Customer Reviews

Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a former conservative turned to what Mr. Liddy would call a "liberal nitwit," I have nothing but praise for this fascinating book. And the words of other five-star rating reviewers are right on target. What I want to emphasize is that G. Gordon Liddy is, to my mind, one of the few living embodiments of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. This may seem strange to leftist college profs, to whom the great iconoclast of the nineteenth century is a hero for his debunking and (to use a modern word) deconstruction of so many traditional modes of thought, and who wish to carry on his work in the name of democracy and justice. But Nietzsche was in truth a right-wing aristocrat, and his destruction of the old "myths" was certainly not done to pave the way for the banality of a Starbucks coffee hour. G. Gordon Liddy knows this; and whether or not he has actually read any of Nietzsche is, for this astute and articulate defender of the old order of things, quite beside the point. Liddy's book is an account of a man who believes that he has cracked open the secret of life, and decides to live accordingly, on his own terms and by his own lights. As a Christian and a Catholic, I do not agree with Mr. Liddy's conclusions. But his own desire to escape any self-observed hypocrisy is, in contrast to many of his opponents, simply admirable.

This book by Conservative G. Gordon Liddy is great. Those liberal lefts that are hesitant about reading a book by Liddy, be assured it is not politically driven. In fact, he speaks very little about politics. Actually this book is about overcoming your fears and believing in yourself. The stories he tells of his childhood, the army, and his prison time is extremely interesting while the stuff about Watergate is extremely informative. Liddy holds nothing back in this great book. A Must Read.

G. Gordon Liddy seems to generate a lot of different views. Liberals hate him, though Al Franken is a good friend of his. Conservatives respect him, though he doesn't seem to be able to stomach Bill O'reilly. Timothy Leary - well, they considered each other respected adversaries. Mr. Liddy's autobiography will provide keen insights into the man, the story and the legend.

This is more than just a viewpoint on Watergate. In fact, if that's what you're after, you'll probably be disappointed. The book covers his upbringing, his early military career, his arrest of Timothy Leary, his personal development of willpower, and his initial forays into the political arena.

Who cares? Well, one of the questions of Watergate is "Why?" and this helps quite a bit. As someone who was very young at the time, I do not have a great deal of recall of the situation. Mr. Liddy does a good job explaining his views of society at the time - that America was at war from within, and he was duty bound to do everything in his power to re-elect and then protect the President.

You know the outcome of the Watergate breakins, but the story still draws you in. You know bad things will happen, but you want to see how the G-man comes through it. His stay in prison is common knowledge, but how did survive and even thrive in there?

I suspect this autobiography will amplify your feelings of the man. Those that hate him may find him a monster. Those who like him will deepen their respect. I came in to the book on the fence, and find myself admiring a man whom I still am working to comprehend. To use one of his favorite words, you'll find this a very potent book. Even if you don't like him.

Will is a very motivating and inspirational work by Liddy. It chronicles his battles with different fears as a boy, and his triumphs as an adult. It gives a virtual play by play of expierences in the FBI, private law practice, public law practices (including a drug raid on Timothy O'leary's pad), political covert operations for Nixon, and prison life. Whether you admire or admonish Liddy's importance to the 20th century, this is a must read for anyone who interested in the culture and environment of the late 60's and early 70's.

This book is a fascinating study of the man in his own words. He is honest and straight-forward about the events and his actions--right or wrong. No excuses or alibis--he takes responsibility for himself. Do not be swayed by negative implications by his detracters of Liddy's interest in Hitler. I have read these innuendoes elsewhere already and they are out of context. This man is an American patriot. I do not agree with his politics but respect him for standing by his principles. The book is very good reading--easy style as if you were hearing Liddy telling a story

This is a book that merits multiple readings. Depending on where you are in your life, you will find different things to learn from this book. I think that the most fascinating section of the book is Mr. Liddy's prison experience: he did hard time (facing 20 years without parole) in some of the nation's worst prisons, and he did so with his head held high and emerged with his honor intact. The way he triumphed in that savage environment is inspiring.

Wow, what a book, and G. Gordon Liddy, what a character, simply fascinating. This book, while obviously telling the story of the man's life, proves to be a superb commentary on American society. I personally enjoyed Mr. Liddy's comments on family life, responsibility, and the American education system. The history of the FBI and his training is also excellent. The parts where he is sent to "real" prison, not "country club" prison, are out of control. In my opinion, I don't see how one can say Mr. Liddy isn't an extremely dedicated and passionate man, whether one agrees with his convictions and passions is obviously personal, but this is a great read.

When I first picked-up a copy of Liddy's biography I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had seen him several times on t.v. and I had seen him in person while he was debating Timothy Leary at Arizona State University. By the time I was ten pages in to his life story, however, I was hooked. This is the only book I can honestly say "changed my life." From Liddy's struggle to overcome pain and fear as a child to his tenacity and unflinching loyalty as a member of the Nixon administration, his life story prompted me to instill newfound discipline and courage in my life. While I do not agree with all of Mr. Liddy's political views, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anybody wishing to overcome obstacles and challenges in their lives. Quite simply, this is the best book I have ever read.

First, as a purely literary work, Liddy has been extremely honest, and therein lies his power as a writer and of this book (not because he could ever become a literary giant, such as Faulkner, but because he is honest and writes honestly, that is, writes as he sees the world and never strays from what he knows).

So let's just stand on that. It is a good book and it has merit, at the very least in that it gives us a good look into the mind of a zealot. Liddy believes (and today still does) that all of his actions were justified. That's the definition of a zealot because in order to be fanatical about something--and rational--one must believe one has some semblance of absolute truth.

Enter Liddy. Now if there were such a thing as Truth, then we would all be justified in becoming fanatics about it. Or, on the other hand, complacent because Truth has no opposition. Given this definition of fanatic and how it must be justified, was Liddy justified?

Consider his reasons for what he did, the sixties forcing the decline of the United States ala drugs, and this one is important--disrespect for authority. Now if Liddy was not as smart as he is, and I'm convinced the man is a genius (not because of any unique ideas he landed on us, but because he has raw smarts, his processing power), he was either wrong in doing what he did, or uncircumspect.

His intended ends were to get Nixon reelected and to save the US from a decline into drug addiction and disrespect for authority (let's just say a negative state of the State, according to Liddy, a negative progression of events that he believed would either destroy or greatly harm American values, you know, all the things the US stands for, what we hold as ideals).
However, his actions caused exactly what he tried to prevent, disrespect for authority and a disdain for government, paranoia about government, and even though Nixon got reelected, I don't think Liddy would consider his ends fulfilled given that Nixon lost his presidency because of Liddy's actions (and those like him). Thus, the pay-off from the actions of Liddy and crew were grossly outweighed by the consequences of failure. In fact, it reads like a Greek tragedy!

Why then would a smart and circumspect young man do what Liddy did? I leave that for you to figure out by reading the book. As a Liberal (whatever that means today), I found myself cheering Liddy on, can you believe it? Why? Because behind Liddy's dogmatic, tyrannical and infuriating ego, I found, in many ways, a very trustworthy and honorable man. First, he is a man of his word, he's no snake. Second, like most despots, he wants control over everything, to make everything 'like it should be' and that is a burden all driven people can too relate. Third, he demands and needs honesty from his fellow humans, and that is admirable. Fourth, I think Liddy is a tortured man, and again I can relate to that. In short, his politics are mad, but there is something likeable about the guy. And I guess this is the genius of Will--people on both sides of the spectrum can identify in some way with him.

That said, I do not mean to gloss over what Liddy did. Liddy caused more damage to the US than he could ever have prevented. But I do agree with Liddy on many thing, mostly character oriented. In one passage he explains his concern for the new FBI agents who were clerks, given a questionable education by the FBI in a no name college (so as to allow them eligibility into the FBI), and how they had caused a decline in the excellence of the FBI by relying on being sycophants instead of good agents. We see this is the university systems, less in state but in a matters of degree and blatantly in pay-for-degree `colleges' such as the University of Phoenix and Laverne (In my mind, they are not even colleges of academia). One friend went to Laverne, after completing his BA in History at State, to complete a Masters in the same. He said it took him six months and his thesis paper was three pages! He also said the `masters' curriculum at Laverne was about the same rigor as college prep history that he had in High School. So I can again understand where Liddy is coming from in the FBI instance, but there are ways to remedy these problems of society without undermining it at the same time.

This is without a doubt one of the most fascinating books I've read in years. At times funny and at other times rather disturbing, this is a real page-turner. Many people will find his politics and his "the end justifies the means" attitude to be somewhat repellent, not to mention his oft-stated willingless to kill someone. But in an era when almost anyone can be bought and sold, it is refreshing to see an individual who will not "sell out" his principles. This book shares one of the same central tenets as the movie "Scent of a Woman": if you do something that you know is immoral or illegal, you should be willing to pay the price without turning on your friends and comrades to save yourself.