Possible Felt Tell-All Has the Book World Buzzing

If W. Mark Felt, who outed himself this week as the almost mythic “Deep Throat” of Watergate, writes a book as has been speculated, few believe it would ultimately be of great historic value. Other than the mystery that has long surrounded the identity of the Washington Post’s informant, there is little else that isn’t already known about the scandal that toppled the Nixon presidency, some academics said.

Luckily for Felt, a 91-year-old former FBI official, and his family, book sales aren’t usually tied to historical significance but to pop culture -- and by those standards, he could be headed for the bestseller list.

Speculation about a tell-all book by Felt has been rampant this week after a Vanity Fair article unmasked him and suggested that a book was being considered.

The Felt family, which lives in Northern California, has reportedly been fielding book offers since the magazine piece became public this week.

“Off the top of my head, I’d say he could get a million-dollar advance,” said Morgan Entrekin, president of the Grove/Atlantic publishing house in New York. “You’re not getting Amber Frey’s account of why her boyfriend was a murderer here, you’re getting a book that people would read for years to come.”

The book deal rumors prompted the industry magazine Publishers Weekly to note on its website that no deal had been announced and that Felt was a published author. But don’t look for Felt’s “The FBI Pyramid from the Inside” on any bestseller lists. Released in the late 1970s, the book didn’t sell well. It is out of print.

A concern about a new book by Felt would be its accuracy. The No. 2 at the FBI during a portion of the Nixon years had a mild stroke four years ago and the Vanity Fair article characterized his memory as one that comes and goes. Under those circumstances, and without precise diaries or personal journals, which may yet materialize, any book would be at best a rehash and at worst, unreliable, historians warn.

Not surprisingly, the nation’s journalism circles have been abuzz over the disclosure, that effectively ends one of the profession’s favorite parlor games, guessing Deep Throat’s identity. But academics doubt that, even if Felt has the energy for a book, it would be of any real import. The tale would give new meaning to inside baseball, they say.

“It’s just not that big of a deal,” said Mark Feldstein, director of the journalism program at George Washington University in Washington. “Other than ruining one of the last best-kept secrets in Washington -- that we know of.”

Other historians question whether the once closely guarded information is even true. Jon Wiener is one of a group of historians who contend Deep Throat is more likely a composite character, drawn from the hundreds of Watergate sources worked by then-Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Wiener suggested the Deep Throat character was invented to enhance the dramatic effect of what might have otherwise been a dry bureaucratic tale.

“Felt was probably a source, maybe an important one,” said Wiener, a professor of history at UC Irvine who has studied the Nixon administration and its relationship with the FBI. “But the idea that there was one key omnipotent person who had all the secrets is highly unlikely. But there’s no doubt it’s a fun story.”