Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson

3.67 AVERAGE

bpk1982's review against another edition

4.25
informative medium-paced
Confirmed everything we suspected about the Biden presidency.  Jill Biden should be imprisoned for defrauding the American People and elder abuse.  Otherwise, good book.  Throughly sourced and well written.  

berylbp's review against another edition

3.5
informative reflective medium-paced

mcc004's review against another edition

2.75
challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced
It’s mainly just anecdotes. There are very few cited sources, and only a handful of times is there a reason given for a source’s anonymity. There’s also very little analysis done, and almost nothing in the way of proposed solutions for ensuring democracy remains strong. It’s great if all you want is gossip about a man getting so old his memory starts to go. 
lunchboxpuncher's profile picture

lunchboxpuncher's review against another edition

4.0
sad fast-paced
the surprisingly smooth read almost made me forget that it’s all real and not a sick joke thanks joe. 

in all seriousness though, i think the book does a marvelous job portraying how the idea of groupthink can manifest so well in the current political climate. the constant display throughout this book of how congressmembers and close aides to former president biden were so willing to reject what was clearly in front of them this whole time us just so somber and infuriating, especially when i remember that i thought biden was too older to be president back in 2019. 

statman95's review against another edition

4.5
informative reflective sad medium-paced
j_r_'s profile picture

j_r_'s review against another edition

4.0
Infuriating and more than a little painful to read, but an important book nonetheless. Even if you had strong feelings about this ignoble saga, the full picture turns out to be worse than you thought. Some folks may be (understandably) reluctant to revisit something so painful, but Tapper and Thompson have done everyone a service by putting the whole sad affair on display. Ultimately, Original Sin isn't just a story about a particular candidate and his enablers, but a cautionary tale about how collective delusion can affect even well-meaning types.

dureader's review against another edition

2.25
medium-paced

wengelman's review

3.5
informative reflective medium-paced
karinareads13's profile picture

karinareads13's review against another edition

4.0
informative medium-paced

julesglow's review

4.0
challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced