Customer Reviews

All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is one of the oddest, funniest - and most fact-packed -- books I've read in a long time, and certainly one of the most surreal books I've ever read, which is basically a survey of presidential history and politics set against contemporary issues in the guise of the story of Mo Rocca being appointed a White House correspondent for CNN to compete with the Presidential Pet beat (read - White House propaganda) being monopolized by Fox News. Are you with me? If you saw this year's RNC, and the video about Barney helping sway voters across the country, well, that kind of shilling is basically what is at the heart of this book. And it's filled with cameos by political pundits and politicians and celebrities and all sorts of pop culture references that range from ironic to down right inspired, as well as real honest to god history. It's sort of Monty Python meets....something, I can't quite figure out, but it's sort of screaming cult status. Oh, and then there's the "thriller" that runs through the book where Rocca uncovers the "real influence" presidential pets have had in shaping the country that is suspiciously like the Da Vinci Code, albino (named Gephart), "holy" grail and all. Right on.

I was not familar with Mo Rocca until I heard a radio interview with him and decided to but this book. He was considerably funnier and more entertaining in the radio interview.

As other reviewers have explained, this is the story of the secret contributions made by presidential pets throughout US history. Mixed in are references to numerous cable news personalities and reporters, some shots at past presidents and our current one, and a conspiracy involving the holy grail of presidential pets.

Some familiarity with TV news personalities (OK, a LOT of familiarity) is necessary to fully appreciate the inside humor. Although Fox News is hit particularly hard, Rocca spares no one.

The problem with this book is it's inconsistency. It reminds me of old average Saturday Night Live or Monty Python episodes, where moments of brilliance are interspersed with skits that just didn't work. The climax is very funny, but leading up to it were many spots that dragged or just seemed dumb rather than humorous.

My copy will probably be ending up on EBay as well.

Mo Rocca's groundbreaking investigative reporting is a tour de force in this memoir/thriller/oh-so-juicy political potboiler. The former Daily Show guru plows through years of lies and half-truths to uncover the deadly secret that will rock Washington to its core: Presidential pets play more of a role in the affairs of state than previously believed....

Okay, Mo Rocca may have fudged some of the facts, and he may not be telling the full story of his scandelous May-December romance with White House Chief Correspondent Helen Thomas. And sure, Laurie Dhue may not be a killer cyborg and...oops, I've said too much.

This book, Rocca's first, is a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of Presidential pets, a world that used to be regarded merely as a "photo op" to make various Presidents look human. In fact, once you finish this tome you will realize that maybe, just maybe, presidential pets have more to do with the wise decisions our commanders-in-chief make.

Rocca's journey takes him to a hidden lair underneath the White House Press Room, where veteran reporter Helen Thomas (actually a 200+ year old turkey eagle) keeps a secret archive relating the unknown history of just how important presidential pets have been. In the corridors of power, he encounters resistance from the Bush Cabinent to acknowledge information gleaned from those archives. Betrayed by someone who knew about the archives, Rocca and Thomas see their precious documents destroyed. Finally, in a showdown only Jerry Bruckheimer can bring to the screen, Rocca confronts the evil conspiracy that threatens to neuter the presidential pets' power forever. Several of his collegues and political contacts meet a bloody end in a scene so ambitious and so exhilerating that you'll just have to wait for the Hollywood adaptaion.

The book works if you suspend your disbelief...really, really suspend it. I have to say overall, this is an impressive, if slightly muddled and occasionally frustrating, debut from Rocca. Those of you familiar with "Mike Nelson's Death Rat!" by Michael J. Nelson (MST3K) will find that this is a similar style of humorous fiction. In this case, Rocca includes real people, with their real names, and proceeds to run full tilt with a story that has to be read to be appreciated.

Overall, I think the book is winning enough to merit further readings, and I hope Mr. Rocca can continue his groundbreaking studies into just how presidential pets have shaped our nation's history. The world needs to know the real role of Millie, Socks the cat, and all the other pets who have called the White House home. It might shock you, it might embarass you, but it will never fail to entertain you.

I've been anxiously awaiting a book from the lovable scrumptious Mo Rocca and he has seriously delivered. This is a smart and funny satire that peels away the layers of the decsion making red tape in the White House to reveal a policy dictated by Presidential pets. Mo uses his tireless reporting skills to dig deep to expose this scary truth- I was so horrified by these truths that I couldn't stop giggling. I can not tell you how many lines I have quoted from this book to my friends. Point being, this book is smart, funny, and it's freakin' Mo Rocca! Yay! Go out and buy this book.

I picked this up at the end of the 2nd day of a well-picked over two-day booksale, for a mere dollar and, well, you get what you pay for. Sometimes a comedian's humor simply doesn't translate well on the pages of a book - this is one of those times. I'm a fan of The Daily Show, but Mo Rocca is simply not funny, whether he's 'fundit'ing it up on Iron Chef America or Wait, Wait Don't Tell me, and this debut effort should have been aborted by his publisher. It's a funny premise - that Presidential pets not only posses working larynxs and talk, but that they have been the true policy makers, not their popularly elected owners. You try to go along with the joke for as long as you can, but add in the bizarre bits about well-known media talking heads doing or saying insanely nutty things and you simply run off the rails of readability. Read it through, though, I did, because once I start a book, I finish it. And this was entertaining in a "how bad can this get" way. Very bad, is the answer. I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anyone other than someone looking to read the very last piece of fiction left on a burnt out rotten, post-Armageddon Earth.

This is a great toy, I'd buy it twice if I had the cash.

Without Rocca's sardonic live delivery, his silliness does not come off as well. There are some truly amusing moments in the book, but you need to stick with an extremely silly story, that does maintain interest very well.

This was a great book for someone who follows politics on televison, and would like a good laugh.

Let me start by saying I enjoy reading, but am incredibly picky on what I read. It's gotta be a good book for me to read it. I read this book in three days.

This is a great book. Its pretty well written, but I'm sure some writing snobs could find some things to complain about. But this book's readers arent supposed to be focusing on how its written. Its a really funny book. I cant tell you how any times I laughed out loud while reading this. It's absurdity is really well done. I just really enjoyed reading it. Its very fast paced, and it was not something I was able to easily put down. It had a twists left and right.

I really recommend this book. But a lot of people might not have the same sense of humor as me. If you like stuff like Reno 911!, the Daily Show, or Mo's segments on Leno, check this book out.

When introduced on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me," Mo Rocca is called a humorist, journalist and political blogger, but never an author, and certainly never a best-selling author. That's why I was surprised to see "All The President's Pets" in the used bookstore the other day. Surely his book would be worth plugging...

But then I read it. Yikes! I'd say Mo's one-liner hit rate on Wait Wait and Iron Chef America is at least 85%, maybe higher, but I maybe laughed once through 200+ pages and ended up skipping large sections just to stay awake. Some of the humor requires specialized knowledge of DC political and media insiders, but most of it is just not funny. Mo's storytelling is creative at best, but absurd is a more apt description.

This book is a perfect illustration of the large chasm between being funny on TV and being a good humor author. It takes a lot more than a Harvard degree and 3 years on the Daily Show.

PS - a couple of these 5-star pieces by 1-review writers with a lot of helpful votes smell awfully fishy...Mo?