Reille Hunter is Alison Poole, John Edwards is Patrick Bateman

The John Edwards adultery scandal is actually turning out to be a good deal more bizarre (perhaps the correct term would actually be "wacky") than your typical unfaithful politician scandal.  Of course, some of this is because Edwards himself has never really come across like an actual human being.  Instead, he's always come across as some CGI version of a stereotypical slick politician.  Since Edwards himself rarely seems to actually exist, it adds a hint of unreality to everything involving him.

But, even if John Edwards did actually seem to be an actual living individual, this whole thing would still be strange.  It's just the details of it all.  Say what you will about Gary Hart, the fact of the matter is that Hart never hid in a bathroom when confronted by reporters.  As well, as far as we know, none of Hart's aides later claimed to have fathered a baby with Donna Rice.  And, of course, Hart's campaign finance manager never claimed to have secretly sent Rice cash out of the pure goodness of his soul (and without Hart's knowledge, as well).

And now, just when things couldn't seem any stranger, we discover that John Edwards was apparently cheating with Alison Poole.

"What!?" we all say with a collective gasp, "You mean John Edwards was cheating on Reille Hunter!?"

No, Reille Hunter is Alison Poole.

And who is Alison Poole?  She is the "heroine" and narrator of Jay McInerney's novel Story of My Life.  Published in the late 80s, Story of My Life was McInerney's follow-up to Bright Lights, Big City.  Like Bright Lights, Story of My Life was a book about sex, cocaine, money, and young adulthood in New York City.  Over the course of the novel, Poole does a lot of a drugs, has a lot of sex, and essentially comes across as a spoiled, brain-dead brat.  Her favorite expression is -- have you guessed? -- "story of my life."  Such as, "Story of my life, giving head in a limo."

Now, I should probably add that Story of My Life isn't really a bad book as much as its just terrifically dated in much the same way that John Travolta in a white disco suit is dated.  It's clearly a novel written in and about the 1980s and it's also a book that was obviously written by a very young author who was facing the task of following up his first hit.  McInerney, himself, remains an underrated author and, in Story of My Life, he does definitely manage to capture the voice and personality of Alison Poole.

Which, unfortunately, doesn't necessarily make that voice and personality any more appealing.

If John Edwards wants to save whatever slim chance of a comeback that he may have, his first move should probably be to buy up every copy of Story of My Life that's out there and burn every single one.  Even if voters could forgive him for cheating on his terminally ill wife, it's doubtful that they would be able to forgive him for cheating on his terminally ill wife with someone as vacuous as Alison Poole...

Interestingly enough, Alison Poole has gone on to become a reoccurring character in the novels of Bret Easton Ellis.  Most notoriously, she was abused by "serial killer" Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.  Or, perhaps, Bateman only claimed to have abused her.  Or perhaps Bateman truly believes that he abused her but actually he didn't.  It's open to interpretation.

Actually, if Reille Hunter is Alison Poole than one could make a good argument that John Edwards, with his perfect suits and expensive haircuts and blandly rehearsed manner, is the Patrick Bateman of American Politics.