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thomas_edmund's review against another edition
2.0
It’s hard to really judge this piece of work, far from being a political polemic, or apologetic sympathy tantrum, Rove simply writes a book about his life and career.
Unsurprisingly the most interesting parts are George W.’s presidential campaign and 2 terms in office. Rove’s early life stories are somewhat dull, and to be fair almost all political figures’ backgrounds are incredibly yawnworthy (or perhaps are too unrevealing to be of interest). Rove did have a particularly difficult upbringing in regards to his parent’s stability which is mostly analysed through rebuttal of Rove’s critics (more on his critics later in like one paragraph)
All in all, Rove really only provides us with a step by step account of his political career, never delving very deep into any issues, and most annoyingly never really discussing exactly what his views actually are and how he defends them. (Perhaps this is because he thinks most people are already aware of them) Instead we merely see Rove’s viewpoint when he speaks scathingly of those who disagree.
Another frustration of this book is Rove’s tendency to jump forward in time inappropriately, as mentioned earlier, when discussing his family Rove describes his critics accusations (made more recently as when he was a child Rove had slightly fewer critics [I assume]) of his father being a closet homosexual, frequently throughout the book Rove takes snipes at Obama. Which comes across as petty and creates the appearance of Rove being unable to restrain himself and childishly lashing out.
Of course Rove is unashamedly pro-Bush, and sees much of his president’s behaviour in a positive light. He takes personal responsibility for Bush’s toxic ratings claiming the lack of defense on Iraq issues ultimately damned the former president.
While this review might make it seem like I wouldn’t recommend this book, behind all the politics there is some fascinating insight into election campaign which I think is must-read by anyone in the business. You might not agree with Rove, but its hard to argue that he doesn’t know what he’s doing on the campaign field...
Unsurprisingly the most interesting parts are George W.’s presidential campaign and 2 terms in office. Rove’s early life stories are somewhat dull, and to be fair almost all political figures’ backgrounds are incredibly yawnworthy (or perhaps are too unrevealing to be of interest). Rove did have a particularly difficult upbringing in regards to his parent’s stability which is mostly analysed through rebuttal of Rove’s critics (more on his critics later in like one paragraph)
All in all, Rove really only provides us with a step by step account of his political career, never delving very deep into any issues, and most annoyingly never really discussing exactly what his views actually are and how he defends them. (Perhaps this is because he thinks most people are already aware of them) Instead we merely see Rove’s viewpoint when he speaks scathingly of those who disagree.
Another frustration of this book is Rove’s tendency to jump forward in time inappropriately, as mentioned earlier, when discussing his family Rove describes his critics accusations (made more recently as when he was a child Rove had slightly fewer critics [I assume]) of his father being a closet homosexual, frequently throughout the book Rove takes snipes at Obama. Which comes across as petty and creates the appearance of Rove being unable to restrain himself and childishly lashing out.
Of course Rove is unashamedly pro-Bush, and sees much of his president’s behaviour in a positive light. He takes personal responsibility for Bush’s toxic ratings claiming the lack of defense on Iraq issues ultimately damned the former president.
While this review might make it seem like I wouldn’t recommend this book, behind all the politics there is some fascinating insight into election campaign which I think is must-read by anyone in the business. You might not agree with Rove, but its hard to argue that he doesn’t know what he’s doing on the campaign field...
gray_ghost's review against another edition
Half campaign strategy and half defense of the Bush administration. An excellent, fact-driven insider story of the Bush administration.
amysteid's review against another edition
2.0
I read this to better understand someone I disliked as a politician - the book did not help.