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A review by trulybooked
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann
3.0
I think the best part about this book is that it spotlights how the media can have negative effects on politicians when it delves into their personal lives while its very existence has had negative effects on politicians by delving into their personal lives.
Game Change was one of the few books that I picked up because the media was hyping it and then I found I couldn't put it down. It has taken the 2008 election and written about it in a truly accessible way. It's politics, but reads like pulp fiction in a way that is fascinating. While I can say I'd read it again, having the inside look behind the media's portrayals and the propaganda was fascinating.
Especially when it came to the McCain camp. Most people would have dismissed him as a doddering old man, but if this book is to be believed he has a nasty streak in him that's a mile wide. Palin's part was more disturbing than anything else. The entire time I was reading it all I could think about was that she was far too close to being president.
I think the best part about this book is that it takes the caricatures that we've formed of politicians and it turns them on their heads, it makes all of them into real people. People who can get upset, tired and burnt out. People who don't make the right decisions. It showed an intelligent side of Bush who acted like a president rather than the gaffes the media kept calling him on. It showed a malicious side of John McCain and the extent of Sarah Palin's ineptitude (we already all knew she's malicious). It showed a different version of Edwards and his Wife than what people would have expected.
It makes everyone human and for that fact alone, I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in American Politics. It takes a little bit of basic knowledge, but if you were paying any attention at all to the race, you're going to want to read this book.
Game Change was one of the few books that I picked up because the media was hyping it and then I found I couldn't put it down. It has taken the 2008 election and written about it in a truly accessible way. It's politics, but reads like pulp fiction in a way that is fascinating. While I can say I'd read it again, having the inside look behind the media's portrayals and the propaganda was fascinating.
Especially when it came to the McCain camp. Most people would have dismissed him as a doddering old man, but if this book is to be believed he has a nasty streak in him that's a mile wide. Palin's part was more disturbing than anything else. The entire time I was reading it all I could think about was that she was far too close to being president.
I think the best part about this book is that it takes the caricatures that we've formed of politicians and it turns them on their heads, it makes all of them into real people. People who can get upset, tired and burnt out. People who don't make the right decisions. It showed an intelligent side of Bush who acted like a president rather than the gaffes the media kept calling him on. It showed a malicious side of John McCain and the extent of Sarah Palin's ineptitude (we already all knew she's malicious). It showed a different version of Edwards and his Wife than what people would have expected.
It makes everyone human and for that fact alone, I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in American Politics. It takes a little bit of basic knowledge, but if you were paying any attention at all to the race, you're going to want to read this book.