John T. (johnobx) reviewed We're with Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics on
Helpful Score: 1
If I'm reading a book about, say, Lincoln's years in the White House, I expect to learn things that I did not know going into the read. Everyone knows how the story ends, and so it's up to the writer to make the other 99% of the story interesting.
In a similar vein, I know political campaigning is a messy business filled with lies, half-truths, and incompetent candidates. I know there are people who dig into candidates background to find the good, the bad, and the unspeakable about their past. Unfortunately, I didn't come away from reading "We're with Nobody" with any new insight into the process.
The authors refuse to name names or get too specific with their work. They admit they often don't know how the information they gather is used. They grind along, digging through archives, clerk's files, and public records, sometimes working together, sometimes not, hand over what they find, then it is on to the next job.
Essentially, the story never does what the title promises, and dig down below the surface to illuminate the reader about the mechanics of campaigning. The only "instructional" aspect (for those seeking that sort of enlightenment) comes when one author suggests different approaches to dealing with stubborn public servants.
I also felt the presentation suffered from far too many tangents. The chapters are divided evenly between Michael and Alan, each telling a campaign anecdote from their perspective. But since "I went to the clerk's office and she gave me a hard time" isn't much of a story, the authors have to follow different ideas down long, winding paths, and the reader sometimes forgets what they were talking about in the first place.
That the authors decided to not get into the specifics of any single campaign probably hurt the book worse than any other single issue. It is something they should have taken their own advice on: There's a story about a letter they receive from the government concerning an individual that is so heavily redacted that it is almost impossible to read. They poke fun at this, but it's the same sort of redactions that make their book difficult to enjoy.
In a similar vein, I know political campaigning is a messy business filled with lies, half-truths, and incompetent candidates. I know there are people who dig into candidates background to find the good, the bad, and the unspeakable about their past. Unfortunately, I didn't come away from reading "We're with Nobody" with any new insight into the process.
The authors refuse to name names or get too specific with their work. They admit they often don't know how the information they gather is used. They grind along, digging through archives, clerk's files, and public records, sometimes working together, sometimes not, hand over what they find, then it is on to the next job.
Essentially, the story never does what the title promises, and dig down below the surface to illuminate the reader about the mechanics of campaigning. The only "instructional" aspect (for those seeking that sort of enlightenment) comes when one author suggests different approaches to dealing with stubborn public servants.
I also felt the presentation suffered from far too many tangents. The chapters are divided evenly between Michael and Alan, each telling a campaign anecdote from their perspective. But since "I went to the clerk's office and she gave me a hard time" isn't much of a story, the authors have to follow different ideas down long, winding paths, and the reader sometimes forgets what they were talking about in the first place.
That the authors decided to not get into the specifics of any single campaign probably hurt the book worse than any other single issue. It is something they should have taken their own advice on: There's a story about a letter they receive from the government concerning an individual that is so heavily redacted that it is almost impossible to read. They poke fun at this, but it's the same sort of redactions that make their book difficult to enjoy.
