Rating: 
Summary: An Inside Look at Clinton and the Media
Review: Howard Kurtz, aside from being a perceptive media critic, is a very luck man. Spin Cycle went to press just as the Lewinsky scandal broke. Now updated and in paperback, it is a must-read for anyone watching current coverage of the Clinton presidency and wondering how the heck we got here. Kurtz shows that the tensions between the Clintons and the White House press corps go back to the beginning of his presidency. For all his political savvy, Bill Clinton has never mastered media relations, and now, in crisis, he has no good will to call upon. Also central to Kurtz's story is outgoing press secretary Mike McCurry, a man who should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work in the trenches.
Rating:
Summary: This book was good and focused at an appropriate audience!
Review: I did not read this book on my own will, unfortunately, but I did love it. My Soc. Studies teacher (I am a freshmen in high school) asked us to read a political science book, I was not stuck on the idea. When I went to the bookstore, this one stood out the most. It really brought out the point, that Clinton will not always be able to hide behind his fab spindoctors. I realized a lot of stuff I never knew about our government in general. Although I think it was above most 9th graders reading level, it really opened my eyes. I salute Howard Kurtz, a really great writer!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent look at the behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Review: I don't generally read political books, but I thoroughly enjoyed Spin Cycle. I enjoyed it primarily because, although I'm no fan of Bill Clinton, the book doesn't vilify or exalt Bill Clinton. Rather, it sheds light on the delicate dance between the media and those whose job it is to protect the President. Although all administrations engage in behind the scenes maneuvering, this book is especially pertinent as the Clinton Soap Opera plays out on our televison sets nightly. An interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but not particularly well written
Review: I'll admit that I picked up this book expecting a more in-depth analysis of the various trevails of the Clinton administration as well as Bill and Hillary themselves. If you're considering the book for this purpose, you will probably be best served elsewhere. However, if your interested in the daily give and take between the White House administration and the press you'll find it entertaining. If ever there was an argument for reducing the federal beauracracy, this is it starting at the very top. Kurtz succeeds (whether he intended to or not) in proving that there are so many people involved in any particular issue that the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. He also succeeds in showing that the true power of the White House lies in the Press Secretaries office. And those responsible for telling the public what's going on...the press...is caught in the middle.What Kurtz fails to do is write in a style that reads easily. He seemingly jumps from o! ne anecdote to another with little to connect the two. I found myself wondering why he's telling a particular story and what it had to do with the story before. In short, he writes this book as a column with limited space.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Read, but the Title's Wrong!
Review: If you are buying this book because you hate Clinton or just want to see how big a bunch of spin masters the White House folks are you may be in for a big surprise. I think the title of this book is all wrong. This book destroys the media much more than it does Clinton's media people. No doubt about it. While reading this book you realize how much power the media truly has over the shape of opinions in this country. If they do not want to write about it the odds are we the people will never hear about it. I was semi-shocked at the amount of viciousness and animosity that the media expresses towards this administration. The arrogance and sulliness that they exude is as close to a vendetta as one can get. Sam Donaldson, Helen Thomas, David Bloom, Deborah Orwin - they should all be barred from the grounds of the White House. None of them cares about issues of subsatnce, they all only care about leads, getting the story before anyone else and shock value. I lost all respect for Sam during the Monica issue and never had any for the others. I don't blame any previous administration (except Nixon's) or future ones if they don't treat the media with any form of respect or honesty. The true bastards are not in the White House but are covering it.
Rating:
Summary: But then what is Kurtz?
Review: In this book Kurtz attempts to lift the curtain to reveal all of the media antics and spinning that occurs between the White House and the press. It leaves on wondering however, just how does Kurtz know what he's writing in this book. How do we know if the accounts depicted in it are true? There are some parts of the book that go into much detail such as exact quotes of the president and his advisors, probes into the minds of the White House aides (such as McCurry and Davis), and even such things as what kind of tie so-and-so would be wearing on a perticular day. When first reading the book, one find's themselves lapping it up like a kitten with milk, but near the end you finally begin to ask yourself: how in the hell does he know what he knows.. In all, a great book and worth reading, but it's greatest asset is not revealing Clinton's media strategy, but it's ulterior reason to ask if you can't trust the media, if you can't trust the president, can you trust the guy that wrote this book?
Rating:
Summary: Insightful
Review: It will make you think twice about what is reported. As a professor once told me "What is not said is just as important." Some tactics that are revealed are downright scary.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest political book of 1990's
Review: Kurtz gives as close to an unbiased view of political spinmiestering in the current political atmosphere as you give. Unlike the reporters who cover the whitehouse and the whitehouse itself Kurtz reports his facts and does not characterize them. Many reviews of this book intimate that this is an attack on the whitehouse, to the contrary,this book exposes a washington press corp,so puffed up and inflated that relations between the white house and the press will never be the same. Kurtz's reporting is so "inside" the reader will feel that he is a washington insider.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book all-around
Review: Kurtz offers a meticuously-researched and well-written book that peers inside the filthy confines of the Clinton White House and convincingly documents what we knew was going on all the time. For wanna-be spin doctors, this is your book.
Rating:
Summary: A great look into the infamous Clinton propaganda machine
Review: Kurtz provides the reader with wonderful insight into the spinning of Mike McCurry/Joe Lockhart and company. Though it may be a frightening realization, the White House IS the most powerful entity in the United States if not the entire world. Never again will I watch the evening national news or Lockart on C-Span the same way.
| 
