Rating: 
Summary: Balanced, But Intriguing
Review: George W. Bush has plenty of his presidency left, and there is much history ahead of him. How great of a president he will have been is yet to be seen. However, in Frank Bruni's chronicle of GWB, in "Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush," we get a look on the stupidity, and at the greatness. GWB has lived a paradoxical life, and we've gotten the good with the bad. Bruni helps us sort through some of it.There is a fair chance the conservatives will cheer this book, but a similar chance the liberals will love it as well, for entirely different reasons. Like in the extremely popular "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News," this book gives us insight on how presidential campaigns are covered. This might be a great tool for high school teachers to help bring to life the current occupant of the Executive Office. Regardless of differing views, Gore and Bush probably get along better privately than their supporters would like to admit. And Bush might come across plain-spoken, but he is far brighter than his occasional spoken fumblings. Buy "Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush" and benchmark Bush. Go back in five years, and see if Bruni was on target, or full of baloney. I fully recommend "Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush," by Frank Bruni. Anthony Trendl
Rating:
Summary: Bush Beyond the Caricature
Review: Seamlessly written and effortlessly readable, this book provides the sense of being on the plane following Bush through the year of the campaign. Bruni yields a most nuanced view of George W. Bush the human being, contradictions and all, beyond the generalizations and without any prejudged political agenda. What makes the book work is that Bruni puts himself in it, elucidating his presence, reactions, personal embarassments and even doubts about the extent to which the coverage created the news. Whereas most of the campaign books I've read rehash already reported facts, there are quite a few head-turning pieces of information and reports of personal conversations that served to deepen my understanding of the family and the man.
Rating: 
Summary: A fully-rounded portrait that is surprisingly flattering
Review: This book does two things very well. It gives us a portrait of George W. Bush that is intriguing, because it only briefly touches on his biography and gives us the essense of the man day-to-day. While it confirms some criticisms, it shows the superficiality of stereotypes surrounding the man, presenting a much deeper picture. It also shows the nature of journalism during an election year, and presents the public with an inside look at how candidates interact with the reporters, how personal they get or can get, and how that translates in the day-to-day coverage. Bruni shows the shortcomings of this system, as well as its virtues. And it shows that while Bush did grow into the office, there was considerable material there to begin with, if anyone was willing to look.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: Bruni is such an inimitably marvelous writer that I'd happily read a laundry list if he had written it. His stories in the Times are always delectable, and now his fans get a whole book to enjoy. His style is as delicious as ever, his observations typically razor-edged, and a reader comes away with the feeling of really sort of knowing Bush, to the extent there's anything there to know.
Rating: 
Summary: A " misunderstimated" account of election 2000
Review: On the 3 July 2004 Fox News Watch member Neal Gabler implied that Frank Bruni was something of a cheer leader for George W Bush in the 2000 election. That is not something a dispassionate reader would claim after reading Bruni's account in this book, essentially a campaign journal of Bruni's travels on the 'Zoo plane,'and elsewhere during that frantic presidential election. Overall Bruni is mildly critical of his subject, but often in a funny way, particularly with the then Republican candidate's mangling of the English language -something that Bush is able to laugh at himself over (a good trait). The book is not a must-read, and is now dated being published in early 2002, but it does give some idea of how manic and maniac campaign life is for both journalists and candidates. Bush is revealed as a man with an impish sense of humour but also one that developed newfound gravity after the horrific attacks on his country, in September 2001, and a leader who takes the trappings of the presidency seriously. On one occasion he forgot to salute a marine as he boarded his helicopter, Marine One, to go to Camp David but once inside he remembered his failure and so returned to salute the startled guard! If you like a gossipy style account of elections then this book is an enjoyable enough light read
Rating:
Summary: Ambling is an insightful, engaging read
Review: Contrasted with the egomaniacal meanderings of Joe Klein in "The Natural", Frank Bruni's treatise on President Bush is what true journalism is all about. He approaches his subject correctly -- as a subject, not a friend. Throughout the book, which is basically what you might hear if you had a bar tab and several hours of Bruni's time, the author makes clear the line between himself and Bush. He describes the events as a journalist interacting, following, and writing about a candidate for the President of the United States. It is less about any personal interaction between Frank and George -- although there is some in there, simply as a matter of course -- but much more about a New York Times reporter, a would-be President, and the inane process of running for the highest office in the land. And this is where the book shines. It gives informative details about pack journalism, how journalists can influence the coverage and voters views on particular candidates, and the messy details about how the sausage is really made. And it also gives insight into the 43rd President, warts and all. Bruni's approach to writing this -- casual, laid-back -- makes it pleasant to read as well. To be sure, the book has its flaws. Bruni sometimes strays into psychobabble, as he freely admits. Not that there is anything wrong with that -- but Bruni is a journalist, not a psychologist. I could give dimestore analysis of Bush, but no one, hopefully, would pay to read it. Also no excuse for better sourcing; instead Bruni slacks off, and just types something at the end of the book, with nary a page reference included. And there is no index, which attests more to the fact that this is a campaign journal rather than a scholarly work. I like indexes in my non-fiction though. Still, for what it is, it gives a good, nuanced look at how GW made it to the White House, and how Bruni -- and the rest of the journalists -- covered the 2000 campaign.
Rating: 
Summary: Libel
Review: This book is a politically-motivated libel. The author tries unsuccesfully to hide his aversion to the Bush family, not only toward the President, but also toward his parents and his wife Laura. The book is not worth its weight in paper.
Rating:
Summary: An objective look at the 2000 Presidential Contest.
Review: I liked this book because it paints the good and bad about George W. Bush. Bruni covered the Bush Campaign for the New York Times. In this book, he reveals the real George Bush and the close election of 2000. There were lots of colorful insight and also jokes played during this campaign. What this book revealed was an uncomplicated man who was seeking the presidency. Bush also could laugh at himself, including his fumbling of the English language. The Presidency was not his all consuming passion as it was for Al Gore. This knowledge validated my vote for Bush.
Bruni covers only the campaign and the aftermath of the election. There is only a little background history of Bush before his presidential run. There are no photos in this book. The book is strictly a look at Bush's run for the White House in 2000.
Rating:
Summary: Bush and the Misunderestimators
Review: Frank Bruni, a New York Times reporter, wrote a perceptive and eloquent book about the candidate whose campaign he covered in 1999-2000 and the president of the months previous to 9/11, when he was part of the White House press corps. With eye for the big and the small details, he tries a search for George W. Bush. But, as seems always the case in this kind of books, he succeeds, but only partially. Nevertheless, the answers to these failures stand clear in the book itself. I think it has to do something with misunderstimation.
Analysts, journalists and all kinds of pundits, it seems, start at the wrong place: they measure Bush against the traditional political standards and, when he just doesn't fit into them, well, the problems begin. "In many regards, the Bush I knew did not seem to be built for what lay ahead. The Bush I knew was part scamp and part bumbler, a timeless fraternity boy and heedless cutup, a weekday gym rat and weekend napster, an adult with an inner child that often brimmed to the surface or burst trough". What Bruni and others see as limitations, I think, could well be the essence of the success behind George W. Bush in the eyes of many people. In a time where professional politicians are always so self-righteous and pretend to have the right answers to all the problems around, Bush and his unpretending and fallible human nature are a breeze of fresh air.
So, when reading this book, you have to look for the real Bush, the one whose own self and voice keeps joyfully and intelligently jumping out here and there troughout the text, no matter what his disciplinarians (like Karen Hughes) do to enforce him, or the journalists (like Bruni himself) think about it.
Bruni's book deserves five stars because he tries really hard to measure Bush against those all traditonal standards and, in the way, inadvertently discovers Bush to the reader. Another plus is his exceptionally intelligent assesment of the role the press plays in "constructing reality" and not just reporting it. Sure it does. And it's part of the misunderestimation of George W. Bush.
Read it, you won't be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Sneaking Into The Positive Column
Review: I am not a big fan of President Bush and I really only picked this book up to find out more of what the campaign was like covering Bush. The author details out the year plus that he followed Bush through the campaign and then the first year of his Presidency up to December. My first impressions of the book was that the author was very quick witted, humorous and an excellent writer. The book really flowed well and I found I would lose track of time, as I was so into the book. The next impression I came away with was that I was starting to find a soft spot for this Bush character. The author does a great job of detailing out who the real G. W. Bush is. The reader comes away with a view of him that is not like the current partisan one-sided comments that fill up the media. The author spends the time to provide stories and antidotes that get past the superficial view of the President and presents a man that has a full helping of charisma and is one of those kind of people that everybody who meets them wants to spend more time with him. Again I am no fan of President Bush and do not plan on becoming one, but this book knocks off some of the negative side of the perception I had of the man. That is not to say that this book is some sort of pro Bush propaganda puff piece. I think it details just the opposite. There is no end to the mistakes and overall questions about G.W. that the author details in the book. He spends a good deal of time talking about the relationship G.W. has with his father and Jeb and the picture is not always positive. The author also does a good job off covering the questions of if G.W. was up for the job both intellectually and stylistically. You can tell the author gains more respect for G.W after the 9-11 attack. He starts to feel that Bush has earned the positive opinion that the author has generated for him. It is interesting that the negatives the author brings out do not stop. Through the full book the author never shies away from less then positive issues for Bush and comes to some conclusions that the rabid Bush supporter would cringe at. It is just that he presents Bush is such a warm and personable light that you want to look past the negative items and just see the good side of the man. This is probably the key to any politician and Bush is in the right line of work. To be a complete review I would say that this book is not an in depth view at the politics of the campaign or of the first year of Bush's Presidency, but rather an good look at the personality of the man. Overall the book is interesting and a very enjoyable read. If you are either a fan of President Bush or have an open mind about him then you will probably enjoy the book as much as I did.
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