Written by two Pulitzer prize winning investigative reporters, the book piqued my interest. I wouldn’t say I was let down, but the style of writing was quite like a fiction novel involving politics and headstrong leading characters (I was reminded of Jeffery Archer’s Kane and Abel more than once), which I didn’t expect from a biography. Also, the narration of events jumps from highly dramatic to restrained and analytic after every few pages, coming across like a badly coalesced group assignment where the individual authors’ styles can be easily distinguished.
That said, I do believe that this book comes close to uncovering the ‘real’ Hillary Clinton, especially since most books written about her tend to be either extremely critical, or else tend to paint a picture of a saintly woman. This book is neither. The authors tend to pick apart every positive and negative incident, especially concerning her decisions and actions. Where she has shown ambiguity and contradictory behavior, they have critiqued her and analysed her state of mind and intentions, and where she has shown steadfast determination, she has been lauded. One should not forget that most Americans read this book when they were still deciding on which democrat to support for presidential nomination. Knowing that, I admit that the books tries its best to present an unbiased account of her personal and professional journey.
Taking a lot of quotes from her autobiography, the book reveals some interesting facts too. This daughter of a typist/homemaker and a textile businessman, initially had republican beliefs which were modified and influenced by notable people in the formative years of her education. The book also makes a revelation about the ’20 year project’ that began in the early days of her courtship with future husband Bill Clinton. It paints a definitive picture of the turmoil in her life that was caused during and post her husbands career ending scandal. It also sheds light on Whitewater and her undeniable tendency to overlook bad decision like her supporting vote for the war on Iraq during Bush’s presidency. On the other hand, the authors spend ample time praising her for her humanitarian efforts.
One thing that I found missing was that the book fails to give clarity on what kind of a president she would make, if elected any time in the future. It gives a great account of all the formative events in her past life, but doesn’t use said insight to construct a plus minus analysis of her future career. But perhaps that’s not an investigative journalist’s job. Nevertherless it would have been great if we could have insight into the possibilities of a woman president for the United States of America.
Waves and Sands 