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Summary: A "Must Read" for Every Fan of Political Humor
Review: From the dusty backroads of the campaign trail to the innermost reaches of the White House, Mark Katz takes us on a wide-eyed and wacky trip peopled with the powerful and the people who keep them that way. Part "Inside Baseball", part West Wing and part Huckleberry Finn, Katz shows how Presidents, hangers-on, pundits and their writers vie for laughs, media attention, and influence. As a seasoned political writer, Katz also introduces us to celebrities, character assassins, TV cameras, and the occasional impressionable date. For those of you always curious as to "what goes on back there, anyway?", Katz tells all with a clever eye and a sharp tongue. A sourcebook for political writers, wags and wannabees.
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Summary: Contemporary politics as retold by Groucho Marx
Review: If only this book had been around when I was an undergraduate majoring in political science. It is as revealing and incisive as anything I've read on contemporary American politics, and a helluva lot funnier. As history, it's the story of the Clinton administration as retold by Groucho Marx. For students of politics, it shows how politicians use humor to achieve important political objectives, and also to deflect gaffes and static that keeps them from achieving these objectives -- humor as politics by other means. It leaves the reader both wiser and happier. Teachers of American politics should assign this book to their students, and "real people" should recommend it to friends who need a lift from the humorless political scene.
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Summary: A Laugh-Out-Loud Romp Through A Generation of Politics
Review: CLINTON & ME is that rare look at the White House and American politics from an outsider on the inside. The chapters on the Dukakis-Bush '88 campaign alone are worth the price of admission -- the jokes the candidate *never* said are hilarious ("I'm Mike Dukakis and these are my eyebrows"), and the lessons from that campaign are urgent for anyone paying attention to 2004. I enjoyed jumping from episode after episode, with Katz providing the funny retorts and comic riffs to everything that happened in the Clinton years (from cheeseburgers to Newt to Monica). Clinton's own comic turnaround provides the main drama in the book. And Gore comes through at times as a fearlessly funny man who was willing to have himself delivered at the start of one speech as a mannequin in a handtruck by a UPS man -- to make fun of his own stiffness. Unlike most political books today, this one is not mean spirited. It's simply very well-written, and it provides a unique and much-needed perspective on the great decade of the 90s, years which now seem so long gone.
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Summary: A Laugh a Minute
Review: As a Republican, I probably shouldn't admit it, but I bought the book Friday afternoon was up until 3:30 Saturday morning reading it. Being consistently funny over the course of 300+ pages ain't easy, but Mark Katz has done it. Great stories; great jokes; a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: He didn't do what he said he did
Review: Someone once told me to believe 90% of what I saw and 50% of what I read. Well, this definitely falls into the category of "I don't believe what I read." When it comes down to it, the book is about promoting Mark Katz -- and nothing else -- which is precisely what Katz has been doing for years and years. He takes credit for others work -- and claims that he played a more central role than he did in the writing of Clinton humor speeches.
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Summary: Worth your time Worth your money
Review: If you stop to think about it, most people have ho hum jobs. Mark Katz is not one of those people.I thoroughly enjoyed his story. It's an interesting perspective on those people whom we see on tv every day: real everyday working Americans. Add to that a compelling narrative surrounding "life choices" and you end up with a regular guy, complete with insecurities, writing jokes for the President. How cool is that? What I really appreciated about this book is that it avoided dialogue about the vexing issues surrounding Clinton and his attendant controversies. You get access to Clinton's Oval Office and you didn't have to wash your hands afterwards. For those who haven't seen Mark's video of Clinton's "Final Days", it's one of the more remarkable film clips I've ever seen. Find it on the net and "see" Mark's humor in action. Well done Mark. Thank you for sharing.
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Summary: From the guy who made Dukakis funny?
Review: If you're a big fan of the comedy stylings of Michael Dukakis and Al Gore, this is the book for you. A less than funny journey through the author's career as a "humor" writer for some of the least funny people in politics. Maybe Al Gore really is funny, we'll never know. It's the jokes, stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very funny
Review: I laughed, I cried. It was better than Katz. Well, I guess it was exactly Katz and that is plenty good enough. This book is laugh-out loud funny, so be careful if you plan to read it where people might stare at you. It's great to have another funny guy on the side of the Democrats. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.
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Summary: Only the Author's Mother Could Like This Book...
Review: The book promises to be about a comedy writer for Bill Clinton, but ends up being about the kid from the back of the class who thinks he's funny. Sure, he has a small dedicated group of similarly unfunny friends who laugh at every feeble attempt at humor that he makes (each of whom is mentioned throughout the book), but for the rest of us, we have paid our dues in junior high and high school. No one should have to pay another sixteen bucks to to hear this same unfunny kid send up bouquets to himself. To be fair, the book does cover some specific humor writing that the author completed for a small number of politicians - Dukakis, Gore and Madeline Albright, but too much of it is about the author's attempts at humor from grade school to high school. Maybe this would be interesting if the author were a well-known comedian and humorist, but he is apparently an obscure part-time political writer. Moreover, if the stories from his youth are the best of, they suggest that the author should have followed his father into the respectable world of orthodontry. His humor, like that of most dentists, is of the sort which can only be endured under local anesthetic. While you may be forced to listen to these jokes in the dentist's chair, you don't have to buy this book. So unless your related to the author, (and if you are, you probably have already been forced to endure these stories) don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent look at what is mostly unknown to the public
Review: Mark Katz wrote a book that really looks at the life of a comedy writer in the White House but does so in a upbeat and friendly way. Often the public doesn't get to see this point of view and only hears from the "big wigs"--books by former Sec of State or Sec of Treasury or a Presidential book, etc.--so hearing from the comedy writer is worthy for we need this necessary perspective. This is a wonderful book that should be read for those who love humor and politics and also who would like to read a fun and positive story.
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