Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "u-s-presidents"

The President is Missing
Bill Clinton
James Patterson
Audible Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Audible.com Release Date: June 4, 2018
https://www.amazon.com/The-President-...

Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton

On so many levels, the powerhouse collaboration between best-selling novelist James Patterson and former President William Jefferson Clinton has ignited nearly every kind of possible critical response. Some readers nearly gush with effusive praise; other reviewers are far less kind, and not always for political reasons.
Some reader games would seem unavoidable. Guessing who wrote what is more than problematic, although I’m certain Clinton wrote both the first and last chapters. The first as it seems so much like Clinton’s own experiences during his impeachment hearings, the last as it reads like one of Clinton’s famously long speeches. To the chagrin of some readers,it’s a speech that touches on many issues not dealt with in the novel at all.
Another game is trying to decide how much of Clinton is captured in the character of President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan. Other reviewers have pointed out a handful of biographical similarities as well as major differences. Me, I read the book noticing the absence of any sex or romantic relationships. Was this a means of avoiding the smirks and/or guessing games of readers who’d want to connect Clinton’s erotic life with his fiction?
The fingerprints of James Patterson are evident throughout the bulk of the thriller. For one thing, the pace of the book is partly driven by his very short chapters that jump from scene to scene, from character to character in a rapid-fire delivery. Throughout, there are many very familiar tropes of the political thriller genre that are reminiscent of numerous authors, not just Patterson. For example, the rudder of the plot is a terrorist named Suliman Cindoruk who wants to activate a computer virus that will cripple the U.S. by erasing all internet data of the military, government, business, medical facilities, and infrastructure. In an often convoluted storyline, President Duncan believes he’s the only man who can meet with Abkhazian separatists to avert the catastrophe. That’s why the President is missing, although political opponents think he’s pulling a fast one to avoid impeachment hearings.
Typical of such novels, one fly in the ointment is a traitor at the very top echelons of the government. But who is the traitor? And why is the female sniper code-named Bach not assassinating world leaders when she has them in her sites, but instead shoots defectors from the terrorist ranks? And who is paying for all this carnage?
Part of the story focuses on discussions between Duncan and his advisors, part is action-oriented with shootouts, car crashes, Viper helicopters, and deadly infiltrations into secret government facilities. It’s either a pleasure or an annoyance to read so many red herrings in the book that lead to a number of very surprising reveals and conclusions in the final chapters.
I recommend reading the Hachette Audio edition of the book to hear the passages narrated by Dennis Quaid, January LaVoy, Peter Ganim, Jeremy Davidson, and Mozhan Marnó . It’s also interesting to hear the chapters focused on Bach read by a female reader and often spiced with musical backgrounds by the classical composers Bach is listening to while setting up her kill shots.
For my money, The President is Missing is a fun read occasionally laced with political observations no doubt offered by Clinton. Maybe some of these lectures will resonate with readers who don’t often listen to voices not coming from their political bent.

You can download the book for free and hear samples at various sites on the net, such as
https://www.audible.com/ep/title/

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sat. Aug. 11, 2018:
https://waa.ai/awJJ

Fear: Trump in the White House
Bob Woodward
Hardcover:448 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 2nd edition (September 11, 2018)
ISBN-10:1501175513
ISBN-13:978-1501175510
https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Trump-Whi...


Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

I’m pretty sure this was the first time I ever picked up a new book anticipating a depressing reading experience.

That’s because, like many Americans, I watched the election results of Nov. 9, 2016 with amazement and horror. I saw my country go insane. In the months and years since Trump’s inauguration, I’ve seen a narcissist, often paranoid president looking at the world through Trump-colored glasses. Policy wise, it’s been clear he has protectionist, populist, and nationalist views. It’s been clear he operates on the fly, often responding emotionally to any perceived threats or attacks. He’ll lie at the drop of a hat.

And all of this has been publicly chronicled on a daily basis since the presidential campaign. So Bob Woodward’s controversial new book doesn’t offer many surprises, other than the minutiae of who said what to whom and when. For me, I occasionally felt a glimmer of hope when I realized Trump has had some clear-headed advisors who’ve butted heads with more right-wing ideologues, although usually for relatively brief periods.

The greatest surprise for me was reading claims that some of these more clear-minded advisors found all manner of tricks to keep Trump from signing potentially dangerous documents, notably curtailing long alliances with countries like South Korea. True, as others have noted, this means unelected members of Trump’s inner circle have subverted the will of our elected president. I admit, I’m glad they did. I realize this places me inside a serious moral conundrum, but I’m too far away from any offices of power for my thoughts to matter.

Woodward’s uncited sources provide great specificity to all the conversations and actions the interviewees shared with Woodward, although not every issue of the Trump presidency was covered. There’s no discussion, for example, of the president’s ban on Muslim travelers to the U.S. But, without question, the most controversial aspect to the book is the lack of attribution to the “anonymous sources.” As Woodward has been assuring us in interviews the past few weeks, all his notes, memos, diaries, and tapes will ultimately be open to public scrutiny when he donates them all to a library archive.

Till then, I think Bob Woodward has built up enough of a record that give him serious credibility and trust. Also, the book is a straight-forward bare-bones narrative of information with little obvious editorial postulating, although it’s clear who he thinks are the heroes and who are the villains.

My one hope is that Trump supporters will take the time to read this tome and not respond like the Morgan County Library in West Virginia which has refused to shelf the book. On what grounds? No one is saying.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 18, 2018 at BookPleasures.com:
https://waa.ai/aiwZ