Rating: 
Summary: Fictional Book
Review: I am very interested in politics and remember the past years of when Clinton was president. I believe what Mrs. Clinton wrote in her book (actually, she didn't write it herself, just edited it) has many discrepancies. She spins the info for her own political gain and makes excuses for her husband's lack of character and integrity. I don't believe that an intelligent and cunning person like Mrs. Clinton believed her husband when he said he did not have an affair with Ms. Lewinsky when she knew about all the other prior affairs. I believe she was angry he got caught in his lie and helped hide the truth. What they didn't know is if he would have told the truth originally, we could accept it. What I couldn't accept is his direct lying to the American People directly on TV. Her facts were not complete or truthful. To bad she will make $8 million dollars on a fictional book that is supposed to tell the true story. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable/Disgusting
Review: Not worth one's time to read it. She has not been truthful in this book, but what else is new? Who can believe anything this woman says? Many people say she's the smartest woman in the world, yet she can't remember where she puts things, can't remember what she says, tries to steal the White House furnishings, isn't smart enough to make it on her own, pretends to not know her husband is cheating when the rest of the world knows it, blames all her problems on anyone but herself and she climbed to the top on the back of a man (and a sleaze bag at that).Remember when she said she wasn't Tammy Wynette who stood by her man? Well, looks like she's exactly what she said she wasn't. She wants to be president, yet she doesn't want to pledge allegiance to the flag of the USA, the very symbol of our freedom. She said she would like to change it to "pledge allegiance to what America can be". She can't get support from intelligent people. Look at those who have written kind things about her in these reviews. Most can't spell or even write a coherent sentence. Enough said. She's a power hungry, opportunist, parasite who's lived off the government all of her adult life. I don't believe a word she says and God help this country if she ever gets lucky enough to be called the Leader of the Free World.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing New
Review: This book provides nothing new to anyone who watched the news during the 90's. Asking us to believe that she was so surprised by this first episode of her husbands unfaithfulness strains credibility. I lived in Arkansas during the 80's when Bill was governor, and there was nothing special about either of them. Hillary has a famous name, but little actually needed by our country. Save your money!
Rating:
Summary: Hillary Book disappoints
Review: Mrs. Clinton has been called one of 'the smartest women' in America; yet she wants readers to believe that she was duped by her husband's adultery with a White House intern. Given his history of cheating on her in the Arkansas years; it is an incredulous story. Their Attorney Kendall had warned her a few days before Bill's emotional 'bedroom confession' that her husband would have to admit his lying to the Federal Prosecuters. Obviously Bill's DNA on Ms. Lewinsky's blue dress was proof of their sexual activities so the truth would have to be told. This book is notable for the events that she doesn't address....the firing of the Travel Office so her Arkansas cronies could take over; why the missing Rose Law Firm billing records were accidentally discovered in her office with her finger prints after she conveniently couldn't 'recall' where they were. Mrs. Clinton has selective memory and also leaves out the true facts about her husband's Impeachment. No one 'preverted the Constitution' as she claims. The House of Representatives impeached him for perjury and obstruction of justice. She omits the fact that Federal Judge Susan Wright found him 'in contempt of court' for lying to her in the Paula Jones case and that he was fined $90,000. In addition the state of Arkansas disbarred him and the US Supreme Court banned him from ever presenting a case before them. This book seems to be an attempt to gain sympathy for her as a victim of her husband's cheating but it just doesn't ring true. She was an 'enabler' and obviously stayed with him to remain in power. "Rewriting History" would be a more appropriate title for this book. I found it a great disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Senator Clinton - A great American I"m proud to support
Review: Senator Clinton's prose flows nicely, and what stories she has to tell! What a great living American she is. For those of you with a pathological hatred for Hillary, you'd better ask yourself if you've done 1/100th of what she's done to improve the lives of children and the citizens of the world. I'd bet you haven't. Yet, you go on bashing her. It's ugly and anti-Christian. You may not be ashamed, but you should be.
Rating:
Summary: It's fun watching conservatives heads explode over this book
Review: By their enemies (who appear to be out in force), ye shall know them... I never really understood what made some right wingers so crazed about the Clintons. Neither of them is all that liberal except in areas of race, gender and opportunity for all. Then the Supreme Court jobbed Al Gore and handed George Bush the Presidency on non-existent legal grounds. That man's policies and politics are so regressive, dangerous and wrongheaded, now I'M sputtering and foaming screaming "Where's the outrage". I finished "Living History" a few hours ago. I found it compelling, well-written and very -- not totally -- revealing. That's enough for me. Sure, she's circumspect. She's a working politican. Katherine Graham was marvelously frank in her autobiography -- but she was also in her 80's and empress of all she surveyed. I think that Hillary struck a pretty good balance between the "zone of privacy" and addressing personal matters that were shoved into all our face's by zealot political prosecutors run amok. Did she earn her advance? Yes. Did she touch EVERY base on the Clintons 8 years...no, but why should she? It's her book and her story. Hillary comes across as a woman of ALL her times. I'm about five-six years younger than Mrs. Clinton but so much of her girlhood reflections of growing up in a Chicago suburb rang very true to me. Her vivid descriptions of her parents and their origins, her childhood and gradual evolution from a Goldwater girl thru her four years at Wellesley, and Yale Law school are familiar. What made the book interesting were all the telling details, her asides and tossed off remarks. That's when the real woman peeks through. She can actually be funny. You can really understand her choices and how she thinks. I've not been much of a Hillary fan, but what a gift she has for maintaining strong and caring friendships over decades. I know that her many staff people from over the years seem to love her and keep in close touch. Doesn't that say a lot about a woman who's supposed to be the Princess of Darkness. My opinion of her has shot up considerably after reading this book. There was a lot of substantive detail about her foreign travel that I hadn't seen elsewhere. The White House material was quite interesting. (I also recommend her other book on Entertaining at the White House which showed a whole other side to her First Lady gig. She was surprisingly good at the hostess stuff and generous with the credit.The photography is fabulous.) All this blather about whether she's going to run in 2004 or 2008 never touches on the substance of this book. She might be talked into 2008, but I'm not convinced that she's panting to go back to the Big House. I saw her once in the Senate on CSpan, making a speech and dealmaking with the boys. She looks like a woman who is totally comfortable in her skin -- far more so than when talking to Barbara, Katie or Larry -- or standing by Bill on a platform. I see a workhorse running her own race at last. It's all led to this -- even better than being Class President. She looks HAPPY -- even when her hair is a mess and she's chewed her lipstick off. She's good at this stuff and relishes being good at it. That's the focused, self-confident girl with glasses and the dowdy clothes who dazzled Bill Clinton at Yale. The more hysterical the Right gets about her, the more clout she has as the Senator from NY. And Bill gets to be HER booster rocket. As to the marriage question, I've always thought that they should have divorced before 1992 and remarried immediately. Just to shut people up, but she was far too good a Methodist for that. I see them as a couple who married in a fever that was physical and intellectual. The same things turned them on. Apparently, they still do. Her descriptions of Bill's charms are flat-out intense...downright 'get-a-room'. As to why she didn't buy the rumors about Monica (someone who I've also come to like and wish well).... In Hillary's White House years, where there was smoke, there was usually a smoke machine bought and paid for by the billionaire right-wing nutjob Richard Mellon Scaife. She also knew the NY Times, Wash Post, et al, were being conned and played by every rube in Arkansas with a grudge or looking for a fast buck. The allegations flung at Hillary alone were demented... she'd been accused of having an affair with Vince Foster, murdering Vince Foster, being a lesbian, being in a sham marriage...damn near everything but shooting Ron and Nicole. She knew that Whitewater, Travelgate, etc were nonsense. (Oh, and what everyone fails to note on the billing records is that they totally vindicated Hillary's earlier testimony. Why hide what backs you up?) She'd stopped reading the newspapers. To me, it's plausible. What I find fascinating and somewhat bizarre is all the folks who want to shoot holes in this woman's take on her own life. All you Hillary/Bill haters check out Sid Blumenthal's "The Clinton Wars" or Joe Conason/Gene Lyon's The Hunting of the President or Eric Alterman's "What Liberal Media" to get a full taste of what a fraud was perpetrated on the American people over this entire array of phony scandals. All spelled out, documented and footnoted. Ultimately, that's the only scandal that historians will see. Good for Hillary. A best seller. A job she adores. A husband she's been through the wars with and STILL loves and has fun with. Her kid is grown and sane. Living well is the best revenge.
Rating: 
Summary: Who cares about her hair?
Review: Arguably the most polarizing political figure in America (if you don't believe me, read some of these reviews!!!), Hillary Clinton is clearly going to run for president--if not in 2004, definitely in 2008. Since that's the case, I thought I'd read this tome and try not only to get some answers to questions I've had for a number of years, but also to get a feel for a woman who is quite serious about becoming our country's commander-in-chief. This book is reasonably well-written (although I have serious doubts about how much, if any, Mrs. Clinton actually wrote), and there are some illuminating moments--it's not hard to feel sympathetic for Chelsea as she grew up in a fish bowl. But I don't know who besides Hillary's most ardent female admirers would begin to give a flip about her many changes in hairstyle. Believe it or not, there's an incredible amount of space in this book devoted to hair, clothes and general appearance. If Hillary is really trying to position herself as a serious presidential candidate and take a large chunk of the great undecided vote, I don't think page after page about her personal appearance is the way to go. And lastly, there are vast unanswered questions. Where's the explanation of the Rose Law Firm records? What about the death of Vince Foster? I'm already hearing contradictory information from people like Dick Morris about the content of this book, and I'm sorry--I just don't buy the lengthy victimization Mrs. Clinton gives us about Monica Lewinsky, and her gut-wrenching reaction when Bill "finally" broke the news to her. She knew the whole time. Don't think twice about that. And the less said about the "vast, right-wing conspiracy," the better. Lots of space is taken throughout this book to rail against media types and Republican politicians, all of whom, she declares, did the Clinton team wrong during their eight years in the White House. It has been my experience watching this woman for the past decade that she doesn't answer what she doesn't want to. This book does nothing to change that notion. And ultimately, I walked away from this book thinking that Hillary Clinton thinks she's entitled to anything she wants--including the presidency of this country. Read this book before you bash it or extol its virtues, because as politically-based books go, you could do far worse in terms of your twenty dollars (or more). If your mind is already made up about Hillary, that's fine. But if you aren't sure about her, give this book a try. Then ask yourself if this woman is really someone you would trust--in any capacity.
Rating:
Summary: A gracious and intelligent woman
Review: I haven't read the book yet but plan to just as soon as it arrives. President Clinton was "my President" and I've always had nothing but admiration for Hillary. I really get irritated when all these conservatives are still criticizing the Clintons, but, then again, they are only revealing how envious they really are. I could really care less about President Clinton's sexual escapades. This has nothing to do with being able to govern the country. President Kennedy was very popular and he made Bill Clinton look like the pope as far as womanizing!! I feel Bill and Hillary have a relationship that is too concrete to allow these minor sexual dalliances interfere with their relationship. Hillary stood tall in the face of "the vast right wing conspiracy" (yes there definitely was a conspiracy!!) and I regard her highly.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Hogwash
Review: This book is the first compaign appearance and the Barbara Walter's interview was a free political ad. As usual, she won't be honest, she will only say what she thinks will improve her standing in the polls. If this were such an honest, reflective book, why did she need 2 ghostwriters? As for her story that she had no idea about X-rated president clinton's affairs, that is not believable. If you believe that, you also believe she didn't hide billing records from her law firm that were under subpeona.
Rating:
Summary: ASCENT OF A WOMAN
Review: It's surely a world-first, this simultaneous world-wide publication of a political memoir. Of course, the publicity machines have gone into hyper-drive. Media coverage has been worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. And following a first reading, with all the anticipation and hoopla we have been given, this book is a disappointment. In terms of production quality this book (the OZ edition) is printed on very cheap , paper-back quality paper. Not a good look for an expensive hardcover... As for the content .... it's more than 30 years since the Women's Lib movement gave women the confidence to make their names ... and stake their claims in their own right. However we still have many women whose profile and identity is purely a product of what their husbands are ... or were. But has the path that Hilary Clinton's life has taken warrant the beatification ... she now expects. Does this memoir give us something of substance? No ... it's full of ephemera and trivia, and as a purported history it will surely be classified by future scholars of "The Clinton Years" as just superficial marginalia. It's a shallow package that only highlights and confirms the duplicity and deceit of many of those who "make it" in high political office. It's a shame there is no reference in "Living History" to the "fact" that Mrs Clinton was named after that famous New Zealand mountaineer (Sir Edmund H). This is according to a 1999 interview in NZ with her mom Dorothy Rodham --- It's now exactly 50 years since Mt Everest was climbed and 56 years since Hillary Rodham was born. In 1947, Sir Ed was an unknown Kiwi beekeeper. It looks like tall stories are the only things the two Hillarys have in common.
| 
