Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is a hero for our time

As he will be the first to explain

Q: How do you know if there’s a fighter pilot at your party?

A: He’ll tell you.

That old saw hit me as I waded through Dr. Anthony S. Fauci’s 464-page autobiography, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service.”

Though auto-hagiography is a more accurate description.

For decades, Fauci was one of Washington’s most powerful bureaucrats. In 2011, the New York Times called him the “J. Edgar Hoover of biology.” Covid made him a household name and lightning rod worldwide. Now he has given the public an inside look at his unique career.

In theory, anyway.

In reality, readers looking for serious self-reflection in “On Call” will be disappointed. Fauci’s tome feels like nothing so much as a book-length cover letter from a job candidate who is very pleased with himself.

His triumphs begin early, in the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish grade school, where “I was the top student in the class.” The nuns didn’t want him to leave!

Yes, that’s right: Fauci, who is 83, includes his elementary school grade average in his biography. It was 98.8, if you must know.

(For more tales of Tony’s incredible narcissism, subscribe - or wait a week. Hey, I had to read it, I spared you the pain! That’s gotta be worth 20 cents a day…)