Monica's Story (Hardcover)

by Andrew Morton (Author) "ON A HOT SUMMER'S DAY-July 23-in 1973, after an interminable labor in the same San Francisco children's hospital where she herself had been born, Marcia..." (more)
Key Phrases: immunity agreement, immunity deal, false affidavit, White House, Linda Tripp, Betty Currie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Though it's a legal document, the Starr Report, published in late 1998, reads like a racy novel about the most powerful man in the world, President Bill Clinton, and a young intern, Monica Lewinsky, who's portrayed as a spoiled Beverly Hills brat performing oral sex on the president while he talked to colleagues on the telephone.

Andrew Morton, the author of Diana: Her True Story, spent several months interviewing Lewinsky after the scandal broke; the result is Monica's Story, which asserts that the picture the Starr Report paints of Lewinsky is totally incorrect. Morton believes she and the president had an emotional, mutually satisfying relationship, which, if circumstances had been different, would probably have remained secret. Although he covers much of the same territory as the Starr Report, he adds details of conversations Lewinsky and Clinton had in an attempt to show the depth of the relationship. In chapters with titles like "Grunge, Granola, and Andy" and "Terror in Room 1012," he paints a portrait of a "child-woman" who is sexually liberated but also intelligent, loving, and well mannered. "[She] could be anybody's sister," he insists, "anybody's daughter."

The book is most interesting, however, in its descriptions of the political intrigue, lies, and deception resulting from Kenneth Starr's investigation. Leading the evil band is Linda Tripp, described as a black-hearted, shameless manipulator who betrayed Lewinsky and spurred the scandal for her own personal gain (she was planning to write a book about Clinton). He also examines the media's hatred for Lewinsky--particularly that of women writers who became obsessed with her weight and body shape. "Just as the O.J. Simpson trial exposed the racial fault line running through American society," he argues, "so the Monica Lewinsky saga has spotlighted the underlying misogyny that still permeates American life." Monica's Story is gripping stuff--porn, fantasy, farce, political commentary, and tragedy all rolled into one. --Dale Kneen, Amazon.co.uk

Product Description
Imagine that you are twenty-four years old and have been confiding in one of your closest friends about your on-again, off-again relationship with a married man twice your age. Then imagine your name is Monica Lewinsky, the man's name is Bill Clinton, and your friend's name is Linda Tripp--who has secretly tape-recorded your confidences and passed the tapes along to Kenneth Starr. Suddenly you find yourself surrounded by government agents who threaten you with twenty-seven years in jail if you do not tell them every detail of your private life and cooperate fully in their investigation of the President.

In the summer of 1995, Monica Lewinsky, then twenty-one years old and fresh out of college, went to work as an unpaid intern at the White House. What happened next, as a vivacious young woman's "crush" on her boss led to her public humiliation and the impeachment of the President of the United States, has been documented in shocking detail.

But have we heard the true story? Betrayed by Linda Tripp, Monica found herself a pawn in the power struggle between President Clinton and the Office of the Independent Counsel. As she waited to face the grand jury investigating the President, the media conducted its own trial of Monica, while her legal predicament prevented her from telling the world what really happened.

Monica's Story at last sets the record straight. Drawing on his exclusive conversations with Monica, her family, and her friends, bestselling biographer Andrew Morton paints a complex and compelling portrait of a generous-hearted but troubled young woman whose dreams of romance had unimaginable consequences.

Monica was compelled to answer the grand jury's questions, but it was to Andrew Morton that she unfolded the whole story of her experiences before, during, and after the White House scandal. The result is a candid, intimate biography of a young woman whose life holds some surprising secrets--and whose public image is very different from the private truths revealed in these pages.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Later Printing edition (March 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312240910
• ISBN-13: 978-0312240912
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sheds a different light on the whole scandal, February 25, 2002

By	Jonathan Nelson (Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the infamous book on Monica Lewinsky, the President's mistress.

While the reason that I picked up this book was because I didn't have anything else handy to read, I surprisingly found the book a fascinating read. The book does not cover the scandal as much as the people behind the scandal. The book portrays Ms. Lewinsky as a lost young woman who happened to fall in love with a married man, who happened to be the president. Ms. Lewinsky portrays President Clinton not as the womanizer Judge Starr and the media portrayed him as, but as a man, who had a poor marriage and was lonely. Judge Starr was portrayed not as the man looking for truth and justice as I though he was, but as a cold, thoughtless person only looking after his own personal, political agenda.

The only downfall to the book is that everyone knows how the story ends. However, I became so engrossed in the book because it focused on the people of the scandal, not the scandal itself. It changed how I thought about the major players in the whole affair.

While I found the book fascinating, the book is not for everyone. The story is yesterday's news, and many people would rather the whole thing just went away. However, if you want to see the scandal from a point of view other than the mass media's, I would highly recommend this book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Monica RULZ, August 16, 2003

By	Tamkin Hussain "Tamkin Hussain" (Lahore, Pakistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monica's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

Any woman in her early twenties, who has ever fallen in love with a man who is married and forbidden by conventional ethical and professional standards, will find empathy in this book.

Whatever side of truth or political scenario this book attempts to portray, I primarily read it as a romance and enjoyed it more than ever. The book's appeal lies in the dynamics of the affair between the young intern and the president, rather than any political truth-finding. Maybe, there are too many 'truths' out there, and who are we to judge which one is true. This is Monica's version, so why quibble about absolute realities?

The book certainly does a good job of revealing her a human figure rather than a man-hunting slut responsible for the impreachment of Clinton.

Why marvel Marie Antoinette and Josephine, and not Monica? I admire Monica Lewinsky as a person who enjoys poetry, loves life, watches her weight, experiments with men, and most of all braves what the world thinks of her. I really think people ought to stop thinking of her as a sex symbol.

Tragic as the love story's end is, Monica RULZ!!!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Light & Easy to Read, April 19, 2002

By	John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Monica's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

Reading this book almost made me feel as if I was looking through a tabloid. To be honest I really only scanned the parts where she was with Clinton and the treatment she received by the FBI and her "friend" Linda. We all know the sorted details; the one part I do not think we all have a good view of is the treatment the FBI dished out. Do I want them to act this way with a terrorist or a Mafia Don - ok, but come on, with this young lady and her mother? I felt it was a bit over the top and an abuse of power. Also the trustworthiness of Linda should be called in question based on the stunts she pulled her. She was looking for the fast track to fame.

Overall this is an interesting, gossipy book that gives a different view of the situation then you may have received just watching the nightly news. The book is light and fast making it a very easy to read book.