emgusk's review
2.0
I think this would have been better as a series of articles in the Times. (Like his excellent NYT mag piece on Operation Bambi, which had me excited for this book.) The book would have benefitted from some heavier editing. If you've been following the morning news wars and Stelter's pieces in the Times, you won't learn much from this book. I liked the idea more than the execution.
kateleos's review against another edition
3.0
Not at all well-edited, but enjoyable enough. I'm a total GMA-head, so I was particularly pleased that they came off so well and the the Today guys...did not. Move quickly, and ROBIN ROBERTS, so I'm happy enough.
mariadarc's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the story but was put off by the writing style. Was it supposed to be funny/snarky when comments like “dear reader” and others were directed outward? It didn’t work FOR ME. Interesting look behind the scenes so read if interested in the topic but not for the writing.
mina22's review
3.0
I was incredibly excited to read this book -- the subject matter is certainly very interesting and I was intrigued after learning that The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon is based partially on this book.
Unfortunately, despite an exciting and interesting premise, the book fell rather flat for me. I felt it was crying out for better editing with some sections feeling almost unreadable due to some severely run-on sentences.
Ultimately, I gave the book three stars for the interesting subject matter despite the writing issues. I wish it had been better because the topic is fascinating to me.
Unfortunately, despite an exciting and interesting premise, the book fell rather flat for me. I felt it was crying out for better editing with some sections feeling almost unreadable due to some severely run-on sentences.
Ultimately, I gave the book three stars for the interesting subject matter despite the writing issues. I wish it had been better because the topic is fascinating to me.
mrsleahr's review against another edition
3.0
I was very eager to read this book after watching The Morning Show. The book seemed to drag on and it was hard for me to finish. Bits and pieces of chapters here and there were very interesting but over all. I was hoping for it to be over. I’d resort to watching Jen and Reese.
muffmacguff's review against another edition
2.0
This book was so poorly written, wow! There’s a somewhat interesting story buried here, how the carefully-hidden rancor behind the scenes at the Today Show led to them being beaten in the ratings by Good Morning America, whose hosts appeared to genuinely like each other (that is, if the book is to be believed). Stelter’s prose is full of obnoxious and endless analogies that contribute less than nothing, and his descriptors of women are uniformly sexist. But here’s my favorite bit: after reporting behind the scenes at The Today Show AND at whatever CBS’s morning show is called for a year and a half Stelter apparently had no fucking clue about Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose’s sexual predations, or knew and chose to hide it. He’s not shy about repeatedly accusing Rose of being a drunk, but the sexual harassment doesn’t get a mention. In my opinion, this topic deserves a much better book, and Stelter’s work absolutely disqualifies him from being taken seriously as a journalist. Also literally everyone working in morning talk shows is completely unhinged, and that part is fun to read about, like the producer who literally designed a couch from scratch because he couldn’t find exactly the right couch for the hosts to sit on.
read_watch_sarah's review
1.0
This may be one of the worst books I have ever read. Repetitive, poorly written, and gossipy (not in a good way) I was not impressed. The author also seemed to have some biases against certain subjects he was writing on, which, to put it informally, was not cool.
One note, it was interesting to read this after certain morning show hosts have been caught up in the #MeToo movement. It really put some things in the book in perspective.
One note, it was interesting to read this after certain morning show hosts have been caught up in the #MeToo movement. It really put some things in the book in perspective.