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nickscoby's review against another edition
4.0
I was motivated to read this book because I so enjoyed the HBO film. To my great surprise, Sarah Palin is a very minor character (I kept wondering, When do we get to her part???), but that didn't stop me from enjoying what was there. Kudos to the writers for making this a compelling narrative and not just one stuffed full of dull facts. From here, I jumped right into the John Edwards story, which definitely pales in comparison.
lurker_stalker's review against another edition
4.0
I found it very interesting. It's easy to get caught up in the public personas and forget that these folks are just people.
Well done and entertaining as well as informative and interesting.
Well done and entertaining as well as informative and interesting.
coleycole's review against another edition
5.0
This book is awesome and I loved it -- don't be turned off by the tool-y title. I followed the '08 primaries/election closely, but this book is focused on the behind-the-scenes machinations that aren't a part of the 24-hr news cycle. It really humanizes all of the candidates, politicians and staffers involved. Totally fascinating -- even though you already know how it ends.
Listened to the audiobook -- very good reader, and the text lends itself well to audio.
Listened to the audiobook -- very good reader, and the text lends itself well to audio.
ptothelo's review against another edition
3.0
The insight and stories are fascinating, but I'd like to think these people are less dysfunctional than they actually are. Alas. But perhaps trying to read the book too quickly inspired the horror movie-type nightmare I had this morning...
rodhilton's review against another edition
4.0
This book is riveting from start to finish. I have no idea how accurate this book is, but it's absolutely entertaining as hell.
Game Change is about the campaigns of the major frontrunners during the 2008 election cycle. It gives what it claims are accurate, behind-the-scenes glimpses at Obama, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, and Palin. It's extremely well written and painfully engrossing - I could barely put it down.
The main flaw with the book is that it spends too much time on the democratic side of things, particularly around Obama and Hillary. While this is extremely interesting, it takes up a bit more than the first half of the entire book, and I often found myself wishing Heilemann would cut over to the Republicans. On the republican side of things, only McCain and his running mate are covered, and very little attention given to Romney or Guliani. I have a hard time believing there was no drama there, maybe Heilemann just couldn't collect any information.
In any case, I found the book thoroughly engrossing, but I'm trying to absorb it with a grain of salt - Heilemann insists that he did the due diligence to corroborate his stories, but since I can't do that myself and no names are given, I simply have no way of knowing if it's true.
If it is true, however, the most striking thing to me was that Sarah Palin is actually even stupider than I thought. The Sarah Palin we got during the campaign was coached and trained - prepared for questions and instructed on how to hide her ignorance. The Real Sarah Palin was unable to name the enemy her son was fighting in Iraq, and thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. Holy crap.
I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in recent political events in the United States. It's a great read.
Game Change is about the campaigns of the major frontrunners during the 2008 election cycle. It gives what it claims are accurate, behind-the-scenes glimpses at Obama, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, and Palin. It's extremely well written and painfully engrossing - I could barely put it down.
The main flaw with the book is that it spends too much time on the democratic side of things, particularly around Obama and Hillary. While this is extremely interesting, it takes up a bit more than the first half of the entire book, and I often found myself wishing Heilemann would cut over to the Republicans. On the republican side of things, only McCain and his running mate are covered, and very little attention given to Romney or Guliani. I have a hard time believing there was no drama there, maybe Heilemann just couldn't collect any information.
In any case, I found the book thoroughly engrossing, but I'm trying to absorb it with a grain of salt - Heilemann insists that he did the due diligence to corroborate his stories, but since I can't do that myself and no names are given, I simply have no way of knowing if it's true.
If it is true, however, the most striking thing to me was that Sarah Palin is actually even stupider than I thought. The Sarah Palin we got during the campaign was coached and trained - prepared for questions and instructed on how to hide her ignorance. The Real Sarah Palin was unable to name the enemy her son was fighting in Iraq, and thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. Holy crap.
I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in recent political events in the United States. It's a great read.
iceberg0's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very insightful and interesting book. I really enjoyed the narrative style of the book.
methanojen's review against another edition
Enjoyable and educational political read. I have new sympathy for Obama and Clinton and reinforced skepticism for McCain and Palin after reading this book. Especially Palin, what a disaster. I'm glad that there was a happy ending (spoiler alert: Clinton accepts Obama's offer to be SoS -- whodda thunk it?) :)
cseibs's review against another edition
3.0
A book to dispel any lingering notions of integrity in the American political process. Also, a horror story of the lack of scruples in the media's handling of just about any issue. This book was informative and entertaining (though everything should be read with a grain of salt), but overall the most depressing book I have read in a long time.
pierceinverarity's review against another edition
3.0
This is not a particularly substantive book, but it boasts lots of juicy campaign gossip. While much of the chronology is a more lurid rehash of the news accounts we read of the campaign, there are some genuine insights here, which make it a slightly less than entirely guilty pleasure.