Rating: 
Summary: Such a fascinating life deserves a more fascinating book
Review: Personal History is an apt name for this biography. I would have to say that I enjoyed the history part more than the personal insight. I loved the insight into the newspaper industry and the glimpses into the world of politics, but probably could have found a better book to show those facets. I found myself disappointed in the personal aspects of Graham's life presented. The potential was there for a truly thoughtful and reflective biography considering all that happened in her personal and professional life but we are given very little insight into Graham herself except her insecurity and passivity, and, sometimes. cluelessness. It's disappointing to see a woman in such a position of power and influence have so much reliance on the judgment of the men around her and so little confidence in herself and her own abilities. Granted, as one of the first women in the upper echelon of a male-dominated world, it is perfectly reasonable to have some self-doubt and she did have the pressure of dealing with the consequences of being the one to hand down the decisions, even if she wasn't necessarily making them. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to go _learn_ about things so she could make an informed decision for herself without having to turn, almost unquestioningly, to the opinions of the men around her. This sounds really harsh, maybe some of this is attributed to Graham's modesty, I hope. Yes, the name-dropping was a little excessive (got to get Einstein and Picasso into the index!).
Rating: 
Summary: Burn Up the Letters & Tell Your Story
Review: This book is huge. The highlights of K. Graham's life do seem interesting but there are too many insignificant stories in between. Because the author decides to include ALL the details of life, both personal and professional (as well as the personal and professional of those Graham is close to, the book drones on and on.) I found too much name dropping. Another main complaint is that it is written with so many documents quoted. Each page is a letter to/from Graham or someone else. There is so little story and so much "he said" "she said". I would have liked it better if she just burned up the letters and told her story. She was involved in interesting times, but let's face it, she was on the perifery. No book needs to be this long!
Rating:
Summary: Worth a read but seriously overrated
Review: This is quite good as your publishers' memoirs go, but it has certainly been wildly overrated in some quarters. There are long passages of what reads like research assistant's prose, and letters that are printed in toto that could have been excerpted just as effectively. The first section of the book, dealing with her parents and her youth, is the most interesting and sharply written, and the sections dealing with her marriage as candid as can be expected. If you're interested in the history of the Washington Post per se, much of this information is available elsewhere, and her account of activities at the paper during her husband's era is somewhat hampered by the fact that -- although she doesn't acknowledge this outright -- she obviously didn't know that much about what was happening. Later on, there are some good but occasionally familiar anecdotes about the famous names you'd expect. She is not much for social policy or foreign affairs, and her interests apart from the company don't seem to be terribly wide. After Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and the busting of the unions there's not much to talk about, and so the last quarter of the book is pretty dull, with lots of stuff about My Friend Warren Buffett and so forth. (There are the messes involving Janet Cooke at the Post and the Hitler diaries over at Newsweek, but she doesn't spend too much time there for obvious reasons. The ugly debacle over her (and Ben Bradlee's) suppression of Deborah Davis' book is not mentioned at all.)
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly well written and moving true story
Review: Once I made it through the first 75 pages of this book, I was absolutely hooked on every word Graham said. I starting reading some time in the morning and read almost nonstop until I finished the next day. Incredible information and personal insight into both the Washington Post and Graham herself.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been titled: The Life of a Corporate Cheerleader
Review: From what I understand in the news you won't see read by Peter Jennings or his ilk, this woman made a career of ruining a formerly liberal paper, crushing the printing press union and setting the tone for the hiring across picket lines that permeated throughout the eighties and nineties (see air traffic controllers and Ronald Reagan), and remained close buddies with those of dubious morality in government with the likes of Henry Kissinger (Pol Pot's pal), of which she should have been exposing as the war criminals they were. - If this is a story about how wealthy white women can rise to power in journalism using the same underhanded tactics and corporate interests as wealthy white men, well then I guess she deserves the credit of those wanting us to continue consuming with our heads held firmly in the sand. "What a woman"? Indeed. It goes to show there is equality in preserving inequality after all.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting 3 hours audiobook
Review: I've spent the last few days driving around town and becoming friends with Katherine Graham. Having a mother of almost an identical age, this is a fascinating story of the conflicts of a smart 20th century woman. I enjoyed being the fly on the wall of the high level Washington politics she experienced.Still, I'm glad I only invested three hours. I suspect that the entire book or unabriged tapes would have been too much and I probably would not have come away with as good a feeling.
Rating:
Summary: disappointed...
Review: Perhaps I started this book with the wrong expectations...I expected to read Katherine Graham's autobiography and find out how a strong, determined woman dealt with her husband's suicide and then proceeded to bring The Washington Post to great success. I was disappointed to find that Graham was overly indulged and insecure, and, when it came to running the business, she was overly reliant on the people around her to set the newspaper's goals and achieve them. Her role seemed to really be more of a figurehead. While this book is valuable for some of its political anecdotes and how they relate to history in the bigger picture, Graham is overly wordy and name drops a great deal. For a reader who is not part of Graham's generation, it's often difficult to know who she is referring to--and some of her anecdotes are more petty parlor talk than historical. Contrary to some of the other customer reviews on this book, I found Ms. Graham's writing style to be very journalistic. Many of her chapters read like a newspaper article about her life and lacked any color or richness. In particular, I found that the chapters leading up to her husband's suicide only skimmed the surface. When the suicide actually occurs in the book, it's anti-climactic. I wish that Graham had employed an editor to help her shape this book and decide which anecdotes were important and which should be left out. I think assistance with Graham's writing style alone could have made this a more interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: the story of my life
Review: There was a time when I was lost in the world, alone and confused, living on the streets with only the cockroaches as my friends. I roamed the streets, people stared and shook their heads in disgust before moving on. One day, as I stood over the Brooklyn Bridge contemplating bagging it all and giving myself to the mighty river below, I was suddenly struck on the head by a heavy object. Thinking it was an attack, I picked up the item in a blinding rage, only to glance down at the benevolent face of the lovely Katharine Graham. Instantly my heart warmed, and tears streamed down my grimy face. I limped back to my cardboard box and nestled myself inside to read this enchanting book which had struck me on the head. After absorbing the story in its entirety over the course of 24 hours, I collapsed into shuddering sobs, filled with a longing which could only be satiated by eating every last page of the large book. I did so, and my malnutrition was at long last cured. Thank God for Katharine Graham.
Rating:
Summary: Such Unpretentious Name-Dropping
Review: Well, it's nice to find the rich suffer too. Not that I wish any ill-will on Katherine Graham, but her struggles with the mental illness of her husband, unruly uion workers, and paranoid presidents feel a lot like a normal life, but magnified. She sees a picket sign "Phil shot the wrong Graham," a reference to her husband's suicide, and breaks down in tears. In the middle of a huge strike! Anyway I found this read extremely enjoyable, wise, charitable, honest and gracious. It's engaging from beginning to end, including the strike.
Rating:
Summary: Review of audiotape
Review: On a long trip made with my sister and mother, we listened to the book on tape and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It is warm and detailed with true historical information. What else is really nice is that the book is read to you by Mrs. Graham herself.
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