Books: Back to the Lode

A SHADE OF DIFFERENCE (603 pp.)—Allen Drury—Doubleday ($6.95).

Allen Drury did two things when he began to make his fortune with Advise and Consent, a fascinating first novel about a fight in the U.S. Senate to reject the President's nominee for Secretary of State. First, he quit the New York Times. Second, knowing a mother lode when he struck one, he began a sequel to the book that has sold 2,350,000 copies in hard covers and paperbacks and been made into a play and a movie. In bulk, A Shade of Difference nearly matches Advise and Consent: 603 pp. v. 616. But...