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tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘So there it is, my life in an eggshell: my desire to be a writer, my desire to please, my complicity in my own disappearance, and my meek protest against that very fact.’
I picked up this book to meet one of the categories for a reading challenge I am participating in. Yes, I was looking for a book written by a ghost writer, and Barbara Feinman Todd certainly fits the bill. Yes, she was Hillary Clinton’s ghost writer for ‘It Takes a Village’. She also worked with Bob Woodward, first as a research assistant and then researching ‘Veil’, his book on the CIA. While I’ve read both books, I have not read two other books she assisted with: Carl Bernstein’s ‘Loyalties’ or Ben Bradlee’s A Good Life’.
Here in Australia, I was unaware that ‘Feinman Todd’s involvement with Mrs. Clinton made headlines when the First Lady neglected to acknowledge her role in the book’s creation, and later, when a disclosure to Woodward about the Clinton White House appeared in one of his books.’. But I can imagine how these events (especially the disclosure to Woodward) haunted Ms Feinman Todd. Discretion is surely paramount for ghost writers.
Ms Feinman Todd wanted to write novels but realised that she had a better chance of earning an income as a ghost writer. A realistic, but I imagine difficult, decision.
‘But I had built up a solid reputation as a book doctor, and this town would never have a shortage of people who wanted to “author” books but couldn’t or didn’t want to write them themselves. I had to make a living. It wasn’t realistic to think I could do that by writing novels, even if I managed to get one published.
Was it time to make my peace with being a “craftswoman” as Hanan so kindly put it? What did it mean that I had gravitated to work that required —or allowed? —me to be silent and invisible?
Was it really so different from the fiction I longed to write?
Was it time to give up on my fiction, even my own voice, and be grateful for what I had: a steady income and a comfortable life?’
For me, Ms Feinman Todd comes across as an observant and thorough researcher, as a thoughtful writer who was trying to find her place in a world full of urgency, egos, and testosterone.
Barbara Feinman Todd retired in 2017 after twenty-five years of teaching at Georgetown University.
‘Until the lion has a historian’ goes the adage, ‘the hunter will always be the hero.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I picked up this book to meet one of the categories for a reading challenge I am participating in. Yes, I was looking for a book written by a ghost writer, and Barbara Feinman Todd certainly fits the bill. Yes, she was Hillary Clinton’s ghost writer for ‘It Takes a Village’. She also worked with Bob Woodward, first as a research assistant and then researching ‘Veil’, his book on the CIA. While I’ve read both books, I have not read two other books she assisted with: Carl Bernstein’s ‘Loyalties’ or Ben Bradlee’s A Good Life’.
Here in Australia, I was unaware that ‘Feinman Todd’s involvement with Mrs. Clinton made headlines when the First Lady neglected to acknowledge her role in the book’s creation, and later, when a disclosure to Woodward about the Clinton White House appeared in one of his books.’. But I can imagine how these events (especially the disclosure to Woodward) haunted Ms Feinman Todd. Discretion is surely paramount for ghost writers.
Ms Feinman Todd wanted to write novels but realised that she had a better chance of earning an income as a ghost writer. A realistic, but I imagine difficult, decision.
‘But I had built up a solid reputation as a book doctor, and this town would never have a shortage of people who wanted to “author” books but couldn’t or didn’t want to write them themselves. I had to make a living. It wasn’t realistic to think I could do that by writing novels, even if I managed to get one published.
Was it time to make my peace with being a “craftswoman” as Hanan so kindly put it? What did it mean that I had gravitated to work that required —or allowed? —me to be silent and invisible?
Was it really so different from the fiction I longed to write?
Was it time to give up on my fiction, even my own voice, and be grateful for what I had: a steady income and a comfortable life?’
For me, Ms Feinman Todd comes across as an observant and thorough researcher, as a thoughtful writer who was trying to find her place in a world full of urgency, egos, and testosterone.
Barbara Feinman Todd retired in 2017 after twenty-five years of teaching at Georgetown University.
‘Until the lion has a historian’ goes the adage, ‘the hunter will always be the hero.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
juliana_aldous's review against another edition
4.0
One of the reasons I enjoyed the movie the Post so much was watching Meryl Streep's performance as Kay Graham. I could certainly identify with Graham's self-doubt and hesitancy before finding her voice and owning the powerful decision made at the heart of the film. What a delight then to pick up this book from my book pile and realize there were echoes here by Barbara Feinman Todd for a number of reasons. One--because Feinman Todd actually began her career at the Post and we get a different perspective of what it is like to work there at the start of your career especially as a young woman starting out. Two--because Feinman Todd worked directly for Ben Bradlee (and Woodward and Bernstein) researching important books for them. A major part of the books is also about her work for Hillary Clinton on It Takes a Village--so we really learn what it can be like to be caught up in a Clintonesque maelstrom. (Yikes!) So we also get a glimpse at the world of Washington D.C., the power, the intrigue and what it is like to work close with powerful people. Third--because in addition to teaching journalism, Feinman Todd is a book researcher, ghost writer and book doctor, so we get a good sense how that works and how her career plays out. Any writer or editor would find this of interest. And finally, because Feinman Todd does some soul searching and questions her own hesitancy at finding her own voice. All that time writing for others and taking on their voices--would she have been better off finding her own instead? My answer to Barbara Feinmann Todd is that I'm glad you've taken. Through you we have a record of those in Washington and now your own view. I hope to read more from this author.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
A 2017 staff favorite recommended by Ellen J. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Spretend%20i%27m%20not%20here%20todd__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
komet2020's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I became aware of this book quite by accident a few weeks ago. I was watching a YouTube video of an interview Barbara Feinman Todd had given about the famous Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee from the HBO documentary The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee in which she gave a brief mention of Pretend I'm Not Here. That piqued my curiosity about the book, which I was delighted to find was available in my local library.
In Pretend I'm Not Here, Feinman Todd takes the reader on a journey through her journalistic career, which began with The Washington Post in the early 1980s. She, a recent graduate from UC Berkeley, was hired by The Post as a temporary 'copy aide', one of the lowliest jobs at the paper. By dint of hard work and showing a willingness to take on some challenging assignments at The Post, Feinman Todd made the acquaintance of Bob Woodward of Watergate fame after being selected by him to serve as a researcher in the paper's investigative unit. Her work there would lead to Feinman Todd later serving as Woodward's personal researcher, contributing to his 1988 best-selling book 'Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987.' What's more: Feinman Todd would subsequently be introduced to Ben Bradlee, for whom she worked as a personal researcher for his 1995 autobiography, 'A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures.'
Feinman Todd went on to work as a ghost writer for a number of notable people in Washington including Senator Bob Kerrey and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Her reflections on what ghost writing entails and the ups and downs she experienced in the role of ghost writer were raw and refreshingly candid. As someone who has spent a significant amount of time in Washington since the early 1990s, I felt almost like a vicarious observer of Feinman Todd's life because some of her descriptions of the atmosphere and tempo of life in the city were very relatable to me.
This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs.
In Pretend I'm Not Here, Feinman Todd takes the reader on a journey through her journalistic career, which began with The Washington Post in the early 1980s. She, a recent graduate from UC Berkeley, was hired by The Post as a temporary 'copy aide', one of the lowliest jobs at the paper. By dint of hard work and showing a willingness to take on some challenging assignments at The Post, Feinman Todd made the acquaintance of Bob Woodward of Watergate fame after being selected by him to serve as a researcher in the paper's investigative unit. Her work there would lead to Feinman Todd later serving as Woodward's personal researcher, contributing to his 1988 best-selling book 'Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987.' What's more: Feinman Todd would subsequently be introduced to Ben Bradlee, for whom she worked as a personal researcher for his 1995 autobiography, 'A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures.'
Feinman Todd went on to work as a ghost writer for a number of notable people in Washington including Senator Bob Kerrey and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Her reflections on what ghost writing entails and the ups and downs she experienced in the role of ghost writer were raw and refreshingly candid. As someone who has spent a significant amount of time in Washington since the early 1990s, I felt almost like a vicarious observer of Feinman Todd's life because some of her descriptions of the atmosphere and tempo of life in the city were very relatable to me.
This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs.
luckie422's review against another edition
5.0
I saw this book at a local bookstore and was immediately drawn in by the cover, and I was not disappointed. Barabara Feinman Todd didn't sugarcoat the story, making it more relatable without making it boring. Having a woman's perspective on the political world, especially a perspective of Washington DC, was refreshing change from the male dominated political scene. Very inspiring, 10/10, would recommend.
tsubramaniam's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting insight
I oddly felt most reassured that she met her husband in her 30s
Also her career and it’s careening trajectories were also reassuring
Plus interesting to get insight into the industry from someone whose orbited intersected with many I know
I oddly felt most reassured that she met her husband in her 30s
Also her career and it’s careening trajectories were also reassuring
Plus interesting to get insight into the industry from someone whose orbited intersected with many I know
geriatricgretch's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
I've always been very curious about how ghostwriting works. This definitely only gets at one particular type (memoir ghostwriting, mostly for politicians), and it was a fun and somewhat gossipy read. I appreciated Feinman Todd's disclosures of her personal history, including both the good and bad, and I respect her work and the effect it has upon one's own idea of self. I do think she's perhaps a little blasé about some of her subjects (including their potential war crimes), but I'm not that surprised.
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