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A review by teaandlibri
United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good by Cory Booker
2.0
Aiming for higher office? I know a little bit about Booker, although admittedly not much more than what's in the news as I don't live in NJ and don't know anyone from there that well. So I thought this would be a good pickup to read (especially as his name has been mentioned here and there for the VP list). It's pretty clear that this book is a launching pad for his higher ambitions (not that ambition is bad in itself), so that may tweak how someone reads this book.
It's not a memoir in the traditional sense but I did enjoy reading about his childhood and found the story of his parents trying to buy his house compelling and infuriating. They finally got a house by essentially pulling a sting on the real estate agent (it involved a fistfight too) but they got the house.
I found the book to be very uneven. The initial parts (such as the above about his parents) were really good reads. He talks about a woman who is a single mom and works at an IHOP and he discusses her path, how minutely she has to budget out her funds, her work schedule, the network of friends/family she relies/relied on for babysitting, etc. Then he talks about how violence at the IHOP drove down business and cut her shifts and pay because business was so bad. Although Booker writes how her situation did improve somewhat, this particular chapter resonated with me in light of the fight for raising the minimum wage.
Yet sometimes when the book is not really a memoir (more like the problems he sees and has experienced), it's a bit tiring. I wanted to learn a bit more about him and his thoughts, instead of these other stories. Granted, he was giving these people a platform and voice that they might not have had otherwise...but it just wasn't that interesting. It almost seemed like (to me) that different people wrote different parts of the book. Maybe it's me.
That said, it's worth a read. If you're from the area or are interested in him at all, it's not a bad pick up. I'd recommend borrowing it from the library unless you're really attached to any of the topics he writes about. I have to say, I usually read about people who are more "established" (I read Obama's books while the 2008 elections was occurring) so I will be interested to see Booker as he goes from here.
It's not a memoir in the traditional sense but I did enjoy reading about his childhood and found the story of his parents trying to buy his house compelling and infuriating. They finally got a house by essentially pulling a sting on the real estate agent (it involved a fistfight too) but they got the house.
I found the book to be very uneven. The initial parts (such as the above about his parents) were really good reads. He talks about a woman who is a single mom and works at an IHOP and he discusses her path, how minutely she has to budget out her funds, her work schedule, the network of friends/family she relies/relied on for babysitting, etc. Then he talks about how violence at the IHOP drove down business and cut her shifts and pay because business was so bad. Although Booker writes how her situation did improve somewhat, this particular chapter resonated with me in light of the fight for raising the minimum wage.
Yet sometimes when the book is not really a memoir (more like the problems he sees and has experienced), it's a bit tiring. I wanted to learn a bit more about him and his thoughts, instead of these other stories. Granted, he was giving these people a platform and voice that they might not have had otherwise...but it just wasn't that interesting. It almost seemed like (to me) that different people wrote different parts of the book. Maybe it's me.
That said, it's worth a read. If you're from the area or are interested in him at all, it's not a bad pick up. I'd recommend borrowing it from the library unless you're really attached to any of the topics he writes about. I have to say, I usually read about people who are more "established" (I read Obama's books while the 2008 elections was occurring) so I will be interested to see Booker as he goes from here.