This is a quick and easy read, in the sarcastically self-aggrandizing Jesse Watters style. If you follow the news and have a decent interest in what happens in America, How I Saved the World is not going to tell you much more than what you already knew about the state of the country. It is, however, a delicious book that opens a window into a likeable character and shows you how things are done in the news world (or at least how Jesse Watters has done them).
For instance, I didn’t know that ambush journalism can actually be an instrument for change. While I was initially taken aback by these episodes, Jesse Watters ended up winning me over. Apparently, ridiculing people may help put them back on the right path. This is in fact, the premise of some of the book’s chapters that tell the story of Jesse’s contribution to changes in law, behaviors or attitudes in the U.S.
Despite their titles, some chapters, especially the last ones, do not seem to have much to do with Jesse saving anything. However, he makes a good point in the Epilogue. He is a soldier on many fronts, so we are left to assume that his political analysis is part of the fighting for truth and “saving the world.”
Though a bit all over the place, I felt that the book was, among other things, a good pretext for Jesse Watters to lay out facts that are worth repeating. Some pages are brushing over recent or current events, characters and beliefs, (probably not developed enough to convince an unbeliever, nor to offer the believer anything new). Jesse’s personal anecdotes and style keep the seriousness of these pages under control, so the book never becomes tiring.
The “mom texts” chapter towards the end of the volume allows you to take a funny break before diving into the presidential stories of the last years. Jesse's footnotes are short and hilarious, part of the book's charm. Very much like Donald Trump, whose persona colors the last chapters of the book, Jesse Watters likes to turn the rules on their head. Finally, the book gave me a few loud laughs, which is a lot when you have a cough, so that’s a very good sign.
The back-cover blurbs are as funny as the book. They are part of the whole picture. Whoever knows anything about human psychology understands very well that, underneath Jesse Watters’ apparent self-centeredness, there is a guy who doesn't take himself very seriously. By poking fun at himself, Jesse Watters makes himself unattackable. He can then express his opinions without paying much attention to the haters' noise. Three stars for a mildly entertaining book.