Rating: 
Summary: A worthwhile look at recent history
Review: Readers who are willing to keep an open mind will develop a new understanding of the heart and soul of this accomplished woman. Long seen only as a symbol by political friends and foes, "Living History" allows us to see Sen. Clinton as a caring human with the dignity to maintain a "zone of privacy." In a society that sees nothing wrong with tawdry exhibitions on "Jerry Springer" and televised marriage marts, the Senator's decision to protect her most private feelings may disappoint some; however, she provides a valuable inside look at recent American history.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and Gripping Account
Review: I enjoyed this book, LIVING HISTORY, as much or more than another gripping autobiography, PERSONAL HISTORY. Senator Clinton writes plainly and clearly about some of the most disturbing times in our nation's history. She has done us a great service by offering her own account of the events that almost brought down one of the great presidents of our time. Reading her account, I could only wonder at what Mrs. John F. Kennedy might have written had she been exposed to the relentless investigations and allegations that Mrs. Clinton was exposed to. For example, how would Mrs. Kennedy have managed an appearance before Starr and his minions? For that matter, would Starr have ever been so exercised at the shennanigans of John Kennedy? Additionally, Hillary's account of her early years, her life as a private and public person, and her deep faith give us a good understanding of the sources of the courage that saw her through such difficult times. Hillary, to my mind, ranks with Jacqueline Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt as important women in American life. women who have changed our nation for the better. I hope we have yet to see even more from Senator Clinton. I recommend this book highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Truth or fiction
Review: What is most striking about this book is what it does not say. I cannot remember ever having read a more self serving autobiography.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: You get a better understanding of what Hillary stands for as a New York State Senator, and as a potential presidental candidiate. You also understand her somewhat better as a person. She comes across as closed off even talking about her most private moments. But after the stuff that her detractors have put her and her family through in the past, who can blame her?
Rating: 
Summary: A bland telling of an interesting life
Review: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has written (or, to be pedantic about it, has put her name on) a book that I'm fairly sure will infuriate her enemies, disappoint her friends, and bore to tears nearly everyone else. How can this be? Hillary Clinton, no matter what you think of her (and in the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I voted for her once for Senator and her husband twice for President) is a smart and capable woman who has had, to put it mildly, an interesting life. So why is she seemingly incapable of making that life sound interesting? The problem, I believe, is twofold. First, the Senator has had, as she candidly admits, "a lot of help" writing her book -- almost certainly too much. Anywhere from 60 to 85% of this decidedly impersonal autobiography sounds like it could have been written by someone who never met Senator Clinton. And an impersonal autobiography is, or at least should be, a contradiction in terms (although there are people who have pulled it off, most notably Julius Caesar and Henry Adams). Secondly, Senator Clinton is a lawyer, and by all accounts an excellent one. Unfortunately, she writes like a lawyer. Too much of the book sounds like a legal brief rather than a life story - her prose style (or that of those who gave her "a lot of help") is smooth, polished, functional and decidedly bland. You never really get a sense of urgency, of passion -- even when she writes about falling in love with her husband, it's with the robotic tone of a Stepford Wife. It's either highly ironic or incredibly revealing that the only time Senator Clinton's prose generates any heat at all is when she discusses Kenneth Starr. Not that there aren't interesting things in the book -- it's just that the part of the text that sounds like it could only have been written by Hillary Clinton amounts to, at best, 15% of the total. The rest of the book feels like it's on autopilot. The main problem with "Living History," it seems to me, is that it needed to be either a long longer or a lot shorter. The early, pre-Bill Clinton years are dispensed with pretty perfunctorily, and there are many occasions where important matters are dispensed with in a paragraph, or even a clause, that should have been given a lot more space. Conversely, she seems to feel the need to discuss at length every foreign trip she ever took and every foreign leader (and, naturally, their spouse) that she met on those trips. She also feels compelled to mention by name every person who has ever worked for her in any capacity. It gets a bit tiresome -- at points reading like nothing so much as an overlong Academy Awards speech. This is a book only a policy wonk could love, and for all the hundreds of thousands of people who have bought and will buy it, I doubt that one reader in twenty will stick it through to the end. While it has some good things in it (the scene on pages 394-95 where the 95-year-old Strom Thurmond starts hitting on the 16-year-old Chelsea Clinton at an official function is priceless), overall reading it was a bit of a chore. Not an experience I would recommend, unless you're very earnest, don't mind plowing through some very dull prose and you're obsessed with public policy. In other words, it sounds like the only person who would get anything out of reading "Living History" is Hillary Clinton herself. The rest of us should probably give it a pass.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Memory
Review: Her story was choppy, and difficult to follow. I found it anti-climatic with no real news, yet I found 2 things interesting: 1) how she implied that much of Bill's success was her doing, and, 2) how well her memory has been to write this book, yet it was so poor for Whitewater investigators and the Press.
My overall impression is that this book was not intended for us to "look back in retrospect at her living history", but much more intended for us to consider her in 2008.
New York is not a stepping stone??? I now believe that New York's function for Hillary is more intended to be a catapult than a stepping stone. Politicians in America are supposed to serve the public. In Hillary's view it seems the public is there to serve her. In Hillary's world, we are the "little people".
She's very smart, I'll grant her that, but smart in a cold, calculating way, almost scary. Save your money and get this book from the post office.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD READ
Review: The Clintons gave us 8 years of lies and deceit? PLEASE!!! How soon we all forget the 12 years from 1980-1992. For those of you that hate the Clintons, so be it. No administration is perfect. ... I found the book a facinating read. I would recommend it to anyone. Before you start bashing the Clintons and what they accomplished in eight years, ask yourself what YOUR party has done. I know, I for one, was a LOT better off eight years ago than I am now. Keep up the good work Hilary, you've earned EVERY bit of respect and honor you deserve. YOU GO GIRL!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not what its hyped to be
Review: I was disappointed to see that there was little new information in this book. I felt very let down - I had hoped that she would be stronger and more revealing.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: Hillary showed us the "human side" of her life. I found it interesting and informative. Growing up in the same era as Hillary, I could relate to a lot of her stories growing up.
...Ummmmm - the Republicans cannot get over the fact that this is one smart lady!
Rating:
Summary: History or Just Plain Outdated?
Review: I was disappointed in Hillarys book. Thought it would be cutting edge but instead she rambles on about her hairstyles. She also writes about a joke that Rush Limbaugh played on friends of hers and tells how they all enjoyed his joke. I kept waiting for her to talk about how ridiculous his views were but she neglected to address them in any way. I could have done without any reference to Monica, but since I had already heard her comments on Monica on the Barbara Walters interview it was not anything new, and I doubt any of us that were willing to shell out money for her book cared that she brought up Monica at all. There are many more important items she should have presented. But overall I think that this book will not hurt her career, and the right wingers will have trouble digging around for anything to attack her on. If safety was what she was shooting for she has accomplished that, but she has disappointed those of us that were hoping this would be the slap in the face that so many of those that have attacked this poor woman over the years had coming to them. She spends too much time trying to win over those that will only get sound bytes about her book from news clips and not to inform or entertain those that are her loyal fans.
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