The Confession [Hardcover]

James E. McGreevey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2006

In August 2004, Governor James E. McGreevey of New Jersey made history when he stepped before microphones, declared "My truth is that I am a gay American," and announced his resignation. The story made international headlines—but what led to that moment was a human and political drama more complex and fascinating than anyone knew. Now, in this extraordinarily candid memoir, McGreevey shares his story of a life of ambition, moral compromise, and redemption.

From childhood, McGreevey lived a kind of idealized American life. The son of working-class Irish Catholic parents, named for an uncle who died at Iwo Jima, he strove to exceed expectations in everything he did, meeting each new challenge as though his "future rode on every move." As a young man he was tempted by the priesthood, yet it was another calling—politics—that he found irresistible. Plunging early into the dangerous waters of New Jersey politics, he won three elections by the age of thirty-six, and soon thereafter nearly toppled the state's popular governor, Christie Todd Whitman, in a photo-finish election. Four years later, he won the governorship by a landslide.

Throughout his adult life, however, Jim McGreevey had been forced to suppress a fundamental truth about himself: that he was gay. He knew at once that the only clear path to his dreams was to live a straight life, and so he split in two, accepting the traditional role of family man while denying his deepest emotions. And he discovered, to his surprise, that becoming a political player demanded ethical shortcuts that became as corrosive as living in the closet. In the cutthroat culture of political bosses, backroom deals, and the insidious practice known as "pay-to-play," he writes, "political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them." His policy triumphs as governor were tempered by scandal, as the transgressions of his staff came back to haunt him. Yet only when a former lover threatened to expose him did he finally confront his divided soul, and find the authentic self that had always eluded him.

More than a coming-out memoir, The Confession is the story of one man's quest to repair the rift between his public and private selves, at a time in our culture when the personal and political have become tangled like frayed electric cables. Teeming with larger-than-life characters, written with honesty, grace, and rare insight into what it means to negotiate the minefields of American public life, it may be among the most honest political memoirs ever written.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The New Jersey governor whose resignation made headlines in 2004 delivers a gripping, compelling memoir that offers much more than insight into the pain of being a closeted gay man for more than four decades. Listeners seeking juicy sex-life details will not be disappointed, but this memoir is as much a lesson on authenticity in politics as in sexuality. McGreevey, who is just as candid about New Jersey's politics ("New Jersey leads the nation for mayors in prison"), does a masterful job of weaving a richly detailed chronicle of his own political career with tales of his home and sex lives. McGreevey's narration is relaxed enough for his Joisey accent to sneak out along with spontaneous chuckles, and impassioned when re-enacting speeches or conversations. His passion is clear at every turn: detailing his professional and political accomplishments; offering colorful, vivid descriptions of his mentors; and naming friends and colleagues he lost on September 11. The final three discs, covering his relationship with Golan Cipel, his postresignation depression and entry into rehab, are riveting. This is an important memoir that is sure to resonate mightily with listeners.
Copyright© American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“An astonishingly candid memoir...brave and powerful.” (Newsweek )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First edition (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060898623
• ISBN-13: 978-0060898625
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars But What About Dina?, September 24, 2006

By 

Barbara R. Iverson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Confession (Hardcover)

I'm half way through "The Confession," and I'm sure I will finish it. Indeed, it's well written. And it certainly offers an inside look at what it's like to grow up as a gay person and to feel the need to hide who you really are. It's painful reading at times.

One cannot help but to feel for James McGreevey and to sympathize with how society has made it unbearable for people like him to be honest with their families, their employers, their friends, their colleagues and themselves. But by having this book be all about him, McGreevey so inadequately addresses the feelings of Dina, the wife he left behind.

In my view, McGreevey has done a real disservice to the thousands and thousands of women who learn their husbands are gay. What about Dina's feelings in all this? She's the one who will ultimately have to deal with McGreevey's coming out for the rest of her life.

I know this firsthand. My wonderful ex-husband of 17 years came out in January 1996 when our two kids were 15 and 13. He, like McGreevey, had been married twice -- once to his high school sweetheart, with whom he also had a child, and then to me. While I have always felt my ex-husband's pain and certainly recognize and abhor the discrimination that gays still experience, I can say with all candor that it's the "surviving straight spouse" who is ultimately left to pick up the pieces -- and often times in total isolation. After all, the gay man who comes out is warmly welcomed by the gay community from Day 1. But his wife has few with whom to turn.

I remember being shocked, sad beyond words, embarrassed and in total disbelief. My life and the lives of our children were turned upside down overnight. My entire belief system was shaken. I'm a resourceful person and, thank God, quickly figured out how to tap resources to help me begin to understand it. But it's been a painful and long process, and one that only time and faith have helped. I've been changed forever by my ex-husband's shocking revelation. But life indeed goes on, and, thankfully, I've been able to find happiness again. But....the experience will never go away. I shudder at the thought of the many women out there who live in rural areas, who aren't financially independent, who don't have familiues who support them (when they learn their husband is gay), or who aren't as resourceful. My heart goes out to them all.

The incredible betrayal that Dina certainly feels cannot be explained adequately. As my therapist told me shortly after my ex came out, "Your husband spent years and years coming to terms with this. Now it's your turn."

113 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You are missing the point, September 21, 2006

By 

Mark T. Zeigler (London, UK and Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Confession (Hardcover)

I think folks are missing the point of the book in many respects. It is not psycho-babble, nor is he trying to explain away political transgressions. He is being completely honest for the first time in his life. If you read the whole book it is very clear why he made the decisions he did. Unless you have lived what he went through, spending your formative years being told you were abomination and mentally ill, and watching a society allow hateful behavior toward gays in all of its institutions, you cannot understand why he chose to try to conform to what is considered normal behavior. This story is not unique to McGreevy; literally thousands of men and women are living the story in this book every day. I find his words inspiring, honest, and candid. This issue is not going away, folks. Many of you are going to find out you have gay sons and daughters. Then you will understand the McGreevy story. As the son of a Baptist minister, McGreevy's story is mine. I praise him for having the courage to write it and I thank those of you who bash it, because then more people will buy it and get it out there. It is a very important book.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and imperfect, September 25, 2006

By 

Michael T. Rognlien (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Confession (Hardcover)

While I am no political expert, and had never heard of Jim McGreevey before I happened to be in NYC on vacation when his "Gay American" scandal broke, I remember thinking at the time that his was a story of another politician falling from grace in a magnificent spectacle that had little or nothing to do with government or governing.

But 2 years later, having just finished the book (note to some reviewers: reading a book is a good step to take before reviewing it) it was, for me, a powerful lesson in a number of ways, many of which might have been unintended.

First and foremost, it was a brutal reminder of how hypocritical and utterly ridiculous Western society has become with regards to politicians and politics in general. Elections and subsequent terms have seemingly little to do with doing the work of the general population; elections have become excruciating exposes focusing on things that have little if anything to do with governing or policymaking, fueled by a lethal combination of our own complacence/apathy and our increased hunger for information about things that are absolutely none of our business nor of any import. And, once elected, the work of the elected is less about doing good for the people than it is about paying back all of the devils they had to sell their souls to in order to get elected. We, the public, are guilty for allowing - and, by our voracious appetite for the salacious and scandalous, encouraging - this unhealthy and ultimately counterproductive weakening of the government that is supposed to serve us. Jim McGreevey's homosexuality was only political because we've allowed it to become such.

The second major lesson I took from this book, as a gay man, is that without taking it on unabashedly and with full honesty, 'the closet' remains a factor in all of our lives even many years after we think we've blown the door off and forever exited the confines and constraints, What will linger with me for some time to come is the basic questions he poses: how and where are we duplicitous in our everyday lives and how much of a toll does it take on us? In a society so obsessed with the superficial, celebrity and mass adoration, how many personal and ethical compromises do we all make on a daily basis to achieve a specific end, forcing us further and further down the path of self-imposed duality? I came out 15 years ago, and reading this book was a painful reminder that I still have a long way to go before I will ever complete that process, let alone getting to a place in my life where I am at peace with all that coming out truly entails.

I make no judgments as to whether or not Mr. McGreevey was corrupt, and I don't excuse (not that it's my place to - another flaw of the judgment-prone American public) the pain he inflicted on those closest to him. However, his willingness to share his personal journey in such a soul-baring way, and his thoughtful analysis of what it means (and how hard it truly is) to be authentic in today's society are deeper questions that we can and should all ask ourselves. In the end, while I maintain that many of us would crumble in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the scrutiny that he and other public figures face/d, I find it even more compelling to think that most of us could likely not withstand it on a much smaller, but infinitely more important scale - the thoughtful and brutally honest evaluation of ourselves.

Long story short - if you've already made up your mind about Mr. McGreevey, there's no point in reading this book, because you will only see what you want to see. If, however, you're not so self-righteous as to think that you know everything there is to know about him - or anyone, for that matter - by watching or reading the "news", the book is, if nothing else, a compelling story and a personal journey that will hopefully find you asking yourself some pretty big questions.