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cathydeg's review against another edition
4.0
Took a break from the book. Was overwhelmed with politics and needed time away. But I did want to finish this. No review. Read if you want. Formulate your own opinion.
mattdavenport's review against another edition
4.0
When you give one of the most awarded Presidential journalists first hand access to the people in power, including 18 interviews with Donald Trump himself, you are bound to come out of it with an incredibly insightful book that will be accessed by historians over this time period for generations to come. Woodward does a great job of interviewing Trump, pressing him on points while also letting Trump feel like he is in control. The President's narcissism, distorted world view, and child-like attention span bleed through the interviews, and are supported by the interviews around him.
At the same time, I don't think it would be accurate at all to call this book a "hit piece". Woodward is fundamentally fair and focused on providing the subjects' perspectives from their points of view, thankfully with regular fact-checking. Where Trump was successful, or at the very least made right decisions in a vacuum, Woodward calls attention to it and doesn't shy away. At the same time, that very method of honesty paints a disturbing picture of just how deluded and deceitful President Trump is.
In terms of capturing their points of view while providing context in reality, Woodward's book is a hit. It was captivating and informative, and helped break down the contexts of big-story events. At the same time, it certainly is not a history book or biography in the typical sense. Because the interviewees of the book are all Trumpists, (President Trump, Jared Kushner, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, Dan Coats, Lindsey Graham, etc.) the narrative does not do a good job of capturing the full context of the historical events, due to it ignoring the roles played and ideas/statements made by their Democratic colleagues throughout the Comey investigation, North Korea transactions, China Trade War, the Ukraine Impeachment and the COVID-19 pandemic. As long as one is aware of the larger historical setting was, it's not a big detriment, but to a relatively ignorant political follower this could result in a distorted view of events. Additionally, because they are often the checks on Trump's more rabid decisions, and because they desire to portray themselves as being in that role to Woodward, the persons of Tillerson, Mattis, Coats, Graham, etc. are presented in a fairer light by comparison than history will likely show them to be. Based on their recollections around key events, its easy to forget that all of these men stood solidly beside Trump during some of his greatest atrocities, and their moments of departure, if they ever came, usually came after Trump fired them or when they felt disrespected.
With that being said, I enjoyed this book tremendously, and the audio narrator does a good job (though I kept wishing he would portray how Trump actually speaks, the narrator was much more normal sounding in his delivery and cadence than how Trump talks). This is certainly an important book for those who want an inside perspective on some of the bigger moments in politics over the past 4 years.
At the same time, I don't think it would be accurate at all to call this book a "hit piece". Woodward is fundamentally fair and focused on providing the subjects' perspectives from their points of view, thankfully with regular fact-checking. Where Trump was successful, or at the very least made right decisions in a vacuum, Woodward calls attention to it and doesn't shy away. At the same time, that very method of honesty paints a disturbing picture of just how deluded and deceitful President Trump is.
In terms of capturing their points of view while providing context in reality, Woodward's book is a hit. It was captivating and informative, and helped break down the contexts of big-story events. At the same time, it certainly is not a history book or biography in the typical sense. Because the interviewees of the book are all Trumpists, (President Trump, Jared Kushner, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, Dan Coats, Lindsey Graham, etc.) the narrative does not do a good job of capturing the full context of the historical events, due to it ignoring the roles played and ideas/statements made by their Democratic colleagues throughout the Comey investigation, North Korea transactions, China Trade War, the Ukraine Impeachment and the COVID-19 pandemic. As long as one is aware of the larger historical setting was, it's not a big detriment, but to a relatively ignorant political follower this could result in a distorted view of events. Additionally, because they are often the checks on Trump's more rabid decisions, and because they desire to portray themselves as being in that role to Woodward, the persons of Tillerson, Mattis, Coats, Graham, etc. are presented in a fairer light by comparison than history will likely show them to be. Based on their recollections around key events, its easy to forget that all of these men stood solidly beside Trump during some of his greatest atrocities, and their moments of departure, if they ever came, usually came after Trump fired them or when they felt disrespected.
With that being said, I enjoyed this book tremendously, and the audio narrator does a good job (though I kept wishing he would portray how Trump actually speaks, the narrator was much more normal sounding in his delivery and cadence than how Trump talks). This is certainly an important book for those who want an inside perspective on some of the bigger moments in politics over the past 4 years.
mayswartzbwithu's review against another edition
5.0
There's a reason Bob Woodward has won two Pulitzer Prizes and all of his 20 books have been best sellers. He is a helluva reporter. You can argue that Woodward should have made public much earlier the fact that the president downplayed COVID-19 early on to avoid panicking the American public. Woodward probably should have written a news story about that. But the fact remains that Woodward is the only reporter who enticed the president to say that. And his book, while not all about the COVID response, is a telling portrait of a man ill equipped to be president of the United States. Trump supporters probably won't read the book and, if they do, likely will discount it. But those who keep an open mind will agree with Woodward's conclusion that Donald Trump is not the man to hold the job of president.
scaleraa's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bit slow to start, but painted an accurate and informative picture of Trump's presidency. I do think the quotes from the interviews added to what I already knew about Trump, but nothing was really that surprising. It also is hard to rate this super highly because reading about Trump does not bring me joy. I do think it will be a great historical reference one day.
elrobhubbard's review against another edition
5.0
The title is what you'll be feeling all the way through the book, when you find out about the enabling and lying bullshit that went on...
dude1951's review against another edition
4.0
Woodward bends over backwards to be as objective and charitable to Trump as is reasonable for a journalist, in my opinion, but cannot escape the fact that he is being lied to frequently. He goes so far, finally, to fact check statements made by Trump in the recordings of the interviews he did for the book. The problem is that he’s reporting on the lies told by the actual liar, and you cannot escape the fact that actual facts are displaced by deceit, misdirection, deflection, and just “happy talk”. Woodward’s conclusion is obvious, but you must actually read it in black and white, and let it sink into your own brain, to finally understand what a massive mistake it was to elect this defective, broken, “misfit toy” as POTUS.
underwaterlily's review against another edition
4.0
My eyes glazed over as I read multiple sections of this book. (Though the love letters from Kim Jong Un are wild!) It’s not Bob Woodward’s fault—Trump talks in circles and believes he’s the savior of the world. At one point, he tells Woodward, “I’ve done a tremendous amount for the Black community….And honestly, I’m not feeling any love.” How do you get a low empathy, self-centered president to admit he’s your typical white supremacist to admit he has privilege and has made missteps with the virus response? Woodward’s frustration is palpable. Perhaps it’s why, in the end, Woodward states, “Trump is the wrong man for the job.”