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A review by cghegan
Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I’m a huge fan of Nina Totenberg and the NPR Politics squad, hence picking this one up. It’s fascinating to look at the behind-the-scenes emotions and experiences of someone you admire deeply, but at many points, unsettling. I found the Politico book review by Michael Schaffer pointed to this feeling best, writing: “Totenberg’s book seems to be cast as a corrective against some national misapprehension that Washington is about nothing but bickering and partisanship. But that misunderstands why so many Americans are down on the capital. Instead, the rage stems from a conviction that the city is full of insiders who are all part of the same contented club, forever scratching one another’s backs. That’s a perception that Dinners With Ruth does absolutely nothing to dispel.”
One of the bigger “key points” in this book was the subtext that what Totenberg knew about the Justice’s health could have changed history. And it’s still upsetting to confront what many have felt: why was the fate of so many Americans’ health and safety dependent upon the mortality of a single (powerful, yes, remarkable, yes, but elderly and frail) person?
On the level of craft, it seemed loosely organized and meandering in a way that felt like someone trying to fill space and piece things together. Which is odd considering someone who has had a remarkable life and collaborated and dined with so many remarkable people. At times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg feels like a side note. While memoirs certainly cannot contain the entirety of one’s experiences, the overall organization and what was elected to be kept made the title feel less like a memoir about a particularly powerful friendship, and more a memoir about how Totenberg worked to be at the table with powerful people.
One of the bigger “key points” in this book was the subtext that what Totenberg knew about the Justice’s health could have changed history. And it’s still upsetting to confront what many have felt: why was the fate of so many Americans’ health and safety dependent upon the mortality of a single (powerful, yes, remarkable, yes, but elderly and frail) person?
On the level of craft, it seemed loosely organized and meandering in a way that felt like someone trying to fill space and piece things together. Which is odd considering someone who has had a remarkable life and collaborated and dined with so many remarkable people. At times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg feels like a side note. While memoirs certainly cannot contain the entirety of one’s experiences, the overall organization and what was elected to be kept made the title feel less like a memoir about a particularly powerful friendship, and more a memoir about how Totenberg worked to be at the table with powerful people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Death, Sexism, and Sexual harassment