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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
funny
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
slow-paced
Jon Sopel perhaps sums up 2020 most effectively in this book when he says "in a movie this would be edited out for being too cliché."
Ostensibly the diary of a political correspondent on the 2020 US Presidential election campaign trail, it was inevitable that a year like 2020 would force the book to enlarge its scope. Though it all happened mere months ago, it's easy to forget that in a single year, we saw the US election, the global pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter movement - all seismic events in their own right.
Indeed, so much happened in 2020 that a lot of the events in this book triggered a kind of 'oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that!' response in me, despite being recent news.
Remember when Trump told us all to inject bleach? Remember when the million attendees signed up to the Tulsa rally turned out to be TikTok trolls? Remember when the Trump campaign booked the parking lot of a landscaping company rather than the Four Seasons Hotel for a press conference? Jon Sopel is right that you couldn't make it up.
It would be easy to assume an account of the 2020 presidential race would just be an account of all the times Donald Trump topped his own previous outlandish behaviour, but the book does cover both sides of the election. Nor is Joe Biden given an easy ride: the author makes clear that the Biden campaign lacked vigour, and its success largely relied firstly upon the fact that Biden isn't Donald Trump, and secondly on help from allies with more star power such as Kamala Harris and a certain Barack Obama. A septuagenarian race for power has also resulted in a situation where, in the author's words, "the old line about the VP being a heartbeat away from the Oval Office has never been more pertinent."
But let's be honest, you read these books for the gossip. If I wanted to remind myself what happened in the last year, I could visit Wikipedia. I picked up the book in the hope of getting backstage access - what happened that we didn't see? What's it like covering the biggest circus on Earth: a Trump presidency, in an election year, during a global pandemic? These were the times when the book became most interesting to me - for example the author relating how he was able to freely roam metres from the Oval Office without a mask, or how - in a country notorious for adding taxes and tips to everything - the author found himself facing a restaurant bill with $30 added on for "PPE."
I was left wanting more of these snippets of insight, but then again, I suppose this isn't Jon Sopel's autobiography - perhaps that's to come one day!
The book ends with the election being called for Biden (spoilers), so also misses Trump's subsequent Twitter unravelling and the shocking events at the Capitol on January 6th.
And I honestly don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
Ostensibly the diary of a political correspondent on the 2020 US Presidential election campaign trail, it was inevitable that a year like 2020 would force the book to enlarge its scope. Though it all happened mere months ago, it's easy to forget that in a single year, we saw the US election, the global pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter movement - all seismic events in their own right.
Indeed, so much happened in 2020 that a lot of the events in this book triggered a kind of 'oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that!' response in me, despite being recent news.
Remember when Trump told us all to inject bleach? Remember when the million attendees signed up to the Tulsa rally turned out to be TikTok trolls? Remember when the Trump campaign booked the parking lot of a landscaping company rather than the Four Seasons Hotel for a press conference? Jon Sopel is right that you couldn't make it up.
It would be easy to assume an account of the 2020 presidential race would just be an account of all the times Donald Trump topped his own previous outlandish behaviour, but the book does cover both sides of the election. Nor is Joe Biden given an easy ride: the author makes clear that the Biden campaign lacked vigour, and its success largely relied firstly upon the fact that Biden isn't Donald Trump, and secondly on help from allies with more star power such as Kamala Harris and a certain Barack Obama. A septuagenarian race for power has also resulted in a situation where, in the author's words, "the old line about the VP being a heartbeat away from the Oval Office has never been more pertinent."
But let's be honest, you read these books for the gossip. If I wanted to remind myself what happened in the last year, I could visit Wikipedia. I picked up the book in the hope of getting backstage access - what happened that we didn't see? What's it like covering the biggest circus on Earth: a Trump presidency, in an election year, during a global pandemic? These were the times when the book became most interesting to me - for example the author relating how he was able to freely roam metres from the Oval Office without a mask, or how - in a country notorious for adding taxes and tips to everything - the author found himself facing a restaurant bill with $30 added on for "PPE."
I was left wanting more of these snippets of insight, but then again, I suppose this isn't Jon Sopel's autobiography - perhaps that's to come one day!
The book ends with the election being called for Biden (spoilers), so also misses Trump's subsequent Twitter unravelling and the shocking events at the Capitol on January 6th.
And I honestly don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
funny
informative
slow-paced
A great author who creates an enjoyable read. But in 2023 being reminded of covid personally bored me. I want to ignore those horrors. So I really enjoyed the beginning entry pre-March then especially the revelations of the disease became a bit tedious. I can’t tell if Sopel or Trump’s idiotic behaviour is making it so funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
funny
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
It’s interesting to read this book two years after it was written. Seeing the start of the pandemic and the end of the Trump presidency through someone else’s eyes and so up close was informative to read. If you’re interested in the 2020 election, I would recommend this book.
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
