Rating: 
Summary: Everyone should read about the truth!
Review: This book was absolutely excelletnt reading, I could not put it down! I knew there was more to Susan then the media was putting out. All the media cared about was trying to put down the Clintons. Susan had a very easy choice to make, put the Clintons down and walk! But instead, because of her moral upbringing and her desire to do the right thing" she knew if she told the truth, her husband and others who took the deal would claim perjury, so her only choice was to say nothing and unfortunately it cost her. I really respect her and the truth always comes out in the end.
Rating:
Summary: A Kenneth Starr victim survived
Review: This is a book all Americans should read. Are Americans really innocent until proved guilty? Starr was after Pres. Clinton but Pres. Clinton did not do anything illegal. Susan is to be admired for her personal ethics and honesty. It is a great story and it will make you more concerned about your personal liberties. Susan won. Ken Starr lost.
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculous
Review: This is a whining, self-pitying, ad hominem attack on Ken Starr, by a woman who never seemed to mature past age 13. Actually that's an insult to 13 year old girls. Well, I'm glad Clinton was president, as it allowed me to get a glimpse into the brains of his supporters, who supported whom despite all of his despicable behavior (read Christopher Hitchens' NO ONE LEFT TO LIE TO), and now cause me to take a shower after I shake their hands.
Rating:
Summary: It's not about the Clintons
Review: This is about Susan McDougal's faith in our individual constitutional rights - that were taken away from her. Some people refuse to read it, because it might prove them wrong about her. What does she have to lose now? Absolutel nothing, because the OIC took away all her rights for SIX years. Thank Susan for refusing to testify, thereby exposing that sham of a Grand Jury. Some day, others that were involved might be as brave as Susan and tell the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Put Down!
Review: This is one of those "hard to put down" books. McDougal presents all the action and history leading up to and going beyond her own suffering with the Watergate Trials. Usually when I resume reading a book after several days I must flip back some pages to remember the story line. Not so with this! "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk" is a clincher! She reveals much about the real Jim McDougal, and many other players in this fallout. While not a close friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, she was quite aware of the scandel being drummed up by the Investigative Committee, and went to prison rather than lie that the Clinton's participated in an under the table way.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most gripping, fascinating, inspiring
Review: This was a real page turner. This woman is one of the most courageous individuals I ever read about or heard about. The hardships she endured because of Kenneth's Starr Chamber Proceedings were incredible. The book is very enlightening about prison conditions for women and she elicits a great deal of sympathy for these women many of whom blame themselves for their predicament. This book deserves a bigger circulation than Hillary's latest. McDougal did a lot to shield the Clintons. But, she didn't do what she did for them. As she said, "I did it for myself." One thing she had was a supportive family. This was one of the best books I ever read. It's about an amazing woman who took heroic steps to preserve her self-respect and integrity. I wish my review were more coherent but it's hard to be coherent about a book that affects one as much as this.
Rating:
Summary: she went to jail because she wouldn't lie
Review: This woman was put through the mill because she wouldn't lie for Starr and his team. They needed her testimony because the other two witnesses (her exhusband and the other a big time crook) who had made up their stories to get their legal deals were not good enough to be credible. They needed her testimony and she was stuck between a hard place and a rock because of the fact that the other two had lied and if she told the truth and said that she knew of no wrong doing on the part of the Clintons then she would be convicted of perjury, even though she would be telling the truth, because of their lies. She knew this had already happened to another woman who truthfully testified in another case involving Bill Clinton. The one who lied got off scott free and that woman who had told the truth was convicted of perjury. The only thing she could do was not to talk or she could take the easy way out and do what Starr and his goons through implication wanted and lie about the Clintons. She chose to do the honorable thing and wouldn't talk. For this, she was sent to prison for 18 months in unspeakable conditions. She was body searched, placed in solitary confinement, she had a lump on her breast that needed to be looked at, but had to wait months before they finally did (it was benign, but if it had not been, she would probably be dead by now, she had a back problem that needed treatment to prevent paralysis, they moved her from one prison to various prisons. She trusted the women she was incarcerated with more than she did the guards and those who held her in jail. And yet, she came out this situation with a positive attitude and loads of compassion for the women that she had been in prison with.
What is scary about this book is that it could happen to any of us. She ended up spending all her money as did many of the other innocent victims of Starr's witchhunt. He used 40-70 million dollars of our tax dollars for nothing but smut. This book is an a must read for those of you who are interested in the truth and justice.
Rating:
Summary: Political Prisoner Turns the Tables on Her Tormenters
Review: Very bad things can happen to good people when the power of the U.S. government is arrayed against them in court. Ms. Susan McDougal (of "Whitewater" fame) tells a cautionary tale about what happened to her and others who found themselves at odds with overzealous prosecutors. Reading her story reminded me of the show trials in the U.S.S.R. during Stalin's reign in which prisoners were broken and used to implicate others who were in turn broken and used to implicate still others. If you want to get past the right and left wing propaganda concerning the Whitewater investigation, The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk is a great source. Briefly, Ms. McDougal was brought up in a large family with strict rules . . . which she followed. At a strict college, she met an out-of-control professor who successfully persuaded him to become his wife . . . and found that he was soon off prowling for other young women. Jim McDougal was a manic-depressive who was usually in his manic phase. He was also obsessed with being in control, and made all decisions in their marriage and business activities. You'll be sure to believe that after you read the story about the "home" he bought and decorated for them. Along the way, he dreamed of making an area where political movers and shakers would fly into for weekends in Arkansas. He found a beautiful stretch of land, and recruited as his co-investors Bill and Hillary Clinton. The project failed. Later, McDougal founded and rapidly expanded a savings-and-loan to help pursue his land development deals. With little experience in the business and driven by his psychological problems, the business failed after a spectacular temporary rise. Shortly before the marriage collapsed, McDougal arrange for a loan to his wife to be used for a new investment project. She picked up the check, and he used the money for other purposes. She left for California, they divorced, and she started up a new life with former co-worker, Pat Harris (who assisted in the writing of this book). In the new life, she eventually found herself living a claustrophobic existence as the 24/7 assistant and bookkeeper to Ms. Nancy Mehta, wife of conductor Zubin Mehta. The stories she tells make Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous seem modest by comparison. At the end of this experience, she is falsely accused of embezzling $150,000. At the same time, Kenneth Starr took over the investigation into possible wrongdoing by President and Mrs. Clinton. The "investigation" turned into a witch hunt in which potential witnesses were offered blanket immunity if they could provide the "goods" on the Clintons. The prosecutors knew what story they wanted, and would settle for nothing else. After David Hale and Jim McDougal decided to play ball, their testimony veered into misstatements about Ms. McDougal. Soon, she found herself facing a two-year prison term. Immediately thereafter, she was subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury. She realized that if she told the truth, she would be contradicting Hale and McDougal, and would probably be prosecuted for perjury. So she refused to testify. Normally, such a witness would be kept in jail for a few weeks or months on such a refusal. Ms. McDougal served the full maximum of 18 months. Then, she began serving her two-year term. She was released early due to extreme problems with her spine that could not be properly treated while in jail. Kenneth Starr's minions then attempted to get a criminal contempt of court conviction by asking her again to testify to the same Grand Jury. She again refused. At the same time, she won her case in California. President Clinton then pardoned her for the original Federal conviction. I was particularly impressed by her story of her experiences in jail. She took a lot with good humor and grace. I particularly enjoyed the ways she used to get her story out and to help the other women prisoners. Based on my knowledge of the criminal justice system, it looks like she was being persecuted for political reasons while in jail. She bore up well under it all, except that her health suffered. Anyone who wants this to be a free country owes her a debt of gratitude for what she did in standing up for the truth and herself. I also enjoyed the many places in the book where she exposed false statements by special prosecutor Kenneth Starr. If anyone should suffer for perjury, he is a good candidate. Fans of Diane Sawyer will probably be dismayed to read about the tawdry role that she played in rigging a misleading television interview involving Ms. McDougal. She also does a good job of debunking the popular theories about why she didn't testify at the time. The logic of her arguments made sense to me. See what you think. As I finished the book, I realized that our concern for good government can turn into a vice. Let's keep things in balance.
Rating:
Summary: Political Prisoner Turns the Tables on Her Tormenters
Review: Very bad things can happen to good people when the power of the U.S. government is arrayed against them in court. Ms. Susan McDougal (of "Whitewater" fame) tells a cautionary tale about what happened to her and others who found themselves at odds with overzealous prosecutors. Reading her story reminded me of the show trials in the U.S.S.R. during Stalin's reign in which prisoners were broken and used to implicate others who were in turn broken and used to implicate still others. If you want to get past the right and left wing propaganda concerning the Whitewater investigation, The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk is a great source. Briefly, Ms. McDougal was brought up in a large family with strict rules . . . which she followed. At a strict college, she met an out-of-control professor who successfully persuaded him to become his wife . . . and found that he was soon off prowling for other young women. Jim McDougal was a manic-depressive who was usually in his manic phase. He was also obsessed with being in control, and made all decisions in their marriage and business activities. You'll be sure to believe that after you read the story about the "home" he bought and decorated for them. Along the way, he dreamed of making an area where political movers and shakers would fly into for weekends in Arkansas. He found a beautiful stretch of land, and recruited as his co-investors Bill and Hillary Clinton. The project failed. Later, McDougal founded and rapidly expanded a savings-and-loan to help pursue his land development deals. With little experience in the business and driven by his psychological problems, the business failed after a spectacular temporary rise. Shortly before the marriage collapsed, McDougal arrange for a loan to his wife to be used for a new investment project. She picked up the check, and he used the money for other purposes. She left for California, they divorced, and she started up a new life with former co-worker, Pat Harris (who assisted in the writing of this book). In the new life, she eventually found herself living a claustrophobic existence as the 24/7 assistant and bookkeeper to Ms. Nancy Mehta, wife of conductor Zubin Mehta. The stories she tells make Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous seem modest by comparison. At the end of this experience, she is falsely accused of embezzling $150,000. At the same time, Kenneth Starr took over the investigation into possible wrongdoing by President and Mrs. Clinton. The "investigation" turned into a witch hunt in which potential witnesses were offered blanket immunity if they could provide the "goods" on the Clintons. The prosecutors knew what story they wanted, and would settle for nothing else. After David Hale and Jim McDougal decided to play ball, their testimony veered into misstatements about Ms. McDougal. Soon, she found herself facing a two-year prison term. Immediately thereafter, she was subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury. She realized that if she told the truth, she would be contradicting Hale and McDougal, and would probably be prosecuted for perjury. So she refused to testify. Normally, such a witness would be kept in jail for a few weeks or months on such a refusal. Ms. McDougal served the full maximum of 18 months. Then, she began serving her two-year term. She was released early due to extreme problems with her spine that could not be properly treated while in jail. Kenneth Starr's minions then attempted to get a criminal contempt of court conviction by asking her again to testify to the same Grand Jury. She again refused. At the same time, she won her case in California. President Clinton then pardoned her for the original Federal conviction. I was particularly impressed by her story of her experiences in jail. She took a lot with good humor and grace. I particularly enjoyed the ways she used to get her story out and to help the other women prisoners. Based on my knowledge of the criminal justice system, it looks like she was being persecuted for political reasons while in jail. She bore up well under it all, except that her health suffered. Anyone who wants this to be a free country owes her a debt of gratitude for what she did in standing up for the truth and herself. I also enjoyed the many places in the book where she exposed false statements by special prosecutor Kenneth Starr. If anyone should suffer for perjury, he is a good candidate. Fans of Diane Sawyer will probably be dismayed to read about the tawdry role that she played in rigging a misleading television interview involving Ms. McDougal. She also does a good job of debunking the popular theories about why she didn't testify at the time. The logic of her arguments made sense to me. See what you think. As I finished the book, I realized that our concern for good government can turn into a vice. Let's keep things in balance.
Rating:
Summary: Desperately Seeking Susans
Review: We need more Susan McDougals. I heard her interviewed recently on NPR and, as always, was impressed with her intelligence and courage. This is an important book. The Starr investigation was a witch hunt that threatened the very core of our democratic values and institutions. Susan and others like her were pawns in -- and victims of -- the Republican right's strategy to remove Bill Clinton from office at any cost, and Starr and his staff did everything possible to fulfill that goal, regardless of the consequences to innocent people. That Starr remains in practice (many at his law firm did not want him back) is a sad comment on the legal profession and its disciplinary procedures. Susan McDougal tells the truth and, in telling the truth, lets her readers know that the Republian right continues to be dangerous and can be stopped only by the bravery and integrity of principled citizens like herself...
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