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Summary
Summary
From one of America's most revered journalists--a richly entertaining roundup of the extraordinary individuals with whom he crossed paths in our nation's capital and of the events that marked the twentieth century. Here are firsthand profiles of Washington insiders that only an insider himself could have given us: Franklin D. Roosevelt counting out enough cigarettes to get through a half-hour debriefing with the press; May Craig, the first female reporter to penetrate Roosevelt's inner sanctum, who never failed to remind the president that his wife was a newspaper writer, too; Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and race baiter who effectively became mayor of Washington at a time when it was a segregated provincial town; Jimmy Hoffa, the popular and ill-fated union leader; Lyndon Johnson, whom Brinkley describes as the most impressive and appalling figure he encountered; and Ronald Reagan, whom he found to be the most mysterious of the eleven presidents he covered. Here is also Brinkley's account of President Kennedy's assassination and a poignant remembrance of D-day. David Brinkley was there and saw it all. In the "sour-lovable manner" (Mark Feeney,Boston Globe) of storytelling that he perfected, and in a narrative style that is both "hilarious and instructive" (George Will),Brinkley's Beatgives us his vivid recollections and the intelligence, acuity, and clear-sightedness on which his unimpeachable reputation rested for more than half a century.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This volume serves as an appropriate remembrance of the acerbic longtime NBC News and, later, ABC, anchorman, who died in June. A journalist since 1938, Brinkley was an unusual figure in American life: a mainstay media personality whose defining trait was intelligence and good judgment. The subtitle serves as an exact description of the table of contents, as the book indeed does begin with personalities (Hoffa, Reagan), then recounts some of his travels (Hong Kong, Vienna) and closes with reflections on events like the Kennedy assassination. As befits memories of a Washington journalist, the "People" section focuses almost entirely on Washington political creatures, some of them obscure (e.g., Martin Dies, May Craig). The sketches are purposely brief, verging on perfunctory: Brinkley consciously keeps his remarks on the surface, so only some of the sketches have compelling insights to offer. The sketch of Bobby Kennedy, a friend of Brinkley's, is a notable exception, capturing the split nature of his truncated career. Brinkley's skill at handling tone is better displayed in the final two sections. His thoughts about the men who made sacrifices at Normandy in 1944 are very moving; writing about the Mediterranean, he is appropriately charmed and awestruck by its history. Brinkley wrote a somewhat similar volume in 1995, although his tenor has softened considerably in the intervening years. Agent, Peter Matson. (Nov. 4) Forecast: Brinkley died on the same day as Gregory Peck, robbing him of some of the attention his death otherwise might have received. This volume may provide a second opportunity to remember him. Knopf plans a 200,000-copy first printing. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Vest-pocket portraits of people, places, and events from veteran newscaster Brinkley that have the brisk familiarity of Cliffs Notes. Brinkley, who died earlier this year, dispenses, with an easy hand, his views on a number of newsmakers and historical events. At their best, these bite-sized pieces have fun poking sideways at pretension and folly, of lifting the mask of face value. It may be WWII-era Washington, DC: "Sleepy, often slow-moving, inbred, and thoroughly segregated," wherein "the antiquated character of the city was most visible in Congress," and epitomized by the opportunistic bigot Senator Theodore Bilbo. Or it may be the role that ambition played in Robert Kennedy's politics: "To set himself up as the alternative to Johnson in the Democratic Party . . . he had no choice but to move to Johnson's left." His early "Our Man in..." travelogues have a warmth that lets readers peek under his own mask--in the Mediterranean, "the places we visited were so full of the things that define our own civilization . . . that I often felt like a grown man who had come back to walk around in the town he was born in." His background as a southerner and as a longtime inhabitant of Washington gave him perspective on the Civil Rights movement, though progressive for all that. And, really, who better to pen an article on national political conventions, having covered 24 of them--"nothing was more spontaneous and unpredictable than the rowdy, chaotic, ridiculous, and endlessly entertaining political convention"--though "endless" was pushing it: "By the end, no one (including me) was paying much attention." Less enlightening are the pieces in which he didn't have a first-person presence. "I hardly knew the man myself," he writes in a J. Edgar Hoover profile, and elsewhere, "I barely knew [Joseph] McCarthy myself." He is correct: he hardly, barely knew them. Still, some worthy nuggets to be mined from these pages. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this posthumously published memoir, Brinkley's well-known wry perspective is brought to bear on some of the most notable people, places, and events of his 50 years in television news. Brinkley came to Washington, D.C., in 1943 to begin a career that would put him in contact with an array of memorable figures, including Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo, whose career was distinguished by its unabashed racism, and Congressman Martin Dies, the original architect of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Brinkley covered 11 presidents during his career but profiles only 3: cunning, energetic Lyndon Johnson; Ronald Reagan, whom Brinkley found impenetrable, a man who filtered reality through a set of assumptions and preconceptions that he refused to question ; and Bill Clinton, coming to office with great promise but ultimately as overestimated as president as he had been underestimated as a candidate. The places Brinkley recalls include Normandy in 1944 and 1994 and black-and-white Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1960s. Given his longevity as a television journalist, his access to the powerful and influential, and his own sardonic perspective, Brinkley offers an engrossing look at the most fascinating people and events of the last half-century in a fitting capstone to his memorable career. --Vanessa Bush Copyright 2003 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Brinkley, one of America's best-known broadcast journalists, died shortly after completing these reflections on the people, places, and events that shaped his world. He opens by acknowledging his attraction to the ridiculous, a fitting entree when one considers that, in addition to the serious and even tragic news that he covered, he never ignored the foolish and pretentious side of life. This sense of humor shines through in his writing. The section on people is bookended by two Southern politicians who mark the beginning and the end of his Washington reporting career: Bilbo and Clinton. Mississippi Senator Thomas Bilbo served as the unofficial mayor of 1943 Washington, DC, and Brinkley credits him with making explicit the bigotry that existed under the city's genteel facade. Bill Clinton may have been a bore (as Brinkley accidentally attested on live television), but Brinkley's final assessment is that he was a better president than many think. The places he goes on to cover reflect his interest in World War II, civil rights, and foreign policy. His lament on the transformation of the political convention from an exciting and unpredictable circus to a closely scripted political event reveals his deep interest in politics and his trust in the good judgement of people. Most libraries should purchase. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/03.]-Judy Solberg, George Washington Univ. Libs., Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.