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Time Present, Time Past: A Memoir [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Bill Bradley (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 16, 1996
In a memoir at once deeply felt, lively, and astute, Bill Bradley talks about his life, his country, his role in government, and his hopes for the American future.

He speaks with affection about his small-town, Missouri upbringing and the values shaped by it. He traces his road from childhood to Princeton to Oxford, through ten years of professional basketball to public service in the U.S. Senate. And then he brings vividly alive the world of a senator -- the rocky road to legislation, the invasiveness of the media, the power of money.

He shares his voyage from an intellectual commitment to the public interest to a belief that dictates of the heart count for more. He assesses not only what kind of political action is needed to reconstitute people's faith in government, but also their responsibilities to each other. He presents his view of a truth-telling leadership that inspires even as it confronts us with reality.

This remarkable memoir reflects the author's desire to get beyond that vagueness of politics to clear assessments of our national situation and what needs to be done. But, more than that, it is an audio about life, filled with humor, moral lessons, and empathy for the human condition. Above all, it is about America, and in it, Americans will see themselves.

Bill Bradley was a three-time basketball All-American at Princeton, an Olympic gold medalist, a Rhodes Scholar, and a professional player for ten years with the New York Knicks. Elected to the Senate from New Jersey in 1978, 1984, and 1990, he has authored extensive legislation, including the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this wide-ranging memoir, New Jersey Senator Bradley chides his fellow Democrats for becoming captive to special-objective or pressure groups, and also for siding with Republicans during the Reagan era, thereby increasing the tax burden of the middle class while giving the rich more subsidies and tax breaks. Crisscrossing the country, Bradley holds "walking town meetings," impromptu talks with ordinary people, which serve as a springboard as he shuttles from campaign reminiscences to his boyhood in Crystal City, Missouri, his Scotch-Irish and German roots, basketball career and reflections on events in U.S. history. He defends NAFTA, suggests ways to revitalize the labor movement, opposes racial quotas but supports the concept of "merit-based affirmative action" ("once an individual makes the qualified pool of applicants, being black is just another positive attribute for admission..."). This speechifying autobiography leaves one with the lingering impression that Bradley, who has announced that he will not run for a fourth Senate term, could be testing the waters for a presidential bid. 100,000 first printing; BOMC selection; Random AudioBook -44920-5; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Part autobiography, part political position paper, this audio memoir is an abridged version of the author's book of the same title (LJ 1/96). Bradley, a U.S. senator from New Jersey, describes his childhood in small-town Missouri, his decision to attend Princeton, and his ten-year professional basketball career with the New York Knicks. Having achieved fame, he then started his political career, winning election to three terms in the Senate. Bradley reads well enough but at times sounds as if he has given the same political speech too many times; he reels off catch phrases so quickly that their meaning is sometimes lost. Too bad, because his theme of combining government action with personal responsibility is interesting. Overall, this is a good title for public affairs, biography, or political science collections.
Luana Ellis, Jamestown Community Coll. Lib., Olean, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Audio Cassette
  • Publisher: Random House Audio (January 16, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0679449205
  • ISBN-13: 978-0679449201
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,083,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a nice surprise., November 12, 1999
I expected "Time Present, Time Past" to be a typical political autobiography- a lame rehash of old battles with the author steadfastly skiewing events in his favor, and then lying out a few vauge ideas about "making America better". Instead, I was treated to a very intelligent book wherein the author talked about real people and real stories of his growing up. Bradley's candid frustration at being able to unlock the machinery of government and his lack of arrogance is a refreshing change. This book is altogether poignant and readable. Anyone who reads this is going to vote for Bill Bradley next year.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The testimony of a dedicated responsible effective American Senator, December 9, 2006
This is a very well- written and thoughtful book. Bill Bradley wrote it just as his third Senatorial term was coming to a close. Unfortunately close to that time he had to deal with a number of personal tragedies, including his wife's breast cancer, the severe illness of both of his parents. Bradley tells of his Chrystal City childhood, the only child of his arthritically disabled Presbyterian banker father, and his strongly Methodist mother. He does not revel in his own personal athletic feats and accomplishments. Rather he presents us with a picture of small- town life in that era, and the kind of world he grew up in.
One of the strengths of the book is that it tells much about different regions and populations of America. As a Senator and Presidential candidate he visited eventually every state in the Union and he for instance in his chapter on his Scotch- Irish family background describes the economy and social world of the Appalachians.
Bradley is eager to present to the reader his vision of what America should be. He speaks a lot about responsibility and discipline, and communal obligation. These are virtues he himself personally exemplifies, and one feels how strongly he is repelled by an America gone too soft and self- indulgent, too hedonistically obsessed with short- term pleasures.
He tells of his work in bringing about the Tax Reform Bill of 1986 which eliminated many loopholes, and simplified the system so that it had only two tax brackets. He talks about other public initiatives of his related to helping the poor, the one - parent families. He gives a chapter of the book to considering the difficulties the great American middle- class has faced over recent years.
One has the sense in reading the book of his being a thoroughly decent, hard- working and fair person.
Bradley has an amusing little section in which he talks about his efforts at improving his own public speaking. Here of course was his major failing as a political figure, his lack of charisma. He was eclipsed almost instantaneously by the charismatic Clinton.
Bradley is the work- horse of Orwell's fable. The solid honest good person who does the drudgery and certainly does not get a final good reward for it.
This is not to say that Bradley complains . He doesn't. He does not in fact put great emphasis in the work on his own feelings. He does however show how much he cares for America, and is devoted to its well- being.
This is an outstanding political autobiography not because it overwhelms emotionally but because it rationally clearly gives a 'picture' of what America is and might be. And it tells the story of a highly devoted public servant who did his best to make a better America.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "The Senator, Statesman, Leader, and all around good man", May 14, 2000
In this intelligent, thoughtful, witty,and captivating memoir Bill Bradley tells stories about America and indivdual Americans while espousing his beliefs about what the nation has become and what it should be. The book transcends the traditional memoir of a politician as it chooses to speak more about the effects of policy rather than what particular policy can benefit our society. The reader feels the former Senator's compassion for the human condition and understands why he would be a wonderful leader. It is a must read for anyone who believes the hardships that face the nation can be overcome.
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