Woodward’s contemporary books are full of bombshell allegations that made absolutely zero tangible difference to anything at all. Yes, you get the never-before-heard juicy gossip; no, putting it in the papers didn’t matter. We all witnessed the downstream effects live as they happened.
I have War right here. It’s a great look into the minds and personalities and motivations of the figures discussed. But at this point it frankly feels like those scientific studies that empirically confirm things that “everyone already knows.”
My wife said the same thing about the Bob Woodward books.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Woodward-Trilogy/Bob-Woodward/9781982198916
Do the reporting FIRST, THEN do the book tour!
Roll back to Watergate, it was a news story FIRST, then a book.
Or the excellent reporting by David Cay Johnston - report that shit first THEN write the book.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/291700/perfectly-legal-by-david-cay-johnston/9781591840695
I don’t think the Washington Post of today would print an article with dirt on the president.
Woodward’s contemporary books are full of bombshell allegations that made absolutely zero tangible difference to anything at all. Yes, you get the never-before-heard juicy gossip; no, putting it in the papers didn’t matter. We all witnessed the downstream effects live as they happened.
I have War right here. It’s a great look into the minds and personalities and motivations of the figures discussed. But at this point it frankly feels like those scientific studies that empirically confirm things that “everyone already knows.”
My thoughts exactly. Lost a ton of respect for him over that.