From Booklist
Hohenberg's is not the kind of "inside politics" gossip-fest typically penned by TV talking heads. Campaign gurus and spin doctors are present but not dominant. Polls are reported, but their shifting results are seen as consequences of candidates' actions and ideas and of events in the larger world, rather than as realities in themselves. In fact, Hohenberg's title is misleading, for his book is a narrative of the election itself, rather than of the candidate who ultimately won. The first president a teenage Hohenberg covered was Warren G. Harding, so his historical sense is broader than that of reporters whose presidential memory begins with Kennedy or FDR. Ultimately, reading The Bill Clinton Story feels like time-traveling back into 1992 with a wise and observant guide who actually pays attention to all of the news as it happens: through the primaries and conventions, the fall campaign, and the election (and in an epilogue on Clinton's first year as president), Hohenberg supplies context for phenomena such as Ross Perot and muddles such as Iraqgate. All but the most devoted news junkies will mutter, "I didn't know that," to some of the author's helpful connection-making. Mary Carroll
