augustmcwake's review
4.0
Harry Reid's unusual upbringing—deep poverty in a small mining town in the Nevada desert—and his interactions with a cast a characters that could make up TVs most fascinating variety show animate this otherwise humdrum political memoir.
Highlights include a worldwide search for Howard Hughes, an afternoon spent with Muhammed Ali, grisly murder cases, and countless death threats from the mob. The lowlight was a cringeworthy chapter in which Reid blasts Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Bush White House's attempt to invoke "the nuclear option" and do away with the 60 vote threshold required for judicial appointments. If successful, Reid contends, the institution of the Senate would be gone forever. Well, Reid ended up invoking the exact same "nuclear option" years later after Republican obstruction of Obama's judicial appointments. Nevertheless Reid comes off as a decent man with a rugged optimism and indomitable belief in American greatness.
Highlights include a worldwide search for Howard Hughes, an afternoon spent with Muhammed Ali, grisly murder cases, and countless death threats from the mob. The lowlight was a cringeworthy chapter in which Reid blasts Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Bush White House's attempt to invoke "the nuclear option" and do away with the 60 vote threshold required for judicial appointments. If successful, Reid contends, the institution of the Senate would be gone forever. Well, Reid ended up invoking the exact same "nuclear option" years later after Republican obstruction of Obama's judicial appointments. Nevertheless Reid comes off as a decent man with a rugged optimism and indomitable belief in American greatness.
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