Customer Reviews

The Way I See It

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I picked this book up at a Goodwill store for the purpose or re-selling it on an internet auction. Then I opened it and started to read a few paragraphs. Bear in mind that I am of the age where I could easily identify with much of the political content described in this book i.e. Nixon, Watergate, Iran Contra, etc., not to mention the drug activity that permeated the nation during and after the Vietnam conflict. Once I started reading, I kept thinking about it during the day and picked it up again as soon as I had time. There is just too much to cover in a review of this sort, but, suffice it to say that I feel I will not be selling the book now that I've read it. This close personal look at the Reagan family was pretty much what I had imagined, but never realized the suffering the author obviously experienced at the hand of parents obsessed with the need for public approval and acceptance. Having been connected with a prominent family on a local level, the book touched many recognizable chords in my own life.I did feel the book was a bit choppy in parts and didn't always flow well from one scene or situation to another, but not to the point where it was irritating or distracting. Generally, it made me feel that I would like to meet Patti Davis one day. However, in retrospect, after the read, I guess I already have.

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down once I started reading it. Although I think Ms. Davis was still confused with her own identity at the end of the book, it was easy to understand why she was uncomfortable with herself as a person for so very long. Hopefully, since writing this book 14 years ago, she has been able to grow into a complete and fulfilled human being. Her ability to be stubborn in her beliefs, while trying desperately to win approval from her non-accepting parents, reminded me too much of a rebellious teenager. And she was still acting out in her twenties and thirties like a child. I would respect her liberal opinions more if she had spent less time worrying about her parent's reactions and more time working on the issues she perceived as important. Even though there was a lot of whining and repeated complaining in the book about the same problems, the book was interesting and I liked her writing style. Although her writing is not perfect, it felt like she was speaking to the reader over a cup of coffee. I wish I had read the book before I watched the funeral for her father.

Quite a revealing book. This book just reaffirmed my suspicions about the Reagan family. Patti Davis is pretty jumpy in the timeline of the book. She attempts to give the impression that she is a "together" person now, but sounds like a person that has been through a lot of therapy and has still a long way to go. Some of her attempts at circumspect sound like her therapist wrote them. This book was not well written, but I'm glad I read it.

As a psychiatric nurse with 18 years experience, I felt that I had heard this story many times.......blame, blame, blame, never taking responsibility for one's own actions, then piously trying to sound magnanimous by all that "forgiving" at the end. I read this book after the Reagan funeral because I was so fascinated at watching this author's actions, facial expressions, and body language during this heart wrenching time. I only wish I could have been privy to her thoughts. What went on in her mind when she heard all those people get up and talk about her father and how he ended the evil empire? The copyright date on this book is 1992, a whole four years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet, amazingly, she does not even mention it. I am glad I happened upon this book in my local library. I certainly would not have wanted her to profit one cent on my account.