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  • Because I'll read just about anybody's life story I decided to pick this one up when I spotted it on the shelf at the library. I chose to listen to the abridged version because the unabridged was something like 50 hours! It starts with Bill Clinton's childhood and runs all the way up to his last d ... Continue

    Because I'll read just about anybody's life story I decided to pick this one up when I spotted it on the shelf at the library. I chose to listen to the abridged version because the unabridged was something like 50 hours! It starts with Bill Clinton's childhood and runs all the way up to his last days as president. He comments on every controversial aspect of his time in public service and gives his version of the story. I thought it was interesting to recount the details of our not-so-distant history and see them from his point of view. Of course you've got to take it all with a grain of salt as you would any book written by a politician. I especially had a hard time swallowing any of the comments he had about his relationship with Hillary.

    

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• ― Rice Cooker said on Aug 22, 2007 about the Audio CD edition| 1 feedback| 1 feedback

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  • First Edition

    

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• ― db's.books said on Aug 4, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • last section - my life....

  • The last section of the audio book is just phenomenal and sustains core inspirational values.

    

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• ― AJ said on Jan 7, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • The Man's Got Personality and His Wife Has Balls

  • It took a month to get through this mammoth biography of Bill Clinton's life and I don't regret a moment spent with it. Of course as a reader I was eager to hear his thoughts on Lewinsky, but while wading through the all the tedious, but informative politics of his life and work, I found myself forg ... Continue

    It took a month to get through this mammoth biography of Bill Clinton's life and I don't regret a moment spent with it. Of course as a reader I was eager to hear his thoughts on Lewinsky, but while wading through the all the tedious, but informative politics of his life and work, I found myself forgetting about the incident (which branded him in the middle class public eye), and emerged with the sentiment of him being a brilliant dude much to the chagrin of others. It also offers small insights into Hillary amending my hunch that she possibly transforms into a winged creature at night and prowls the subways looking for children.

    

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• ― Amanda Arden said on Dec 9, 2007 | Add your feedback

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  • So let me preface this review by saying that I am not a fan of Bill Clinton or a fair number of his political views. I read this book mostly because I was curious as to what he would say and how he would deal with the Monica Lewinski issue. To start off with, let me say that it was actually a pretty ... Continue

    So let me preface this review by saying that I am not a fan of Bill Clinton or a fair number of his political views. I read this book mostly because I was curious as to what he would say and how he would deal with the Monica Lewinski issue. To start off with, let me say that it was actually a pretty decent book. You have to read with the idea in mind that you know he is a stout democrat and will plug his party throughout the entire book and take shots at republicans. For me this wasn't an issue because I don't really like democrats or republicans.

    I think other than the obvious "political" tone of the book he gave a fairly honest heart-felt description of his life and presidency. While I still don't support his ideals or many principles that he believes in, I gained a little bit of respect for him and that fact that world leaders are humans as well.

    My guess is that none of you guys really have a desire to read this, but if you ever get the itch, it will leave you surprisingly satisfied.

    

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• ― catchburns said on Jul 11, 2007 | Add your feedback

President Bill Clinton’s My Life is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public.

It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who, through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White House—a journey fueled by an impassioned interest in the political process which manifested itself at every stage of his life: in college, working as an intern for Senator William Fulbright; at Oxford, becoming part of the Vietnam War protest movement; at Yale Law School, campaigning on the grassroots level for Democratic candidates; back in Arkansas, running for Congress, attorney general, and governor.

We see his career shaped by his resolute determination to improve the life of his fellow citizens, an unfaltering commitment to civil rights, and an exceptional understanding of the practicalities of political life.

We come to understand the emotional pressures of his youth—born after his father’s death; caught in the dysfunctional relationship between his feisty, nurturing mother and his abusive stepfather, whom he never ceased to love and whose name he took; drawn to the brilliant, compelling Hillary Rodham, whom he was determined to marry; passionately devoted, from her infancy, to their daughter, Chelsea, and to the entire experience of fatherhood; slowly and painfully beginning to comprehend how his early denial of pain led him at times into damaging patterns of behavior.

President Clinton’s book is also the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever written—encompassing not only the high points and crises but the way the presidency actually works: the day-to-day bombardment of problems, personalities, conflicts, setbacks, achievements.

It is a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals.

It is the gripping account of a president under concerted and unrelenting assault orchestrated by his enemies on the Far Right, and how he survived and prevailed.

It is a treasury of moments caught alive, among them:

• The ten-year-old boy watching the national political conventions on his family’s new (and first) television set.

• The young candidate looking for votes in the Arkansas hills and the local seer who tells him, “Anybody who would campaign at a beer joint in Joiner at midnight on Saturday night deserves to carry one box. . . . You’ll win here. But it’ll be the only damn place you win in this county.” (He was right on both counts.)

• The roller-coaster ride of the 1992 campaign.

• The extraordinarily frank exchanges with Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole.

• The delicate manipulation needed to convince Rabin and Arafat to shake hands for the camera while keeping Arafat from kissing Rabin.

• The cost, both public and private, of the scandal that threatened the presidency.

Here is the life of a great national and international figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions, told openly, directly, in his own completely recognizable voice. A unique book by a unique American.

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Malaysian Bookworms (56)

• 22AutobiographyHistoryBiographypresidentsNonfiction