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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
funny
informative
fast-paced
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
Jon Sopel has been the BBC’s North America Editor since 2014. In this partly memoir-partly reportage book, he recounts the day to day journey of reporting the 2020 United States presidential election. The story begins in mid-2019 when it was still uncertain who will be chosen as the nominee for Democratic Party up until the moment Joe Biden was announced as the president-elect on the 7th of November. You will need to appreciate the details and some witty comments that Jon Sopel injected in this book with regards to Biden’s and Trump’s personalities. But in the end, Mr Sopel says ‘election defeat to Trump was what kryptonite was to Superman.’
There is a reason why the 2020 election gives a different flavour and tension compared to the previous ones. We have the Covid-19 pandemic, which was declared a national emergency in the US in March 2020. Mr Sopel is not shy to provide us with personal remarks about how the pandemic is affecting his globalised family, leaving him estranged from his wife and daughter who live in the UK and his son and daughter-in-law in Australia, whereas he was expected to return to the US to cover the election for the BBC. But it is through this mixture of personal experience that he could build sympathy with ordinary people affected by the pandemic, in contrast with the handling of the pandemic by the Trump administration that brought many casualties with death tolls comparable to the whole US military casualties in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq combined.
Mr Sopel’s analysis is top-notch. And no, this is not a heavy-to-digest political textbook. The language used by Mr Sopel corresponds to what a diary should look like, but still providing in-depth analysis about Trump’s blunders that led to his eventual demise, why Biden won despite the fact that he was labelled ‘sleepy Joe’ not by few, and the turn of tides of the election that bring more favourable outcomes to the Dems in November.
I noticed that there are two important factors that led to Trump’s defeat as Mr Sopel points out in this book. The first is the coronavirus which the White House mishandled, with Trump’s recommendation often in conflict with what his chief health advisor recommended, such as the recommendation to wear a face mask which he vetoed and his decision to hold election rallies with little respect to social distancing protocols. Second, as an incumbent, Trump could no longer blame other politicians or authorities for the fiascos that have happened during the three-and-a-half years of his administration. The logic of Trump’s campaign could no longer hold up his position with a narrative as louse as ‘choose Trump to save America from Trump’s America’.
Overall, UnPresidented is a thought-provoking book, although I don’t know how the tension during the 2020 election will be remembered in the next few decades in history, about two old guys over their seventies fought for the presidency of the US during the time when coronavirus has been claiming a large number of lives with the elderly as its main target. But I’d have to agree that ‘2020 hasn’t been a normal election. 2020 hasn’t been a normal year’.
There is a reason why the 2020 election gives a different flavour and tension compared to the previous ones. We have the Covid-19 pandemic, which was declared a national emergency in the US in March 2020. Mr Sopel is not shy to provide us with personal remarks about how the pandemic is affecting his globalised family, leaving him estranged from his wife and daughter who live in the UK and his son and daughter-in-law in Australia, whereas he was expected to return to the US to cover the election for the BBC. But it is through this mixture of personal experience that he could build sympathy with ordinary people affected by the pandemic, in contrast with the handling of the pandemic by the Trump administration that brought many casualties with death tolls comparable to the whole US military casualties in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq combined.
Mr Sopel’s analysis is top-notch. And no, this is not a heavy-to-digest political textbook. The language used by Mr Sopel corresponds to what a diary should look like, but still providing in-depth analysis about Trump’s blunders that led to his eventual demise, why Biden won despite the fact that he was labelled ‘sleepy Joe’ not by few, and the turn of tides of the election that bring more favourable outcomes to the Dems in November.
I noticed that there are two important factors that led to Trump’s defeat as Mr Sopel points out in this book. The first is the coronavirus which the White House mishandled, with Trump’s recommendation often in conflict with what his chief health advisor recommended, such as the recommendation to wear a face mask which he vetoed and his decision to hold election rallies with little respect to social distancing protocols. Second, as an incumbent, Trump could no longer blame other politicians or authorities for the fiascos that have happened during the three-and-a-half years of his administration. The logic of Trump’s campaign could no longer hold up his position with a narrative as louse as ‘choose Trump to save America from Trump’s America’.
Overall, UnPresidented is a thought-provoking book, although I don’t know how the tension during the 2020 election will be remembered in the next few decades in history, about two old guys over their seventies fought for the presidency of the US during the time when coronavirus has been claiming a large number of lives with the elderly as its main target. But I’d have to agree that ‘2020 hasn’t been a normal election. 2020 hasn’t been a normal year’.
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I really enjoyed Jon Sopel's book about the run-up to the 2020 US Presidential election. It was written in a diary format and took the reader through the, often bizarre, twists and turns of the election campaign, with the extra curve-ball of a pandemic thrown in. It was good to be reminded of many of the events and although I followed the US election pretty closely there were still things that were new to me.
As a journalist, Sopel would be used to quickly interpreting and putting perspective on events, sometimes as they are actually unfolding. So, given the diary format of the book, I would be interested to know how much of the book was based on the contemporary account and how much of it was finessed with the benefit of hindsight. But that doesn't detract from the book itself.
This is the second of Sopel's books that I've read - the other being A Year at the Circus. The previous book, also about Trump's time in office, was in part based around various themes and was also a really fascinating read. I hope there is more to come from Jon Sopel.
As a journalist, Sopel would be used to quickly interpreting and putting perspective on events, sometimes as they are actually unfolding. So, given the diary format of the book, I would be interested to know how much of the book was based on the contemporary account and how much of it was finessed with the benefit of hindsight. But that doesn't detract from the book itself.
This is the second of Sopel's books that I've read - the other being A Year at the Circus. The previous book, also about Trump's time in office, was in part based around various themes and was also a really fascinating read. I hope there is more to come from Jon Sopel.
funny
informative
fast-paced
Maybe it’s because this is all so recent and the memories still viscerally sharp but I cried reading the final few pages. You can feel the tension, the relief, and yet, knowing what followed in the subsequent 2 months, the hopeful note at Biden and Harris’ victory speech feels diminished.
Jon’s writing and his insight into an extraordinary 18 months allowed me to relive this journey through his experiences as a reporter, furnished with insights and observations which remind you why he’s the well respected reporter he is!
Jon’s writing and his insight into an extraordinary 18 months allowed me to relive this journey through his experiences as a reporter, furnished with insights and observations which remind you why he’s the well respected reporter he is!
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced