Hillary's Turn

by Michael Tomasky

There is no shortage of anti-Hillary Clinton books on the shelf--authors ranging from conservative critic Peggy Noonan to pop psychologist Gail Sheehy have offered volumes that must make fans of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684873028
• ISBN13: 9780684873022
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating - should be required reading.

I had not expected to be so much entertained by this book, but I was. Tomasky goes all the way back to the 1920s to explain how the political situation that made Hillary a senator arose, and he makes it make sense. Even if you are not that interested in HRC, this book makes a good tutorial of New York politics, its history and psychology.As for Hillary herself, Tomasky makes it seem clear that just about everything you read about her in regular media is wrong. That's not to say that you will like her from reading this, but you will most likely begin to understand (and understand why) your opinion has been built at least partially out of distorted information.My favorite line comes in the prologue: "Hillary has been so reluctant to fill in the blank spaces of her life that people filled them in for her, according to the few clues she dropped along the path, and according to their own ideals and neuroses." I can't see how you can hit the nail on the head more squarely.How else do you explain the reports of more than a few white, professional women (a demographic that was unexpectedly against Hillary) began spending their $185/hour therapy sessions talking not about themselves, but about Hillary? More questions: Why did she do so well upstate, where she was not expected to? Why did she finally get the jewish vote? Why did she run in the first place? What happened to change her from such a lousy candidate at the beginning to a winner? Tomasky provides most of the answers, and they probably aren't what you are expecting them to be.Good reading.

A Turn for the Better

I'm very much involved in New York State politics - yet I learned much from this insightful and thoroughly enjoyable book. HILLARY'S TURN is written almost like a series of news articles. Even the layout of the cover suggests that the book is merely a hardbound tabloid. Indeed, news coverage of the campaign is one of the book's main themes. The effect is to move the action of the book along in a dramatic and concise manner. Tomasky doesn't stop much to reflect, which seems somehow ironic considering his portrayal of most of the players as unreflective. But that's fine because as campaign accounts go, this one is all action.Tomasky's three major characters are Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giulliani and Rick Lazio. He somehow manages to paint them all in a fairly good light, while dramatizing their oddest characteristics. He seems particularly fascinated by Giulliani, who he claims did the "most bizarre thing a politician has ever done, ever." Tomasky seems to believe that Hillary herself is sort of boring, but the events that were happening around her were anything but.For all the fun of this book, it has a few flaws. Most outstanding of these is the great disparity in Tomasky's reporting when it comes to upstate rather than New York City politics. Tomasky's sources and knowledge of NYC politics are first rate, but his knowledge of upstate seems to be limited to what he saw on the bus. Much is left out, not the least of which is a full appreciation for Hillary's use of the upstate economy as an issue, and Lazio's perplexing refusal to do the same. But that's a subject for someone else and not reason enough to skip this book. HILLARY'S TURN is a real page-turner!

Best book of its kind

Michael Tomasky's HILLARY'S TURN not only gives a comprehensive account of all of the events that affected Hillary Clinton's quest for the Senate, but also does it in a way that's balanced, free of cliche and surprisingly literary. Tomasky is a gifted writer and a great stylist, but he doesn't bang you over the head with his talent. A phrase just catches the eye; you re-read it; you re-re-read it this time aloud and you say to yourself "wow! this SOB can write!"I'm sure everyone else is commenting about the politics, so I'll leave that alone. Let's just say that I'm one of those who felt that Hillary was TOO CONSERVATIVE -- the death penalty, the drug war, the HMO/INSURANCE CO/AMA health gin-up, advocating abstinence, all the DLC bs, etc. -- and this is the first book that takes the opinions of our small cohort seriously. Tomasky also makes very clear how and why people of different ideological stripes loved her or hated her.Most of all, we get a great insight into what's important in NYC and New York State politics today. We see the "gears grind" as Tomasky might have said.Super reading.

Take it From a Non-Fan

I might not particularly like Mrs. Clinton, but I have a great deal of respect for her vision and ability to maintain a focused and fair campaign amid the ever-widening scandals with which her husband continues to embrace himself.In this book, Michael Tomasky has offered a valuable document to people like me. This is a window through which I was able to finally, at least to my best guess, see the person behind the face and the name some of us have come to meet with churning stomach. I expected more of a biography, but was met instead with the story of the candidacy for the Senate. We're presented with the ins and outs of the campaign trail, one that would seemingly be somewhat low-key considering it was, after all, for one state and not for all fifty (in a shallow comparison to the Presidential campaign). We're given a look into the turmoils that surrounded Mrs. Clinton, from Rudolph Giuliani's attacks to "that speech, that kiss" from Mrs. Clinton to Arafat's wife. Through it all, we are credibly told and shown, Mrs. Clinton took the high road.If nothing else, this book has greatly increased my respect for Mrs. Clinton. She's been shown as a human being, one who has the same emotions as you and me, and one who has the character and strength to face a hell of a lot more tribulations in one year than I would ever hope to see in a lifetime. Hats off to Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Tomasky for a well-crafted, perfectly outlined book.

a dispassionate surveyor of the scene......

As a New Yorker I followed Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign very closely. Never wanting her to run because as someone who saw the eight years of hell she endured as First Lady I knew what she'd be in for. Readng Michael Tomasky's brillant, honest and ultimately fair book I realized i was right. Mr. Tomasky was able to capture all of the good, the bad and the ugly of this unprecedented campaign bringing the reader along with him on his journey. It's all there for the reader to decide. Even having lived in New York all my life I learned things about the New York political landscape I never knew. They say a book should enable the reader to come away thinking about things they never have before, Mr. Tomasky has fulfilled that which an author should. This book takes you into a world of politics that will never be seen again in American history.