I finished the new Bob Woodward book Rage which is his second book about Donald Trump.

I don’t tend to buy political books about current hot-button topics (or presidents) but have made an exception for Trump (as long as the book doesn’t scream catty tell-all). Trying to understand him and see what others see is important… though I knew going in this wasn’t going to be a flattering portrayal. But Woodward has a good enough rep that it was worth the read.

And much of this book is interesting and gives more detailed information about events like North Korea than I had before. And about Covid-19, of course. The fact that Woodward had so much direct contact (and recordings) with Trump is fascinating.

But I ultimately had to give the book three stars for one simple reason… the final hundred pages or so is chock full of these interviews and there’s only so much Woodward can do to make Trump interesting. In small doses, his persona, his mindset, his braggadocio, and so forth is insightful. But it gets repetitive. The Trump you see talking to crowds and cameras appears to be the same Trump in interviews. He’s repetitive… he repeats endlessly the same talking points and it’s simply repetive and tiresome. Over and over again we have to read about Woodward reporting that Trump goes off on the exact same litany as the previous interview. It drags the book down… and given the access Woodward had, I can’t say it was wrong to write the book the way he did. I just can’t say it remained engrossing.

Still a worthwhile read for anyone… though I doubt a certain set of people will bother.