A Charge to Keep

Rating:
Summary: Certainly not Karen's best work
Review: Okay for diehard fans that just can't wait to get their hands on anything Karen writes. But somewhat disappointing compared to her gripping novels "Formula Father" and "It Happened One Wedding Night."

Rating:
Summary: Leading the Charge to a better future!
Review: "A Charge To Keep" is a revealing look into the personal stories and public life of one of America's most intriguing political leaders. I also found it to be inspirational and optimistic. I enjoyed seeing the fifteen pages of pictures in the center of the book. At the end of the book you will find an Index so you can look up his views on anything from baseball to social security.

I have been following the news for a while now and found it enlightening to finally get the other side of the story on many issues. You will so enjoy reading the other side of so many stories the media distorted for their own use. I have always believed that it is best to go to the source and learn the truth. In this book, you will finally hear George W.'s side of the story and also hear the truth about how he has successfully worked with Republicans and Democrats to enact Texas' two largest tax cuts.

This is a book filled with personal and political experiences which have shaped his values and led him to his decision to become a candidate for President. You will read about everything from his experiences as Governor to his love of baseball.

I found it interesting to read about his inspiration for his philosophy of "leave no child behind." This actually came from his working for an inner-city poverty program. You will fully understand how this man developed his compassionate conservative philosophy. You will truly see the heart of a man who is now our President.

There are qualities we all want to see in a President: Honesty, discipline, leadership, a proven track record of success, the ability to solve problems, a love for America, a love for the people of America, a can do attitude, moral values, a man who gives of himself, an insightful leader, someone who can keep the peace and knows that to do this means keeping our military strong, a man who can propose creative solutions and a man with a proved record of serving his country.

I love the fact that he served in the Air National Guard, that he and his wife Laura have a love of reading and want to help every child learn to read, and that he knows that he is responsible to a higher power. He lives his faith, but does not flaunt it.

"America is a great country because of our religious freedoms." --George W. Bush

"Reading is to the mind what food is to the body." --George W. Bush

For anyone who thinks that George W. Bush is cashing in on his father's good name...they have not read this book! This is a self-made man. I noticed that his values have not changed over the years. You will see this by reading the information on his past political campaigns. You will also see why reporters should read his book to get the real story. Through his life, he has also seen America's culture change dramatically and knows it is time to usher in an era of personal responsibility. He is a student of history and has studied the events that shaped America's political story. Men will love the story of his first solo flight in an F-102 on page 53, and the story about "the cuff links" given to him by his father, on page 42. Women will love how he finally was introduced to Laura and how much he loves her and their daughters.

"Unconditional love is the greatest gift a parent can give a child." --George W. Bush

George W. Bush makes me want to stand up and say I am proud to be an American. He believes in the American people and wants us to seize the moment. He inspires HOPE!

"I am optimistic our children's lives will continue to improve in material terms. The risk is that their moral and spiritual lives will not improve. You see the strength of a society should not be measured only in the wealth it accumulates or the technology it develops. The strength of a society should be measured in the values its people share." --George W. Bush

What do I like most about the publishing of this book besides the fact that it tells a wonderful story of a kind and generous man? He has donated his share of the proceeds to the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America, and Girls, Inc.

Rating:
Summary: Getting to know George W.
Review: I can't understand some of the reviews that found this book devoid of substance. And I didn't expect "literary merit." But after reading the book, I have a very good sense of what kind of person George W. Bush is. This was a very down to earth book, not someone seeking the Presidential Hall of Fame, not someone competing with the Gettysburg Address - just a down to earth person speaking his heart and his mind. I learned something about the character of this man -- that he respects others, even his opponents, and is respected in return; that he makes friends for life - loyal friends; he's even shown that he can make friends with his opponents. This book confirmed for me that he is not just a carbon copy of his father. Perhaps the bad boy side that he alludes to is the same character that, as a grown man, gives him the _____ to pursue a daring agenda.

Rating:
Summary: American Substance over Political Form Wins!
Review: George W. Bush demonstrates that the lessons learned as a son of a 'blue blood' family, one who has stumbled and recovered, and a business man are important in true leadership. Clearly few had to work so hard to address the raw bias that exists, including the host of adverse book reviews cited here (note the states of orgin!). But this book serves well as a navigational map of where George W will lead the country. Full of substance and inspiration

Rating:
Summary: One for the Recycle Bin of History
Review: I have to admit, though being neither Democrat nor Republican, I found that Molly Ivins' "Shrub" covered the same ground in a much, much more enjoyable way. Yet it is hard to flip through the pages of this book without constantly thinking about the questionable goings on in Florida or on the Supreme Court. More hauntingly, images of Chauncey Gardiner from Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There" constantly flash into mind. Though I doubt that "W" would be familiar with the literary reference, there is little in this book to dispell rather than reinforce the erie parallels between Msrs. Bush and Gardiner.

As he so often argued on the campaign trail, the label "President" has lost much of its luster of late. Alas, the irony is, as "A Charge to Keep" makes disappointingly clear, that the past few years have proven Mr. Bush more correct regarding that fact than any of us would have liked.

Rating:
Summary: A Long Haul To Keep
Review: If what we have in store for the next four years is any reflection of the narrowmindedness, stupidity, and boring rhetoric found in this book, we have a long haul to keep.

Rating:
Summary: Not a Keeper
Review: Reading this book while experiencing the first two weeks of the Bush team's onslaught brings to mind a scene from the Tim Robbins film "Mars Attacks!," in which the invading Martians lay waste to Las Vegas and all within it while carrying sound equipment that proclaims loudly in English "We will not harm you! We are your friends!"

Could the mild-mannered airhead presented in these pages really be the same person who has sent a lawyer for National Lead corporation to the EPA, a racist throwback to the Confederacy to the Attorney-General's post, and a proposal to break down the walls between church and state to the Congress?

This book provides further evidence that "Bush" is the name, not of a person, but of a brand run by an enterprising team of oil and other industry corporate hacks and flacks. As they grab for profits from natural resource exploitation, tax burden shifting, and government contracts, they studiously hold the cardboard mask of this hapless "President" ineffectually over their corpulent faces.

Read this book the way you would read a public relations brief from Exxon after the Exxon Valdez, or from Union Carbide after Bhopal. Then get out and organize, and vote, vote, vote in the next election. And please, punch it twice.

Rating:
Summary: A Yawn to Sleep
Review: Empty. Hardly deserves the few words I will write about it.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: I was surprised to read reviews from readers who said this book explains who Bush is. Or more surprisingly, proves he is a man of honor. Were we reading the same book? Since Bush has never told the country where he stands or what he will do (even after 2 weeks in office, he's not talking) I read this book to find out. I still don't know and neither will you. No use to read this mans lips, he's apparently only capable of stringing together empty platatudes. It reads like a high school kids year book, or worse, diary. This man is the leader of the free world? I did not find his story of conversion believable (too convenient) and his "understanding" of Olasky's compassionate conservativism is not the same as Olasky's. Of course, both are bunk. I came away feeling worse about this man than I did after reading Molly's book which at least contained some information. He should be selling snake oil instead of letting his friends do it at the expense of CA and the other western states. Can I have my money and my vote back?

Rating:
Summary: Embarrasingly Elementary
Review: It's hard to imagine anyone other than the son of an ex-president, or perhaps a movie star, being paid to write a book so devoid of literary merit of any kind.

The self-absorption, the lack of appreciation for the wider community, the absence of serious personal reflection -- all of these failings run the depth and breadth of the book, unapologetically.

It's also difficult to imagine that a person with designs on the nation's hisghest office would have allowed such an embarassingly juvenile and unexamined treatise to make it into the public consciousness willingly. One would imagine all efforts would have been mounted to prevent awareness of the book, and the political damage such a literary non-effort would cause.

This, however, presumes that the outcome of political contests is a matter of uncertainty -- and that an ill-considered book might have a negative impact -- a presumption being challenged by campaign finance issues and other recent events.

Ultimately, "A Charge to Keep" pales in comparison to other political autobiographies of the modern era. I fact, it does not belong in that company at all, but would be more suited to casual autobiographical sketches.