Living History

Rating:
Summary: History or Resume?
Review: Although well written clearly explaining her side of the story about many of the tribulations that the Clinton White House faced during the 90's, it is hard not to see that Hillary wrote this book to prepare the American public for her future attempt at acquiring the office as the first female President. The novel comes across as a lengthy resume attaching the former first lady to many of the Presidents' accomplishments making the reader feel that balancing the budget, welfare reform and increased employment were all of her successes.

Hillary provided the occasional flowery anecdotes bringing her daughter and friends in at various spots to remind the reader that she is female and a mother, but she always kept the underlying tone of strength, courage and dedication exposed as her self portrait. The book is worth reading if the reader has the desire to discover the other truths that existed about the Clinton White House not reported by the US press.

Rating:
Summary: HEADY IN ITS ARROGANT REVISIONISM
Review: Senator Clinton, like her husband, hardly needs help in defaming her reputation; dubious charges of Marxism and the like pale when compared to her actual liabilities.

And this book is packed with them. That she blithely expects readers to swallow her revisionism is vulgar. These two unprincipled powermongers will not come to a good historical assessment.

Rating:
Summary: Selective History
Review: This book should be subtitled "How to leave all the good stuff out and still make a fortune". I'd first like to say that I am not a Hillary-basher or a big fan either. I fall squarely in the middle, sort of like my rating of this book. I don't think you can read Living History without coming away with the undeniable feeling that Mrs. Clinton was extremely selective in what she chose to disclose and that she has tinkered with the truth in regard to several different subjects, especially her husband's now infamous affair with Monica Lewinsky. Sure,that's only a small part of this book but on almost every major subject Mrs. Clinton touches on, you just know that she isn't being quite upfront. However, since it's her autobiography, I'll grant her the right to tell us what she wants us to know. That said, this is not a badly written book and moves along fairly quickly. Objective,it's not and I think I'll wait for another writer of stature to tackle the subject of Mrs. Clinton before I make a final judgement about her place in history and the truth about what she writes in these pages

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not what I expected.
Review: I believe that Hillary Clinton is a brilliant person so I expected her book to be full of valuable insights. I didn't much care if it was the "tell all" some claimed it would be. It was neither. But there was enough there that it was worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Poltical Drivel from the Former First Lady
Review: "Living History" is Hillary Rodham Clinton's tell- all tale of what it has been like to live and grow with master politician and husband, Bill Clinton. From her early days as a young girl in Illinois, all the way to her run for the U.S. Senate, Ms. Clinton lets the reader know about her life experiences, up close and personal.

This book has its moments. I particularly enjoyed the candid feedback regarding some of her husband's political enemies, like Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, and others. It was interesting to read some of Newt's comments about the Monica Lewinsky debacle that he told Hillary in private. Basically, he stated that it was disgusting that these charges were brought against Bill, but as the primary torch- bearer of the Republican Party, he had to follow through and lead the impeachment proceedings. Whether or not Newt's comments are completely true is unknown, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were.

This book centers on a few key areas of Hillary's life: her youth, attending college and meeting Bill, and her husbands (and her) frequent runs for political office. Hillary is very open and opinionated regarding her feelings in the various scandals (Whitewater, Filegate, and so on) and she defends herself and her husband to the very end. While I agree that many of the "scandals" were outrageous and were instigated by political enemies trying to bring her husband down, I don't agree that the Clinton's were entirely innocent of everything. I also find it interesting that Hillary makes no mention at all of the one scandal that really WAS serious- the alleged selling of secrets to the Chinese. She makes no mention of this at all. As a former lawyer herself, I think she was wise to avoid this topic completely.

Hillary's views are very political, and she makes no apologies for how she feels. But her personal relationships and the mixing of politics gets a little old after a while. Throughout the book, she describes fellow Democrats as "incredible", "very intelligent", "a superb human being", etc., almost to the point of elevating them to deity. But with Republicans, she cannot bring herself to muster up even one nice complement. And that includes ALL Republicans- not just those who were known political enemies.

I don't like the way this book changes direction so quickly. One minute, Hillary is talking about a mission to a foreign nation and a meeting with a foriegn head of state. Then, out of nowhere, she inserts a paragraph about how she and Chelsea spent a holiday. Suddenly, the writing returns to the meeting with the foreign leader. A little more focus and consistency would have made this a better book.

Taken as a whole, this is a good book to read. Most people of the Republican persausion will not like it at all and most of them will not even bother to pick it up. But I think it's a decent book, with some good insight and good perspectives from the woman who spent eight years in the White House with her scandal ridden husband- Eight years of "Living History".

Rating:
Summary: I Like Hillary-- But Not Her Book.
Review: I've got nothing against Hillary Clinton. I voted for her for Senate, and I'd certainly vote for her if she were to become the Democratic candidate for President against George W. Bush. But this is just not a good book. It reads like a children's book, except with the word "Republicans" substituted for "scary monsters." She makes everything sound so simple and one-sided, with the Democrats always on the side of right, and the Republicans always on the side of greed or pettiness or evil. But I certainly remember that at the time a real debate was happening, even if the Democrats might have had the better of the argument. The book is boring, uninsightful, unrevealing, and totally self-serving. Whether you like Hillary Clinton or not, this is just not a good book to read.

Rating:
Summary: Like all things Clinton can you trust it?
Review: Boy it must have been so painful to have three ghost writers write a personal account of your husband's infidelity. And having the ghost writer write about confronting Bill? Come on stick a needle in your heart! All I can say is that this book seems like a slick, revised version of her marriage to Bill. Like all things Clinton it's synonymous with 'mistrust', 'shady', 'weasel', 'road scholar', and 'self interest'. This book was written in a way to generate the highest amount of revenue without damaging her own political career. One thing is for sure she didn't have a ghost writer sign the check when she took the largest advance in publishing history.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and informative
Review: I am not in favor of Hillary running for president in 2004 and as to later we will wait and see. I never voted for her husband. That said, I found this book told about events which we all know of and which are of high interest. I thought the book well written and attention-holding. Much of what she says makes a great deal of sense. Certainly one can "love her for the enemies she has made" and her account of things which received only passing attention when they happened actually told me things I did not know--I had forgotten she went to places which could not have been very much fun, but her going there undoubtedly did good for the people there and for the world. Anyone interested in the events of the last ten years owes it to him or herself to read this book. I was glad I decided to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Pulp Fiction
Review: One of my liberal friends let me borrow this book, and I made every effort to read it in full, but there were too many lies. It appears that Hillary is rationalizing in front of the world, and she doesn't think anyone will notice. Oh, by the way, my friend that actually paid money for this pulp fiction has not read it yet...I don't think she ever will.

Rating:
Summary: She's a good woman
Review: As an 18 year old girl, I am much more impressionable than an expert on politics. This gave me some great insight into the Clinton years during which I grew up, and was a fascinating recount of this amazing woman's life story. I liked it, and it makes me feel for her and want to smack all the people that call her ...