What Happened
It's not often that I run out and get a book right after it's released. I prefer paperbacks, and I buy most of my books used. Which means that I tend to be at least three years behind. But there are times that I have to get my hands on a book right away. In this case, the subject matter was too immediately relevant to the world for me to wait until the book made it's way to the used-book scene. Or even to wait until the paperback came out.
What Happened is Clinton's version of the election. She goes through it step by step, trying to work out what went wrong, what she could have done differently, what she misunderstood or underestimated. Her analysis, while obviously biased, is keen and interesting. She's not one to simplify issues. Rather she illuminates all the different variables, showing how they created a complex series of events that led to President Trump.
I cried a lot while I was reading this book. Sometimes it hurt, taking me right back to the days following the election or inauguration and that time of hopeless despair. Sometimes it was reaffirming, to remember that I nowhere near alone in thinking and feeling these things. I spent a lot of this book thinking about what could have been - to have such a thoughtful, intelligent, hard-working woman as our president instead of the ignorant, temperamental Cheeto we ended up with.
I also laughed a lot while I was reading this book. Sometimes it was gallows humor, and sometimes I was laughing through my tears. But there were genuinely nice, funny moments, too. More than I was expecting.
Reading this book was like going through it all again, but on a much compressed timeline. I laughed, I cried, I came out the other side feeling inspired and hopeful. I suppose that's what they mean by cathartic. Clinton's biggest message (other than fuck you, Jim Comey) is that we can't give up. Now more than ever, it's important to keep fighting for this country and all of it's citizens.
What Happened is Clinton's version of the election. She goes through it step by step, trying to work out what went wrong, what she could have done differently, what she misunderstood or underestimated. Her analysis, while obviously biased, is keen and interesting. She's not one to simplify issues. Rather she illuminates all the different variables, showing how they created a complex series of events that led to President Trump.
I cried a lot while I was reading this book. Sometimes it hurt, taking me right back to the days following the election or inauguration and that time of hopeless despair. Sometimes it was reaffirming, to remember that I nowhere near alone in thinking and feeling these things. I spent a lot of this book thinking about what could have been - to have such a thoughtful, intelligent, hard-working woman as our president instead of the ignorant, temperamental Cheeto we ended up with.
I also laughed a lot while I was reading this book. Sometimes it was gallows humor, and sometimes I was laughing through my tears. But there were genuinely nice, funny moments, too. More than I was expecting.
Reading this book was like going through it all again, but on a much compressed timeline. I laughed, I cried, I came out the other side feeling inspired and hopeful. I suppose that's what they mean by cathartic. Clinton's biggest message (other than fuck you, Jim Comey) is that we can't give up. Now more than ever, it's important to keep fighting for this country and all of it's citizens.
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