Reviews

If you've been following along with Warren's career and her presidential campaign, there is a lot of information that you already know so at times it was repetitive. But, I'm just so obsessed with all of Warren's plans and am glad she's my Senator. If anything, this book made me depressed that she's not our President.

curious_kbc's review against another edition

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4.0

I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren and immensely proud she represents my state in the U.S. Senate. I came to appreciate Senator Warren’s point of view on a lot of issues and respect her chutzpah for making points others are afraid to make and sticking with her point of view. But when it comes to writing books, I think she is still learning how to share her stories and reveal more of the woman behind the politician, policy wonk, bankruptcy researcher, and law professor. Persist is the second book by her that I’ve read. I felt that I got to know Elizabeth Warren a lot more from this book than from This Fight Is Our Fight. By the end of both books, I came to the same two conclusions. She was destined to run for president and America needs her perspective, power, and persistence.

kylegarvey's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

Liberal inspiration genuine here, the kind of full and ideal faith in American democracy that can treat each reader a little differently. Something might annoy you, politically, and immediately after something might inspire you in a loud way. Warren's ambitious mix of personal reminiscence interspersed with 'how I think America should be' campaigning-but-not-campaigning wide non-fiction works ok for the most part.

I think an early anecdote can kind of illustrate the weaknesses, though. Childhood pretend teaching, which she recalls during the mother section, can offer a low, tiny example of petty inevitability: "of course [she writes], Sami was always the bad boy and the storybook dolls were empty-headed, but I wasn't discouraged" (16). I hate to cash into the same 'once a politician, always a politician' easy store, to latch onto one tiny thing and be an intense scold about it, humorless; but I'm afraid Warren's quick little story can exemplify deeper, weirder problems. Everything's inevitable, nothing can be changed, we're in this tug-of-war between red team and blue. We often annoy each other, but that's all it is, annoying! Some Facebook post, TV ad, radio spot, whatever; it's dreary, this politics thing, but somebody's gotta do it!

I know, all that's a personal, petty problem, has little to nothing to do with the outside world, yada yada. 'There's an outside world apart from me' is a super-valuable new political lesson, by the way, that I am still just recently learning honestly (and in my honest opinion ought to be learned by many other people apart from me! said while wagging fist and rolling eyes, you know how it is). 'Believe her' [with MeToo, assault anxiety aggravated in recent years] becomes in time 'Solidarity with everyone' and becomes in time 'Love your neighbor, no matter who he is', I guess, and isn't that just swell. Kumbaya. Sincerely.

rebeccaaldrich's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

cdhotwing's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

dl2000's review against another edition

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5.0

Enjoyed this book very much. Loved the format how it was broken up into the different roles that EW feels define her and the anecdotes, both personal and from people she's met on the trail, that went along with each role. Even though I'm well acquainted with most of her policy ideas, it is refreshing to read and understand them through her own words, because she has such a witty, spunky, heartwarming way of expressing herself. Best of all for me was the optimism and hope she projects that you can't help absorbing, which to me is quite remarkable as the past few years have left me feeling so hopeless and desolate about the future. EW wants to make sure we don't give up and she's done a fantastic job with this book.

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