Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Entertaining
Review: For the last 30 plus years, Bob Schieffer may have been the hardest working newsman on the air at CBS News. His memoir of a life in journalism is filled with one interesting story after another as well as personal insights about balancing career and family. It's engaging and delightful.
Rating: 
Summary: Like spending an evening listening and learning
Review: From start to finish, Bob Schieffer, in his gentle way, sits us down and tells us what it was like over the last 40 plus years. From his early days as a Texas newspaperman finding himself in the company of Mrs. Oswald the day Kennedy was shot, to being sent to cover the war in Vietnam, then finally joining CBS TV and covering all aspects of Washington from Watergate through the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. Yes, he was there and his reportage then and his insight now gives us a greater understanding of what has been going on in the world over these four decades. His plum assignments at CBS kept him at the center of action: covering the presidential campaigns, the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, even the war in the Falkland Islands, and now continuing his moderating chores on Face The Nation which he began in 1991. The subtitle of this book is "What I Couldn't Tell You On TV," and he keeps that promise with many anecdotes that haven't been widely reported before this book. He also describes the movers and shakers of the U.S. during this period. He got to meet and know them all and he shares his thoughts on such as Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Laird, Cronkite, Rather, the list goes on and on, even includes Agnew. His take on the changes that have infuenced political races, the Congress, and network TV, and what happened when CBS TV and everybody else blew it on election night 2000 makes for fascinating reading and gourmet food for thought. Throughout the book he gives us stories of his personal life and glimpses of his day-to-day working routines to give us a feel of what it is like to be a reporter at the center of activity. This is a fine book. On a few occasions he breaks from his chronological telling of the story, and I found that momentarily confusing. And a few more dates sprinkled in would have been helpful. But, I'm ready to sit down again and hear more of the adventures in journalism from this gentleman and scholar.
Rating:
Summary: Reassuring and engaging, just like the author
Review: From the first page to the last, I could hear the warm, Texas cadence of Bob Schieffer's voice. While I have lived through most of the history, much of what he said was new to me. I found the history of White House politics and the press very enlightening. And his stint as a reporter in Viet Nam, gave me a clearer picture of just what the young men of my generation had to deal with.Bob Schieffer demonstrates in the book that reporters are just as vulnerable to the foibles of life as we are. While his career was most prominent in his life, the needs of his family, in the end won out. He takes us into the broadcast booth with him where we find people who worked for four days in 9/11, producers who sat under his desk feeding him page after page of the Starr report and where on election night 2000, the networks themselves set the stage for the most bizarre night ever on TV. We are with him in Dallas, Viet Nam and on the courthouse steps of a sleepy 1960 Fort Worth. Throughout the entire book Schieffer, in his modest, warm and humorous way takes us on a forty year journey through an America that has reinvented itself over and over, only to come full circle on a viewing platform at Ground Zero.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: Great insight into history through his eyes... I especially enjoyed the stories of his early days in Fort Worth...
Rating: 
Summary: Gently to the Left
Review: I bought my copy of "This Just In" while its author, Bob Schieffer, was in Jacksonville, Florida speaking at a luncheon with Kenneth Starr. At the book signing tables before the luncheon Schieffer and Starr were back-to-back greeting their respective book buyers. Even though each could literally reach out and touch the other by merely turning around, Schieffer, whose line was embarrassingly short, studiously avoided making contact with Starr. Starr on the other hand appeared too busy warmly greeting and chatting with his "customers" and admirers to even acknowledge Schieffer's presence. Right and Left had met outside the Beltway. Schieffer left immediately after the luncheon, pointing out that a snow storm was approaching Washington and that he needed to be ready to host Meet the Press in the morning. Starr signed books for another three hours. Now that I've read Schieffer's book I believe that his chilliness towards Starr reflects a subtle partisanship which infects his book. Mind you, Schieffer seldom says a bad word about anyone, a trait his book shares with Rather's "The Camera Never Blinks." If he disagrees with someone, he simply omits them (the only exception to the rule for both Schieffer and Rather is Barbara Walters, who appears to be fair game for both). Schieffer studiously applies the old adage "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"--Walters being the exception to the rule. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton get full chapters ("Jimmy" and "The Charmer") while Ronald Reagan's eight years as President gets one paragraph. Newt Gingrich fairs a bit better with three paragraphs but Gerald Ford's brief Presidency gets 18 pages. Schieffer apparently likes his Republicans amiable and ineffective. There is redeeming value in the book. Schieffer writes well. I can recommend the first half---the story of his climb into network news. But the second half, the part which begins when he lands his first job with CBS, begins the downfall of the work. He jealously guards his network's reputation and champions its interests. His view is passionately pro-CBS. From my brief view of Schieffer at the book signing, and from reading his book I believe that he is a gentle man, an introvert by nature, a man deeply devoted to his family
and loyal to his friends. He's the kind of guy who would be a good companion and friend. He would likely recoil at the charge that he is a member of the Left, but all history is interpretation. Decisions to include or exclude certain facts and people in his autobiography reveals Schieffer's political leanings and clearly as his refusal to speak with Kenneth Starr does. Schieffer's book is Gently to the Left.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Personal Historical Memoir
Review: I would not have thought to pick up this book, except that, by serendipity, I heard parts of it on Radio Reader as I was driving to work for several mornings, and by further serendipity, I heard the author talking about my late aunt, whom I never knew very well, and who, as it turns out, was a noted eccentric among the White House press corps. So, I bought the book. And I'm very glad I did. The story begins with Bob Schieffer's baby steps in journalism, his experiences during the the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the civil rights struggles of the 60s, his changing perceptions of the war in Viet Nam, his personal experience of growth and change in the news business and in American governance, then Watergate, and finally, the events of September 11. Although I learned nothing dramatically new (except the story of my eccentric aunt), I did enjoy seeing familiar events through the eyes of one very astute and well-informed observer. Author Bob Schieffer writes in an easy, flowing style, as though he is talking to the reader personally. He conveys a great sense of warmth and compassion as he talks about figures who are, to most of us, the great and near great. He does not hesitate to poke fun at himself or to share his foibles and failures. He comes across as a really nice person who just happens to have first-hand experience of the great events of the last forty years. The book moves along quickly, reads easily, and leaves you wanting more. I feel very fortunate that I was able to read this book, and I highly recommend it to others. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: If you liked the memoirs of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Dan Rather, so too will you like CBS News and "Face the Nation" veteran Bob Schieffer's "This Just In". It is chocked full of historical anecdotes of national issues, national politics and TV news gossip. Like the other reporters mentioned, while maybe they themselves are not worthy of a memoir, the sheer volume of historical events they witnessed is. Schieffer's style is entertaining, homespun, honest, reflective and intelligent, and he has most definitely kept his ego in check. Schieffer shares his experiences during JFK's assassination, LBJ, Vietnam, Nixon, Carter, the 2000 election, and Sept 11. I would estimate the book is 75% insight to Washington and national events and 25% insight into the author and CBS News. Schieffer provides enough personal information and history for his audience to get to know him, but that is less for grandstanding than for helping his audience to understand his background in order to understand how he interprets events. He truly enjoys and respects his work and subjects and it clearly shows in his memoirs. And never have I found a book's acknowledgements and source notes so entertaining!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: If you liked the memoirs of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Dan Rather, so too will you like CBS News and "Face the Nation" veteran Bob Schieffer's "This Just In". It is chocked full of historical anecdotes of national issues, national politics and TV news gossip. Like the other reporters mentioned, while maybe they themselves are not worthy of a memoir, the sheer volume of historical events they witnessed is. Schieffer's style is entertaining, homespun, honest, reflective and intelligent, and he has most definitely kept his ego in check. Schieffer shares his experiences during JFK's assassination, LBJ, Vietnam, Nixon, Carter, the 2000 election, and Sept 11. I would estimate the book is 75% insight to Washington and national events and 25% insight into the author and CBS News. Schieffer provides enough personal information and history for his audience to get to know him, but that is less for grandstanding than for helping his audience to understand his background in order to understand how he interprets events. He truly enjoys and respects his work and subjects and it clearly shows in his memoirs. And never have I found a book's acknowledgements and source notes so entertaining!
Rating:
Summary: Proof positive a book can be apolitical AND good
Review: If you're expecting one of those polarizing, didactic tell-alls from Mr. Schieffer, you will be disappointed. This is a wonderfully centrist look at 40 years of American history through the eyes of one of the elder statesmen of the news media. THIS JUST IN allows you to check your dogma at the door, along with whatever SLANDER or STUPID WHITE MEN drivel you've been reading, and to enjoy a nonfiction book without judging its contents or its author. WAY TO GO, BOB!!
Rating:
Summary: Splendid Book from a Longtime Journalist
Review: In a conversational, almost folksy style,Schieffer traces his career from small newspapers and radio stations in Texas to the summit of international broadcasting. In addition to providing an insider's view of how the media operates, the book helps readers recall America's most publicized events of the last forty years. Well worth reading, and enjoyable.
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