. Highlight of book was a player who fell from face and said: Before this happened, I thought they liked me.”

Very enjoyable

I had not listened to a story quite like this. I’d heard Ben on a podcast and then found my way to the book. His writing (together w the excellent narration) brought these characters to life - many unsavory ones I wouldn’t normally follow. It shines a light inside Washington and how things get done. I was rapt from beginning to end. Well done.

Washington is a weird world

Interesting character studies of those behind the scenes of our politics and government. Not exactly encouraging, but at least Ben leaves us at the end with the youngest member of Congress and the perhaps vain hope that he's the beginning of a different way of doing things in DC.

Fascinating, sometimes disgusting- like Washington

Brisk, fascinating character studies of those who make up the DC sideshow. Horrifying, and great.