From the California recall circus, in which Gary Coleman, Larry Flynt, and Arianna Huffington vied with over 100 other candidates to replace a supposedly inept governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger emerged triumphant.

How did a onetime bodybuilding champion and gay pinup, with no political experience and a string of mediocre action movies to his name, come to take over the world's fifth-largest economy? This witty and biting travelogue through the intersection of celebrity culture with American political life lays bare the dark implications of Schwarzenegger's rise to power in the Golden State.