Bill Clinton - My life
Clinton approaches the
story of his youth with gusto, sharing tales of giant watermelons, nine-pound tumors, a charging ram, famous
mobsters and jazz musicians, and a BB gun standoff. He offers an equally energetic portrait of American
history, pop culture, and the evolving political landscape, covering the historical events that shaped his
early years (namely the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK) and the events that shaped his presidency
(Waco, Bosnia, Somalia). What makes My Life remarkable as a political memoir is how thoroughly it is infused
with Clintons unassuming,
charmingly pithy voice:
I
learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most
people are good; that people cant be judged only by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgments can
make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is just showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the
best, and sometimes the only, response to pain.
However, that same voice
might tire readers as Clinton applies his penchant for minute details to a distractible laundry list of
events, from his youth through the years of his presidency. Not wanting to forget a single detail that might
help account for his actions, Clinton overdoes it--do we really need to know the name of his childhood barber?
But when Clinton sticks to the meat of his story--recollections about Mother, his abusive stepfather, Hillary,
the campaign trail, and Kenneth Starr--the veracity of emotion and Kitchen Confidential-type revelations about
"what it is like to be President" make My Life impossible to put down.
To
Clinton, "politics is a contact sport," and while he claims that My Life is not intended to make excuses or
assign blame, it does portray him as a fighter whose strategy is to "take the first hit, then counterpunch as
hard as I could." While My Life is primarily a stroll through Clintons memories, it is also a scathing
rebuke--a retaliation against his detractors, including Kenneth Starr, whose "mindless search for scandal"
protected the guilty while "persecuting the innocent" and distracted his Administration from pressing
international matters (including strikes on al Qaeda). Counterpunch indeed.
At its core, My Life is a charming and intriguing if flawed book by an equally intriguing and flawed man who
had his worst failures and humiliations made public. Ultimately, the man who left office in the shadow of
scandal offers an honest and open account of his life, allowing readers to witness his struggle to "drain the
most out of every moment" while maintaining the character with which he was raised. It is a remarkably
intimate, persuasive look at the boy he was, the President he became, and man he is today. --Daphne Durham
Type: PDF
Lang: English
Page: 777
Download: 10.70 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/330090/Bill_Clinton_-_My_Life.rar
Password: www.devilived.com |
