Rating: 
Summary: Insight into youth, ego, power, and the struggle of spinning
Review: This is a fascinating book about George Stephanopoulous. Not Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulous. If you've ever wondered how a 30-something law school graduate can become an influential person with the ear of the president, this is your primer. Mr. Stephanopoulous is ruthlessly honest about his inexperience and the near disasters that resulted, and I found myself cheering for him to find his way as the memoir progressed. He covers his childhood to his resignation from the Clinton White House in 1996, with an epilouge about Monica & Impeachment, and the deterioration of his relationship with the President once Mr. Stephanopoulos became a member of the other side -- the media. He talks about a life filled with minute-to-minute firefighting, and frustration at not being able to accomplish the political missions closest to his heart and the President's. Yes, he suffers from depression and anxiety, but that is not the focal point of the book. The focus is on his personal relationships with the President and others in the White House, struggling to maintain his position of power and close proximity to the President, and the political infighting that occurred between him and the (nefarious) Dick Morris. He is very tough on himself, and more than willing to be honest even when his motives were not pure. After reading this book, I feel it was an act of bravery to write so candidly, and I have more respect for "Boy George".
Rating:
Summary: Insight into youth, ego, power, and the struggle of spinning
Review: This is a fascinating book about George Stephanopoulous. Not Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulous. If you've ever wondered how a 30-something law school graduate can become an influential person with the ear of the president, this is your primer. Mr. Stephanopoulous is ruthlessly honest about his inexperience and the near disasters that resulted, and I found myself cheering for him to find his way as the memoir progressed. He covers his childhood to his resignation from the Clinton White House in 1996, with an epilouge about Monica & Impeachment, and the deterioration of his relationship with the President once Mr. Stephanopoulos became a member of the other side -- the media. He talks about a life filled with minute-to-minute firefighting, and frustration at not being able to accomplish the political missions closest to his heart and the President's. Yes, he suffers from depression and anxiety, but that is not the focal point of the book. The focus is on his personal relationships with the President and others in the White House, struggling to maintain his position of power and close proximity to the President, and the political infighting that occurred between him and the (nefarious) Dick Morris. He is very tough on himself, and more than willing to be honest even when his motives were not pure. After reading this book, I feel it was an act of bravery to write so candidly, and I have more respect for "Boy George".
Rating:
Summary: The Best and the Brightest
Review: This is a memoir full of lessons for everyone interested in the human side of politics. Bill Clinton and George Stephanopoulos formed an interesting and intelligent partnership for nearly all the eight years of the Clinton Administration (and the previous campaign.) I still can't figure out the reasons that made Stephanopoulos finally turn away from the man that gave him the greatest opportunity in his political life, even when he tries really hard to explain those reasons in "All Too Human" (in "My Life", Clinton says he didn't have a clue about George's dissapointment until he read this book.) May be Dick Morris (that brilliant and cynical mercenary) had a lot to do with it, and also Clinton's lack of emotional closeness with Stephanopoulos in the really difficult period between the elections of 1994 and the victory of 1996.
Be what it may, "All Too Human" is a highly readable political memoir. Stephanopoulos is a fine writer and has a sharp talent to comunicate feelings and images. That's the case of the fascinating encounter, for example, between him and Bob Woodward. One can see the "draculesque" atmosphere when the author met Woodward in his Washington house. Woodward was writing "The Agenda" then, and wanted to get information from Stephanopoulos. "The Agenda", unfairly it seems, resulted in accussations of leaking for Stephanopoulos and was one of the reasons for the beggining of the decline of his fortune in the Clinton White House. Imagine that: the rising and youngest star and the ultimate wolf of journalism in town meeting face to face. It's just captivating.
The best and the brightest of the Clinton era tells it all here. His is a story not to be forgotten. Beware: Politics in Washington is indeed the most fascinating, seductive and dangerous of games.
Read it. You'll end reading it again. Then read it one more time and after that watch some of "The West Wing" episodes. You'll find certain, how to put it?... Distance.
Rating: 
Summary: An Insider's View of the Spin
Review: While those looking for a coherent overview of the first Clinton term will have to wait both for more time to pass and another book, _All Too Human_ provides one of the most honest and insightful views of the inner workings of the White House staff available. Stephanopoulos's work offers a view of the moral dilemnas inherent in this ultra high-stakes environment, something that should resonant well with those of us in the sixties generations whose desire to change the world for the better often lead to acts which wheren't quite so noble. The book is really Staphenopoulos story - his personal journey in this pressure cooker - and while his closeness to the President and others in the administration allow for empathic insights - ultimately this is a story of idealism being deconstructed in the arena of pragmatic realism and power politics. _All Too Human_ is a frank admissions of errors made as well as success often overlooked, of the growth of both personal wisdom and cynicism. Thus it is both a decent political history and a compeling human story. We are not subjected to yet another set of cardboard characters playing out a morality play, but instead are treated to complex and highly intelligent people trying to live up to their own high ideals and not always succeeding. (Possible exception to this is the rather bizarre portrait of Dick Morris). There are, thankfully, but a very short couple of references to Lewisky and Starr, the topics that would overshadow the second Clinton term. This is a book about people and process, and it speaks to the state of our most basic democratic instutions. For that alone, it is well worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: A piece of the puzzle
Review: With this book George Stephanopoulos provides yet another inside look into the Clinton administration. He is clearly a very intelligent person with a good grip on the power games in Washington.
The book is filled with descriptions of situations and events from his time in the White House, but lacks real analysis of his and Clintons achievements or lack of same. One wonders if he might have been better off waiting a few more years to gain more perspective on his own performance. He was a very young Senior Advisor and perhaps some more time would have helped him understand how that influenced the decision making.
Even with the lack of true analysis the book is an important piece of the puzzle if you want to understand the Clinton White House and George Stephanopoulos writes well and keeps the reader interested all the way through. Hopefully there will be a sequal at some point.
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