wahistorian 's review for:

On the House: A Washington Memoir by John Boehner

3.0

---

I listened to the audiobook because I’d heard that Boehner threw in some (four-letter) editorial comments that were not included in the book; for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed, even though Boehner and I would not agree on anything, except that Donald Trump is a reprehensible person. Boehner’s book is not a blow-by-blow of his career in Congress. Instead the book proceeds more thematically; in one chapter, he talks about how congressional trips broadened his horizons, for example (although not completely—Boehner’s domestic bus trips were “no girls allowed,” a quote). He does manage to preserve a bit of a sense of wonder at the trajectory of his life and his story is most approachable when he talks about his childhood in his grandfather’s and father’s working-class tavern. He says repeatedly that he is fundamentally the same person he started out and I believe he believes that. But his remarkable optimism about the future of the Republican Party demonstrates that he does have some grievous blind spots, about his and the party’s privilege and their ability to connect with people who aren’t rich, white, and male.