I did a search and apparently we’ve never had a thread about his biannual or annual books. So, from the excerpts, this one is primarily meant to launder the reputation of a general Miller, and secondarily to launder the reputation of Kellyann Conway. Because that’s the point of his books, to figure out which Washington insiders he’s serving as a PR flack for. And for those who wonder about his political leanings, as he prepares for retirement, he co-wrote this with Robert Costa, a straight news reporter from the right side of the aisle. Anyway, this thread is for discussing the book.
I’ll wait for Kellyanne’s book. I want to see if she really unloads on the Trump years, with the help of her husband and they live happily ever after. Or whimps out with a few gallons of whitewash.
My bet's on the latter As far as Woodward's concerned, when tidbits are released in advance, I'm generally good with those. No need to buy the book.
Shouldn't you, or someone, have actually read the book before making an entire thread about it? It is a bit difficult to have a conversation about something that nobody has actually read...not that will EVER stop any of us on BigSoccer.
I'm not buying ANY of these books that sound like an attempt to cash in on the chaos. Especially if it's by someone who was working IN the Trump White House (ike KellyAnne Conroy, etc). The one person's book I would even consider buying is Alexander' Vindman's, who unlike nearly everyone else who is publishing a book about the Trump presidency actually made a serious career sacrifice to stand up to Trump's Trumpiness, rather than playing along with it in the hopes of cashing in on their tell-all book. . I might still have a copy of All the President's Men somewhere, given that I turned up a copy of John Dean's Blind Ambition over labor day.
I doubt any insider will write a decent book about the Trump Administration until he's dead. So I'm definitely in the 'it's just cashing in" camp.
Belushi's widow was not pleased with Woodward's book. He had the basic facts of an event right but his slant was way off. Here's how he portrayed the famous cafeteria scene vs. how Belushi's colleagues remembered it: Co-star Tim Matheson remembered that John “did the entire cafeteria line scene in one take. I just stood by the camera, mesmerized.” Other witnesses agree. Every person who recounted that incident to me used it as an example of Belushi’s virtuoso talent and his great relationship with his director. Landis could whisper suggestions to Belushi on the fly, and he’d spin it into comedy gold. Now here it is as Woodward presents it: Landis quickly discovered that John could be lazy and undisciplined. They were rehearsing a cafeteria scene, a perfect vehicle to set up Bluto’s insatiable cravings. Landis wanted John to walk down the cafeteria line and load his tray until it was a physical burden. As the camera started, Landis stood to one side shouting: “Take that! Put that in your pocket! Pile that on the tray! Eat that now, right there!” John followed each order, loading his pockets and tray, stuffing his mouth with a plate of Jello in one motion. First off, Woodward wrongly calls the cafeteria scene a rehearsal, when half the point of the story is that Belushi pulled it off without ever rehearsing it once. Also, there’s actually nothing in the anecdote to indicate laziness or lack of discipline on Belushi’s part, yet Woodward chooses to establish the scene using those words. The implication is that Belushi was so unfocused and unprepared that he couldn’t make it through the scene without the director beside him telling him what to do, which is not what took place. When I interviewed him, Landis disputed that he ever referred to Belushi as lazy or undisciplined. “The greatest crime of that book,” Landis says of Wired, “is that if you read it and you’d just assume that John was a pig and an asshole, and he was anything but. He could be abrupt and unpleasant, but most of the time he was totally charming and people adored him.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate....k-can-tell-us-about-the-sequester-scandal.amp
(Grabs calculator) 10 cents a day X 13,500 days. You owe us $135,000, Mr. song219 - Your Local Librarian
I used to do that jello thing when I was in college. Never did the zit trick though. Nor did I initiate any foodfights that I can recall. Interesting American Literature trivia: Ralph Waldo Emerson was nearly suspended from Harvard for his role in a food fight.
PSA has had some quite fun and interesting comments on Woodward, based on the Obama admin Basically he does get very good access - the questions are more the way he writes up the content. In short, according to Dan Pfeiffer, don't go over to Bob's place for the soup. Meet him only in your office, and immediately send a memo to your bosses on what you talked about.