Synopses & Reviews
“Its one of the best books on politics of any kind Ive read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22.” —The Financial Times
“It transports you to a parallel universe in which everything in the National Enquirer is true….More interesting is what we learn about the candidates themselves: their frailties, egos and almost super-human stamina.” —The Financial Times
“I cant put down this book!” —Stephen Colbert
Game Change is the New York Times bestselling story of the 2008 presidential election, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the best political reporters in the country. In the spirit of Richard Ben Cramers What It Takes and Theodore H. Whites The Making of the President 1960, this classic campaign trail book tells the defining story of a new era in American politics, going deeper behind the scenes of the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin campaigns than any other account of the historic 2008 election.
Review
“The authors of Game Change succeed in creating a plausible account of the emotional tumult of the 2008 campaign as it might have beenperhaps even wasexperienced by the candidates, their spouses, and their staffs.” Hendrik Hertzberg, < i=""> The New Yorker <>
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“Riveting. . . . Its pages brim with scandalous tidbits. . . . This is a must-read for anyone interested in the cutthroat backroom hows and whys of a presidential campaign. . . . And it doesnt hurt that Game Change reads more bodice-ripper than Beltway.” Tina Jordan, < i=""> Entertainment Weekly <>
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“I cant put down this book!” Stephen Colbert
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“An amazing piece of work. . . . One of the best books on politics of any kind Ive read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22. . . . An absolutely gripping read . . . they can write.” Clive Crook, < i=""> The Financial Times <>
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“A smoking new book. . . . The real revelation in Game Change: Campaigns turn our politicians into lunatics.” Tina Brown, < i=""> The Daily Beast <>
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“Heilemann and Halperin have conducted hundreds of interviews to provide the inside story of the 2008 campaign. . . . It vividly shows how character flaws large and small caused Obamas opponents to self-destruct.” Jacob Heilbrunn, < i=""> The New York Times Book Review <>
Review
“A fascinating account. . . . Heilemann and Halperin serve up a spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations, and allegations. . . . Game Change leaves the reader with a vivid, visceral sense of the campaign and a keen understanding of the paradoxes and contingencies of history.” Michiko Kakutani, < i=""> The New York Times <>
Review
“Everybody talked. Anybody that tells you they didnt is lying to you.” A former top Clinton aide, to < i=""> Politico <> & #8217;s Ben Smith
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“The best presidential political book since What it Takes by Richard Ben Cramer and Teddy Whites books. These are the types of books that got me into politics.” Joe Scarborough
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“An explosive new book. . . . An absolute page turner.” Soledad O & #8217;Brien on < i=""> Larry King Live <>
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“A thoroughly researched, well-paced and occasionally very amusing read. . . . The result is something that conveys the feel, or perhaps more accurately the smell, of one of recent historys most thrilling elections, and it does so better than any of the other books already on the market.” < i=""> The Economist <>
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“Youve got to read Game Change. . . . I read each and every word. . . . Game Change is a great book.” Don Imus
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“Compulsively readable. Once begun, you cant put it down. . . . Deeply and knowledgeably reported and presented with all the cool sophistication one would expect from two accomplished political reporters.” Tim Rutten, < i=""> The Los Angeles Times <>
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“The hottest book in the country.” < i=""> The Associated Press <>
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“Riveting, definitive. . . . A great campaign book. . . . Halperin and Heilemann got insiders to cough up astonishing artifacts, including emails and recordings. . . . Game Change is really interesting, and puts you deep in the middle of it.” Kurt Andersen, < i=""> Very Short List <>
Synopsis
This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it.
--Barack Obama, September 2008
In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton--and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines has yet been told.
In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the country's leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. How did Obama convince himself that, despite the thinness of his rEsumE, he could somehow beat the odds to become the nation's first African American president? How did the tumultuous relationship between the Clintons shape--and warp--Hillary's supposedly unstoppable bid? What was behind her husband's furious outbursts and devastating political miscalculations? Why did McCain make the novice governor of Alaska his running mate? And was Palin merely painfully out of her depth--or troubled in more serious ways?
Game Change answers those questions and more, laying bare the secret history of the 2008 campaign. Heilemann and Halperin take us inside the Obama machine, where staffers referred to the candidate as Black Jesus. They unearth the quiet conspiracy in the U.S. Senate to prod Obama into the race, driven in part by the fears of senior Democrats that Bill Clinton's personal life might cripple Hillary's presidential prospects. They expose the twisted tale of John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, the truth behind the downfall of Rudy Giuliani, and the doubts of those responsible for vetting Palin about her readiness for the Republican ticket--along with the McCain campaign staff's worries about her fitness for office. And they reveal how, in an emotional late-night phone call, Obama succeeded in wooing Clinton, despite her staunch resistance, to become his secretary of state.
Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.
Synopsis
"It's one of the best books on politics of any kind I've read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with
Catch 22." --
The Financial Times
"It transports you to a parallel universe in which everything in the
National Enquirer is true....More interesting is what we learn about the candidates themselves: their frailties, egos and almost super-human stamina." --
The Financial Times
"I can't put down this book " --Stephen Colbert
Game Change is the
New York Times bestselling story of the 2008 presidential election, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the best political reporters in the country. In the spirit of Richard Ben Cramer's What It Takes and Theodore H. White's The Making of the President 1960, this classic campaign trail book tells the defining story of a new era in American politics, going deeper behind the scenes of the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin campaigns than any other account of the historic 2008 election.
Synopsis
In 2008, America was mesmerized by one of the most remarkable presidential campaigns in the nation's history. But despite wall-to-wall media coverage, the real story behind the headlines has never been told. How did Barack Obama, with relatively little experience, beat the odds to become the nation's first African-American president? How did her tumultuous relationship with her husband affect Hillary Clinton's supposedly unstoppable bid? Why did John McCain make the novice governor of Alaska his running mate? And was Sarah Palin merely painfully out of her depth, or troubled in more serious ways?
In Game Change, leading political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin lay bare the secret history of the 2008 campaign. Based on hundreds of interviews, Game Change is the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, and truly definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.
John Heilemann is the national political correspondent for New York magazine. An award-winning journalist and author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era, he is a former staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Mark Halperin is editor-at-large and senior political analyst for TIME magazine. He is the author of The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President and the coauthor of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008. He spent a decade as the political director for ABC News, and has covered six presidential elections. He lives in Manhattan.
"An amazing piece of work ... It's one of the best books on politics of any kind I've read." -- Clive Crook, The Financial Times
Synopsis
In
Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the countrys leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns.
Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character-driven and dialogue-rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, its an intimate portrait of some of the most powerful and fascinating figures in American life—the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.
About the Author
John Heilemann, national political correspondent and columnist for New York, is an award-winning journalist and the author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era.