Customer Reviews

Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President : Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House

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

 

 

I think it may have taken Helen Thomas less than ten days to throw this book together. It is mostly fluff, not worth a large sum of money, but has interesting tidbits in it. A fast reader can digest this in one sitting and not feel a bit mentally fatigued. If you have money to spend, want a little something for your personal library, get it. You'll only read it once.

Helen Thomas shares the lighter side of nine presidents and their wives with the people whom do not know them so well. She re-tells jokes and conversations held between herself and nine presidents in her time of being "dean of the White House Press Corps".
She implies that not all presidents are alike. Every one of them is different. While the chapter on Kennedy was quite humorous, that of Reagan's was less humorous and more about how he handled the press. There are many examples of humor in chpt 1. On page 19 it tells of how on the way to one of the campaign trials, Kennedy had to wear a dark blue suit with brown shoes because black shoes were not packed. After finding out that nobody had an extra pair to lend him and he would have to attend like so, he took it very lightly. He laughed when made a joke out of and found it quite amusing himself.
Helen Thomas also implies that no matter how serious the job of being president is, they are just regular human beings. Just because they are president does not mean they do not have characteristics of an average man. By giving each and every president a sense of humor with their own little edge added to it, we see that they are regular people who like to laugh and make others laugh here and there. It makes the president's more familiar and relatable to the average man. Everyone can appreciate a little humor and by showing this average man quality in every one of these nine presidents the people find them to be more real, more life-like. Humans are the only animals who can be humorous or have a sense of humor. Dogs cannot laugh at your jokes, and kangaroos do not tell them. Therefore when this trait is put in the spotlight as the defining traits of people whom appear to be larger than life, it humanizes them.
The author's thesis can be argued. One could easily argue that the presidents are nothing like an average human being and they deserve to be held up to a high standard, and are to be considered the very highest of flawless humans. A big deal was made of President Clinton's flaw, therefore showing that as average people, we have much higher standards for presidents and do not see them as being capable of having characteristics of our friends. Therefore it can be argued that Presidents are not like the rest of us.It can also be argued that maybe the humor that is portrayed is a tool in trying to convince the people that they are their friends. Like the method of campaigning, "I am just like you", they might be trying to make themselves seem to have the same characteristics as the people, but in reality do not. It may be a ploy for support.
I would recommend this book for the humor and the side of a president's life that we as people critiquing the government hardly ever see. The book was fast paced and very entertaining.

I loved reading about Helen and her interactions with the White House. Especially entertaining were her descriptions of the Gridiron dinners where she was often portraying first ladies in skits.

This was a fast read, fun and entertaining. However, it came as no surprise that Nixon had a dark humor, Reagan was always full of hot air and President Jr. and Sr. need to work on their command of the English language. What was great about the book was that it allowed us in to see a very human side of the working White House. I felt a part of the briefings and press conferences.

After reading the book, I could honestly say that I knew more about the personalities of each president. Just by the tidbits in this book, it seems as though Jimmy Carter and Gerry Ford were the most genuine. Bill Clinton was certainly the most entertaining and sadly, our current president, does not always make the best impression.

Lighthearted and jovial, Helen entertains us for all 240 pages.

Helen Thomas is an inspiration to all young women wanting to persue a dream. I saw her on Enough Rope several months ago and wanted to get everything I could find that she had written and I am not disappointed. I couldn't order it in Australia so went to Amazon and was lucky to get it there. She is inspirational, gutsy and a sensational author. There wasn't one boring sentence in the book, I couldn't put it down and I am looking forward to reading more and sharing her stories with the young people I work with. An amazing read. I score it 100 out of 10, it's one of the best books I have ever read.

What was going on and said in the White House from where she was standing definitely made for some interesting stories. Well written and intimate.

This is a compilation of anecdotes from lots of sources--not just Helen Thomas' personal memories. I did read the entire book, hoping it would get better (like eating pretzels).

She opens the book by saying that, in response to a request to write the more humorous things presidents have done, the book would be thin. She didn't know how true that remark would be.

I threw it away so that someone wouldn't unwittingly pull it from my bookshelves and read it.

I'm glad I didn't spend more than 25 cents on this book at a library book sale because I couldn't get past the first chapter. Almost everything in here I already knew, seemed to be a bunch of old stories that anyone who has read the newspaper already knows, just thrown together. A lot of the stories seemed to be from other sources, not even her own "memories." I was hoping to learn somethng new, you'd think she has a lot of stories to tell. Not worth your time (or the quarter I spent).

I thought I was going to be interested in this book. I have seen the press conferences where Helen Thomas closes the session. She certainly had a lot of experience with the various Presidents. However, the jokes were few and far between. In fact, Ms. Thomas seems fixated with herself.
She often included less than humorous interactions with her and the various Presidents (Bush I's dog and her as an example). She also seems partisan to the Democrats than Republicans. At the end, I had far too few instances of humor in this book.

This is not a great read. It seems as if it is just an additional book from the leftovers of her first book. Look elsewhere for memories.

Much to my chagrin, most of the "memories" within the book are NOT those of Helen Thomas. She compiled various anecdotes from various members of the White House staff and the press corps and threw them together with no overall sense of cohesion (save the chapter division by president).

I have a beautifully autographed copy of the book and cherish it because I know Helen Thomas has been capable of a lot more "wit and wisdom" in her many years as a journalist than what this book reflects. If you are looking for an endearing memoir of Helen`s time in the White House, this isn`t it. One does not get a feel for how Mrs. Thomas` job has affected her (aside from her usual cantankerous quips which are readily available from other sources), and the "writing" can`t be evaluated as it is simply a bunch of secondary source material strung together by lengthy quotations. In a word, disappointing.

This isn't a book - just a bunch of somehwhat biased anecdotes strung together. Helen must have needed the money. Don't waste yours.