<![CDATA[My Life]]>

false <![CDATA[My Life]]>

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An exhaustive, soul-searching memoir, Bill Clinton's My Life is a refreshingly candid look at the former president as a son, brother, teacher, father, husband, and public figure. Clinton painstakingly outlines the history behind his greatest successes and failures, including his dedication to educational and economic reform, his war against a "vast right-wing operation" determined to destroy him, and the "morally indefensible" acts for which he was nearly impeached. My Life is autobiography as therapy--a personal history written by a man trying to face and banish his private demons. 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 Clinton's unassuming, charmingly pithy voice: <blockquote>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 can't 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.</blockquote> 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 Clinton's 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

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2004

My Life

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That having been said, I am coming to understand that way more of "The West W...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 22:06:49 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 20:58:01 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Tue May 22 16:14:06 -0700 2007 Wed May 23 16:43:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 1 false false Wed Apr 04 21:39:00 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 06 14:43:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 17:02:22 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 11 20:42:47 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Oct 14 10:14:47 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 11:24:12 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:25:50 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:25:50 -0800 2009 "It sure is a good story," Clinton writes in his prologue. Really, it is. You just need to wade through the myriad names, dates, and details of this "big puffy plum cake of an autobiography" to make sense of his panoramic story (New York Times Book Review). As The New York Times ...

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If you have an interest in any of American life/politics, the civ...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Nov 15 07:17:51 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 07:37:26 -0800 2008 5 1 false false Sat Dec 13 20:59:16 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 08:20:42 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 14:58:24 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 15:02:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jul 26 15:43:19 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 15:43:47 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 21:04:58 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 07:51:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 18:59:51 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 17:40:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 01 08:28:56 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 08:29:34 -0800 2008
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