Reputation: Portraits in Power

by Marjorie Williams, Timothy Noah (Editor)

In 2005, The Woman at the Washington Zoo was published to major critical acclaim. The late Marjorie Williams possessed “a special voice, one capable not just of canny political observations but of tenderness and bracing intimacy,” observed the New York Times Book Review.Now, in a collection of profiles with the richness of short fiction, Williams limns the personalities that dominated politics and the media during the final years of the twentieth century. In these pages, Clark Clifford grieves “in his laborious baritone” a bank scandal’s blow to his re-pu-taaaaaay-shun. Lee Atwater likens himself to Ulysses and pleads, “Tah me to the mast!” Patricia Duff sheds “precipitous tears” over her divorce from Ronald Perelman, resembling afterwards “a garden refreshed by spring rain.”

Reputation illuminates our recent past through expertly drawn portraits of powerful— and messily human—figures.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Essays

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 18, 2008

Reviews

[Arielle W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heard Marjorie Williams was great, picked this up, but was not blown away. The profiles are well written and interesting, but there was not a lot more than that. I see comments raving about The Woman at the Washington Zoo though, so I'll have to give that one a shot. Most of the pieces were written in the 80s/90s, so there was a personal layer of nostalgia to the whole thing. I don't know that much about politics of the era, but it's interesting to see how many names are still relevant. I would be interested to read some of her pieces of the people in power now--wish she was still with us.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great writer. A fab summary on each of 8 famous DC players. runs the gamut.

[James Space · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blown away by the author's command of the English language. The writing in this book is nothing short of exceptional.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posthumous collection of profiles of political figures, compiled by the author's husband, Slate columnist Tim Noah. Many are from the late 80's/early 90's, and part of the pleasure of reading the book now derived from my having forgotten many of the relevant episodes (what exactly was the deal with Iran-Contra scandal again? Lee Atwater tried to rehab his post-Willie-Horton-ad reputation by joining the Howard U. board of trustees? Now that's chutzpah....).

Beyond the content, she was just an excellent writer, and it was a pleasure to read, or in some cases reread [some of these appeared initially in the Washington Post], her in-depth takes on Colin Powell, Terry McAuliffe [now back in the news for considering a run for VA governor], etc etc.

I'd probably have given this 5 stars if I read the pieces as initially presented, one at a time in magazines/papers. Read back-to-back-to-back, there was a little bit of a formulaic quality to her approach. She clearly thought, for instance, that one's college friends are an especially insightful source on one's character.

But that's a minor issue -- all told, if you like good writing and are interested in politics, this book is worth a look.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first posthumous collection of Marjorie Williams work - Woman at the Washington Zoo - when it first came out, and I cannot recommend it more highly. Williams is witty, astute, sincere. Her writing about Washington avoids cynicism and her writing about herself and her illness is heartfelt and smart. This is the second collection of her work released after she died, pulled together by her husband, who is a reporter for Slate. These are interesting, well written profiles, but they aren't quite the stuff of the first book, which had more of Williams in it, giving her political reporting more color. The book's not helped by the fact that many of the profiles are quite old now, so the musings on their subjects are at best interesting to look back upon. Still, Williams is a gifted writer of politics, and her husband's love for her and her talent is in every footnote he's added to reference her role in a story. I'd start with Woman at the Washington Zoo, but if you like that, this one is worth picking up too.

[Brendan Cheney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read. Definitely not as good as Woman at the Washington Zoo. But this collection of her profiles shows that she had a really keen eye for seeing the whole person. The people in this profile are not quite as interesting on the whole. But there are a few that stand out - most notably Colin Powell. That is probably the best analysis of Powell I have ever seen.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Most of the essays were written in the 90s and cover a period of time and issues I was only vaguely paying attention to as a middle and high schooler. But they are very thoughtful profiles and I felt like I learned a lot. Even though, again, the essays were dated, it is amazing how many people mentioned the book (Carville, Laura Ingraham, Colin Powell) are still relevant today.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Marjorie Williams who wrote for the Washington Post and died of cancer. Her husband, Timothy Noah, has published her essays. You don'w much like the people she writes about but get a good sense of who they are and the background of their times.

[Kappy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked "Woman at the Washington Zoo" (previous book by the author) so much. The writing in this book is excellent, but because they are political profiles - some written in the '90s, much has changed and the profiles are dated. I am very sorry she is not living now and writing.

[Wreckage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less compelling than Woman at the Washington Zoo, but only because these profiles felt more dated, ad because there weren't personal stories to balance the political ones. Still, Marjorie William's writing is brilliant and so enjoyable to read.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only finding out about Marjorie Williams now through this book. So I had the pleasure of discovering her work at the same time that I learned she had died. The essay on Colin Powell is deep.

[Taryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written but I enjoyed Woman at the Washington Zoo significantly more.