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The narration makes this book unlistenable.

Revisado: 08-04-24

It's as though the narrator (or the producer) thought it would be a swell idea to read a light combo biography as though it was a third grade novel.

Now, the author's dumbed-down text was nothing to celebrate, but I wouldn't have returned it if either he or his narrator could have tried a little harder to make the thing interesting.

PS - I almost never provide a bad review. In this case, however, I felt a need to prevent other listeners from choosing the same path (to primary school, apparently) as I did.

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Unfortunately Lacking Objectivity

Revisado: 01-01-23

I tried very hard to like this book. as a general rule, I'm up for reading any book whose author has appeared on the Bulwark Podcast. The journalism is well sourced and the chapters reasonably well organized (basically a cross between being chronologically driven and being personality based).

The problem I have with the book is that the author presumes a shared frame of ideological reference that goes well beyond simple agreement on objective reality. He is obviously someone who holds centre-left views.

His writing also lacks precision at times. For example, in describing how Rep Gosar would only agree to an interview if he submitted his questions in advance, the author claims that the same conditions were not imposed upon "right wing" outlets such as the Daily Caller, Washington Times, Fox News, extra.

That's fine, but he also throws Canada's National Post in this group, which is extremely unfair to that particular outlet. While the National Post's editorial stance is to the right of the Guardian or NYT, that doesn't mean it can be seriously compared with the Daily Caller. The National Post does not publish news stories that are discordant with objective reality. It has a couple of weekly columnists who are far too Trunpy for my tastes, but it has dozens more who are appalled and aghast at what has happened to the conservative movement in the US.

For the author to have failed to make this distinction (and even to have included a Canadian newspaper in his list of outlets that compose the US populist nationalist ecosphere) indicates to me that the author just slipped too far into his own ideological space to provide a fair account of his subject.

It's almost as though he exhausted his reserve of disciplined objectivity as the book entered into its final chapters. That's a shame. It could have been better.

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Engaging

Revisado: 07-04-22

Not all confessional accounts are salacious. Nor are many particularly edifying (or at least not in a way the author intended). Mr. Miller is a writer who obviously knows how to convey a deadly serious message in a manner most likely to be construed as intended.

While his secret superpower may once have been compartmentalizations, today his tool of choose is the puckish erudition of a a lMillennial possessing wisdom behind his years!

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An Utter Waste of Time

Revisado: 08-22-21

It’s really stunning to think that somebody could write an entire book about past events without once demonstrating so much as a scintilla of historiographical awareness.

The book is nothing more than a seemingly unending string of trivial facts. There’s no point to any of them or meaningful connection between them. The concept that small events can dictate different results is utterly banal.

It’s as though the fictional postal worker, Cliff Calvin from the 80’s TV show, came to life and decided to commit all of his contributions to bar life to print!

Just by way of example, the author appears to have been completely unaware of the fact that the British sacking and burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812 was an act of retaliation for the sacking and burning of York (today’s Toronto). Hence, he suggested that the British had acted reprehensibly and added a silly story about Jefferson’s allegedly having volunteered to lead a revenge attack on London to them President Adams.

Given their fierce political rivalry at the time, that seems highly unlikely. Far more unlikely, however, would be the very notion that the young USA would have been able to do anything to London, metropole of the largest empire the world has ever seen. It’s just one of an innumerable examples of the author’s dives into anachronism.

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Slow and Painful

Revisado: 10-14-20

I know the difference between academic and popular history writing. I wasn’t expecting the former in this book, but I was expecting something pitched a little higher than a collegiate education. If you’ve never read a book about US foreign policy history, please don’t be dissuaded by this review. If you are more familiar with it, or have an education in history at the undergraduate level (or, especially, above), don’t waste your time.

The plodding quality of the work is matched to perfection by the narrator, who sounds like a tired tween on Valium. He’s simply not endurable at anything less than 1.5x speed.

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“Get off my quadrangle, you damned ingrates!”

Revisado: 11-11-19

I very much enjoyed all of the observations of this wise and grumpy member of the elite, although he’s wrong about the continued existence of true autodidacts like me!

LOL

PS - The spoken performance was trying, at times. I found the best way to erase the sardonic tone and odd intonation choices was to listen at 1.5 speed.

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Read his first book first

Revisado: 09-09-19

To be fair, this wasn’t not an unenjoyable read. It even felt familiar, thanks to my having read an earlier offering from Mr. Ferguson. And he is oftentimes funny (although probably more for British and Canadian comedic sensibilities than American).

But it can also feel just a little tedious (or maybe tendentious) at times. That may because I believe I would find myself in disagreement with many of his political, economic, and social views. While I have no doubt that it would be very enjoyable to debate most issues with him, the monologue format made it a little to preachy at times for my tastes.

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Wanna be an actor? You should read this book.

Revisado: 09-09-19

I do not want to be an actor, but if I did, I would be taking a lot of notes whilst listening to this book.

What I do want is to understand how things (well, actually everything) works. Mr. Cranston gives us a very interesting look at how Hollywood works with this book. It likely wasn’t his primary objective in writing it, but he succeeds nonetheless.

I can see why he is such a talented actor and probably quite an intense companion.

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I am anxious to hear the second volume

Revisado: 09-09-19

Some will certainly criticize Mr. Cleese’s performance, as he frequently found the story he was retelling so amusing that he apparently couldn’t help himself and had to chuckle (and maybe cough a little too). I found it endearing.

I don’t find Mr. Cleese particularly endearing, or rather at least his left-of-centre political views and his general curmudgeonliness (of late), that endearing, but neither is on display in this autobiography so bravo for him there. As I wrote in my review of Eric Idle’s autobiography, reading the two books together gave me what I believe may be a little added insight into the interpersonal relationships of the Python troupe, which was nice.

I also really believe Mr. Cleese’s many protestations about not having been particularly goal-driven as regards the first half of his career. I also enjoyed hearing him explain how he evolved into a consummate, professional perfectionist (yes, a double-entendre was intended with that comma placement). Speaking from personal experience, I think he would have been a very good international lawyer - and I am very glad he chose to be a performer instead!

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This book is about Trump and me but mostly just me

Revisado: 09-09-19

He has a very important job and Mr Trump and his henchmen are supreme asses, but about two thirds the way through the book, the self-righteousness began to look a lot like sanctimony.

I’m tempt to return it, but it’s just good (and certainly earnest) enough to ensure that Mr. Acosta receive his royalty for my listen.

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