A review by glrshfrd
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John R. Bolton

2.0

I wanted to read this to get the insider perspective. I didn't want to buy it, because it seemed wrong to me that he didn't testify. So I had to wait for a library copy of the ebook and didn't have much time. What a slog of a read this is - I ended up skimming because my loan was expiring. I learned that the current administration is as petty and chaotic from the inside as it appears to be from the outside. I also learned that John Bolton only seems to respect those who agree with him and, even though he didn't hesitate to accuse others (notably Mattis and Mnuchin) of CYA behaviors, it seemed that the entire book was just such an exercise. My kindle version of the book didn't even have a table of contents, and I couldn't find any acknowledgements. Given the laborious writing, I was left wondering if he even rejected editorial assistance, which would have benefitted the book. It had the feel of a self-published vanity project. I still think it is important for the documentation it provides of Trump's decisions and behaviors in foreign relations, but you need to know that is more a diary than a memoir.