The Price of Politics

I must admit I like reading Bob Woodward. While some have accused him of padding his books with irrelevant details, I find the minutiae, charater traits, anecdotes, etc. tend to flesh out the individuals he's writing about, making them more human. History books all to often make the mistake of casting their characters as larger than life, making them something less than what they actually were. With the glut of information recorded these days there is no excuse, I think, for not taking the time to delve a little deeper into the foibles and motivations of the people involved as Woodward does.

The Price of Politics I found to be an easy read. My wife laughed out loud at this (she does not find politics interesting or have the familiarity with those who do it that I do), but consider some of the other things I read. Easy read, yes. Always enjoyable, no. Woodward takes a negative perspective on the Tea Party no doubt influenced by his many years inside the beltway, repeatedly dismissing their ideas out of hand. This is somewhat surprising because he also uses the sobriquet "Country Club Republican" to describe John Boehner. I actually found myself wondering if Woodward realized that was a derisive term. He also paints the Obama White House as a disorganized debate society.

Complaints notwithstanding, this probably represents the one of the best contemporary account of the debt ceiling negotiations.