Rating: 
Summary: interesting and pertinent analysis of Bush's character
Review: This is Molly Ivins' first original-content book (as opposed to collections of previously published columns), and its timing is certainly good.What I like about Ivins' and Dubose's analysis is the way it is categorized. Bush's past actions concerning the environment, crime, religion, business, education, and so on are discussed, all in light of the unique backdrop that is Texas politics. The portrait painted of Bush is not particularly flattering unless one is a laissez-faire capitalist, and does not show him as having much real depth beyond doing what it takes to get along with his likely supporters. One thing to consider is that this book isn't nearly as funny as Molly's earlier books. However, its analysis is correspondingly more focused. Whether that's a positive or a negative is up to the reader. The other factor is price. At full retail, this book is too thin to be worth the money. Happily, amazon's selling it for about 2/3 of that--a fair price, in my view.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be required reading for both voters and talking heads
Review: One of the things that so often distinguishes Molly Ivins from her D.C. counterparts is that she consistently recognizes that the public OUT there is not necessarily the public DOWN there. In Shrub, her latest opus, Ivins takes a good hard look at the record of Texas governor George W. Bush. Her painstaking assesment of the often Byzantine politics of "The Greatest State" and Bush's ascension to the Governor's office provides readers with a view of the candidate rarely glimpsed in other organs of the media. From land deals to environmental policy and from welfare reform to tort reform, the book examines both the games and the players in Bush's rise to national prominence. The hard facts about Bush's military service and his dealings within the world of Texas oil are reason enough to read the book. They are also proof that the truth is far often more interesting (and amusing) than even the most bizarre fiction. Ivins been nominated at least twice for the Pulitzer Prize. Read Shrub and see why.
Rating:
Summary: Revealing
Review: While I already knew bits and pieces of G.W.'s past record, this book brought it all together. If more people had read "Shrub" before going to the voting booth, we would have witnessed a very different outcome to this past election. As in all of Molly Ivins' writings, she brings wit and a little Twain satire to the political world. She helps you laugh at the serious realities that make you want to cry. I have read all of her books, and while this isn't as hilarious as some, she tells it like she sees it and has lived it; and like all individuals who do so, you either love her or hate her with a passion depending on your personal idealogies. I for one am a devoted fan and hope that she continues her writings to reveal more about the records of Texas politicans like Bush in the light of day.
Rating:
Summary: Required Reading, Especially in the Red States
Review: I read this book years ago and was highly impressed by the facts assembled and the support in which those facts were grounded.
"Thank heavens Molly Ivins is here to reveal to the American people what a mediocre, bungling, occasionally mean-spirited, non-entity George Bush is," I thought while reading this book.
"Molly has done the background work so that we don't ever make the mistake of giving George Bush so much power that he can cause trouble on a national, heaven forfend, on an international scale."
Well, I write these words a few days after the presidential election of 2004.
This much is true -- Molly Ivins has written a good book. She did give us the salient facts, she does present them in a brisk, humorous and pithy way, and she does put solid support behind everything she says.
In other words, it's not Molly Ivins' fault.
Anyway, it's not too late to read this book, and, along with other books by folks like Richard Clarke, Joseph Wilson, and Paul O'Neill / Ron Suskind, I recommend that you do. Especially if you live in a red state. As the evangelical pastors say, it's never too late to repent, no matter how much damage you've done.
Rating: 
Summary: Partisan tripe of the worst kind
Review: The sheer disgust I felt while reading this worthless waste of paper and ink is indescribable. Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose ramble on and on with charges and accusations with absolutely no credible sources or facts to back their claims, with no purpose other than to tarnish the reputation of a man rising to greatness. This book was a complete and utter waste of time, giving a bad name to honest, unbiased documentarians everywhere. Obviously charged with blatant partisanship, I hate that I wasted money and time purchasing it.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing and Insightful About Mr. Bush (Before Being Pres.)
Review: Here are some mostly top drawer essays about Pres. Bush, before his Presidency. So I'll just note a few items not noted much by others here. The first is his religious conversion at about age 40, and questioning whether Jews can get to heaven. When he asks his mother, Barbara, if this is possible, she suggests calling Billy Graham, who replies that Mr. Bush should not play God. Second is his remarkable method of getting rich , by parlaying $600,000 into $16 million, by forcing certain well off people to move, and passing (barely) a referendum to apply a sales tax to pay for the new stadium. In both cases, property rights and low taxes appear at odds with standard GOP thinking! With the new stadium, the investors net worth skyrocketed! If only we could all be so fortunate! His time as Texas governor seems average enough, and there are some accomplishments in education and other areas. So this seems a reasonable critique for all sides.
Rating:
Summary: The sad truth....
Review: ....presented in Ms. Ivin's irrepressible, irreverent style. A truthful look at the Bush regime in Texas and its bumbles and attempts to claim responsibility for reforms enacted by other governors, especially Anne Richards. Truthful and funny!
Rating:
Summary: Laughing to keep from crying
Review: Comic relief is a way to inject a light moment in a series of serious dramatic moments. Molly Ivins is the voice crying out into the wilderness and uses comic relief to inject some laughter in matters that make one cry. I wish I had read this in 2000 rather than 2004. It's relevant today and is a good read, enlightening, well written. Worth reading if one is reading the series of books (Clarke, Suskind, Phillips, Dean, Dan Briody, Chalmer Johnson, Moore, Ivins' Bushwhacked, etc. books) re the Bush-Cheney debacle. Read America, read, so we can change the tide in 2004.
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Summary: TEXAS-TWANGED MOLLY READS IT BEST
Review: When it comes to political commentary nobody is quicker on the draw than syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. Now she focuses her Texas size wit on the most talked about politician in the Lone Star State - George W. Bush, whom she calls "Shrub" or simply "Dubya." She calls the man who is our President a man you would have to work at to dislike, while she traces his sometimes circuitous political career and astutely assesses his qualifications. No one is better suited to read "Shrub" than the sometimes gravely voiced Texas-twanged Molly.
Rating:
Summary: The facts, ma'am, just the facts.
Review: I just finished reading this book, which I felt I should do prior to reading Ivins' new book that just came out, Bushwhacked! I'm originally from Texas, I'm glad to see that _someone_ tried to tell the rest of the country what our illustrious then-Governor was like, both as an alledged 'businessman' and later as Governor. What Ivins present in this book is, as the TV show used to say, "the facts". Not opinions. Facts. Everything she cites can be verified, most especially Bush's business career, which she rightly describes as a mini-Enron scandal. Nothing Bush has done as President should be a surprise to anyone. His behavior in Washington is completely consistent with his behavior back in Texas. On, now, to Bushwhacked!
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