George Packer reviews the "Decision Points" and gets the former president (and spoiled boy) perfectly. A brief excerpt:
Here is a prediction: “Decision Points” will not endure. Its prose aims for tough-minded simplicity but keeps landing on simpleminded sententiousness. Though Bush credits no collaborator, his memoirs read as if they were written by an admiring sidekick who is familiar with every story Bush ever told but never got to know the President well enough to convey his inner life. Very few of its four hundred and ninety-three pages are not self-serving.
Bush's presidency also aimed for tough-minded simplicity and kept landing on simpleminded sententiousness. No wonder about 30% of the nation -- imperceptive at best -- took Bush at his own measure and loved him for the tough-minded simplicity he wishes he'd displayed. The other 100% got stuck with the simpleminded sententiousness.
George W. Bush will also remain known for his administration's viciousness, the lies, his inability to exhibit the faintest hint of regard for anyone but himself. Very few of Bush's days in office were not self-serving.
