Average Rating: 
Rating: - Fact or Fiction
Whether you love or hate; defend or condemn the Clintons, there is one thing for sure: they can still bring passionate debate on issues like whether or not the President has a right to privacy or not for example. Mrs Clinton was put in a tough position during those years or was the position she found herself of her own making? That is just another debate waiting to happen. Go away? No way...President Clinton's book is due out next year I believe. I read this book as I would any other political novel (fiction or non-fiction). There were parts of this book I felt were quite plausible and other parts, I had my doubts about the honesty. So as long as you read this book knowing that there is an agenda, you probably won't start mumbling to yourself and develop book rage. What I find interesting is that the Clinton critics are buying the books. One note, if you don't want to add to the reported income of the book sales, buy the book used, check it out from the library, or borrow a copy--I did...lol
Rating:  - Hillary Lite
All right, let's be honest. Everyone who thought that she was going to confess that she was an axe murderer who enjoyed cross-dressing and drowning newborn kittens please raise your hand. Right, no hands. Normally, people write autobiographies to tell their version of events, and cast themselves in as positive a light as possible. That is what Hillary Rodham Clinton has done in "Living History." If you are a fan of Senator Clinton's, you will enjoy the book, not least because she offers plausible explanations for some of the less savory accusations that have been hurled against her over the last three decades or so, including Whitewater, the national healthcare debacle and those commodities trades. If you are not a fan, you will not enjoy the book for exactly the same reason ' many of the explanations are plausible. Even less appealing to the Senator's detractors, her prose is very readable (though I do wish she wouldn't use "impact" as a verb), her life has been (and continues to be) interesting and she is more charming in print than she often seems in public appearances. Granted, some of the prose (particularly in the early years) is self-serving: "The keynote speaker at the League convention was Marian Wright Edelman, whose example helped direct me into my lifelong advocacy for children" sound more than a bit self-serving. In her defense, however, she works through the pre-White House days very quickly, so it all becomes a blur of good deeds as a child and honors as a student, right on through graduate school (student government, political activist, first student commencement speaker at Wellesley, etc.). One wonders if she ever got a B in a class or missed a lecture because she overslept. The only exception is her hair, which she treats as a running joke throughout the book. The other running theme -- no surprise here -- is her belief in a right-wing conspiracy against the Clintons. Read that either as an accurate statement, as the Senator's paranoia or somewhere between. There is no denying, however, that mentioning the Clinton name in certain conservative circles produces the same effect of throwing an ear of corn into a pen of pigs ' both are devoured in seconds. Whether Senator Clinton does or does not plan to run for President in 2004, or after, one intention of this book is clearly to give her an opportunity to explain herself, and thus reintroduce herself, to the American voting public. That clearly raises the question: why? Perhaps, like Nancy Reagan, she just wanted to tell it her way, or perhaps she is just planning for all eventualities. In any case, this is an interesting read, if not an overly revealing biography of a very complex and ' like it or not ' influential woman in American politics, not a must read, but certainly on the short list for consideration.
Rating: - A worthwhile read..
I bought this book as a present for my dad (for father's day) and was reading through it. I am not a big fan of the Clintons and have been a life long republican. Despite this, I found this book well written and a fascinating inside glimpse of marriage and politics. The book was also nicely illustrated and filled with photos of her from childhood to present. I expected this book to be very political but Senator Clinton has given readers a look at her background and college years, how she and her husband met in school, her decision to go back to arkansas with him and eventually enter the political arena. Even her detractors have to admit that she is an accomplished well educated person. Most fascinating are the White House years and all the associated scandals. She writes candidly about her time as First Lady and the various battles she had- with healthcare, with white water, with her marriage and monica lewinsky etc. She came across as very likable and sympathetic ( and this from a die hard republican!) All in all this book was a worthwhile read- it is giving us a glimpse of the inside workings of washington during turbulent times. Everyone from all political spectrums can appreciate this book .
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