Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps too soon!
Review: Perhaps it is too soon to write a biography of Ronald Reagan. Maybe another thirty years must pass before it can be done, but Edmund Morris gives it a good go. Though any book approximating biography that includes fictitious characters can be rejected before even cracking the cover, to do so with Edmund Morris' "Dutch" would be to deny oneself a book that slowly evolves into a delightful and thoughtful read. For a man who achieved so much and in so many ways embodies twentieth century America, Ronald Reagan is impossible to understand not because of some profound complexity but rather a distant and bland simplicity. Morris' fictitious creations serve as props upon which the reader can choose to stand to get merely a better view of Ronald Reagan, not a better understanding, or simply ignore when they get in the way. Upon finishing this book, one is left with a touching yet hollow feeling about Ronald Reagan, a feeling Mr. Morris clearly was trying to communicate.
Rating: 
Summary: The first person device is less important than the research.
Review: It took me a long time to finish this book, not because it was boring, but because I'm a very slow reader and always use my dictionary when chancing upon a new word. The whole time I was excited to read the Amazon.com reviews, which are always so helpful when purchasing an item, to compare my own virgin thoughts on Morris's unusual work with those of others. So when I finally finished "Dutch" I allowed myself to read the other customer reviews, which I anticipated would be more forgiving than professional ones of the fictional narrator Morris utilizes. The whole time I was reading "Dutch" I really expected other people to be as awed as I was by the amount of research and insight Morris gives the patient reader. I was disheartened to see, then, how badly this book was abused by so many Amazon customers. So many people were thrown by the fictional narrator. But I feel that Morris's comprehensive research and objective empathy - real empathy for the man - outrank his largely inconsequential use of a fictional first-person narrator. Yes, I understand, he could have used a third person narrator, as most biographers have done before him. And maybe that would have made it an easier read for some of his more obdurate readers. But it wouldn't have changed the level of insight, which is genuinely awesome, and it may have sacrificed some of the immediacy of the period in which Reagan lived. In this time of peril for our country, it's so odd to think of another time in our history of equal or greater peril: the early and mid 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was scaring everyone on the planet, including his Soviet counterparts, through his decision to manufacture nuclear weapons at an irrational and cartoonish rate. Many people now credit Reagan for "winning the cold war" through this hardline approach, not seriously acknowledging the role of the dying Soviet economy. Through Morris's book I was able to understand just how little depth there was behind Reagan's strategy. It's quite appalling that it worked - a sort of inevitable accident of history. And it's this sense of such a light balance between Reagan's bullish conservative ideals and his questionable capacity to understand the possiblely unfavorable implications of his policies, which I credit Morris with helping me understand. For helping me realize that Reagan may, or may not, have known what on Earth he was doing.
Rating:
Summary: Describing Grass Grow in three exciting steps
Review: I remember hearing the furore over Ed Morris'es writing style when this book came out. Frankly, I can now understand why he needed to do so, and it is quite effective. Ronald Reagan has none of Clinton's or Nixon's brilliance, or Carter emotional largesse. Describing him as the demi-god that Nancy would want would be simply false. Describing him as the intellectual bumbler that he could be, or the B-grade actor (that he was) would also not do justice to what was a remarkable although bizarre tenure. An episodic description of his life would be as exciting as describing the pristine beauty of the Illinois prairie. The key was to expound on what France's prime minister Mitterand noted, that Reagan was not about intellect but instinct. Ed Morris does a very good job giving the reader a feel for this. You go away, respecting RR for the peculiar manner in which he went about his job, in spite of there being no doubt that he wouldn't go down in history as anything resembling an intellectual giant. Maybe we as a country run ourselves on confidence and hutzpah alone What is needed is not a problem solver (as Carter tried to be) but an actor who can create a comforting illusion within which the capitalist economy can hum in noisy confidence. Scary. I look forward to the 2008 primary featuring David Copperfield (the illusionist).
Rating: 
Summary: Dutch Courage
Review: Morris takes on the daunting task of writing a biography of the enigmatic Ronald Reagan, who remained a cipher even to his children. Reagan, "The Great Communicator" has baffled more than one would-be biographer with his almost unassailable remoteness. Though a public figure for most of his life, Reagan kept council with no one except, perhaps, his wife Nancy. Despite the fact that Reagan was probably the most popular president of the 20th Century, and seemed the most approachable, he was, in reality, extremely reserved about his feelings. The surface was, in fact, an act. Hardly anyone ever saw the "real" Reagan. Morris had a better chance than anyone else of doing a biography of Reagan. He had a unique "in"; he grew up around the same area of northern Illinois as Reagan, and ran into him more than once. Reagan was a lifeguard at a popular swimming spot and once, Morris cut out a clipping of a news story; Reagan had pulled a man to safety; the earliest piece of Reagan memorabilia he owns. Morris, son of a wealthy man, later enrolled in an English prep school and left the country. But due to a burst of youthful indiscretion, Morris was bounced out of the King's School and ended up, sixteen years old, at Eureka College where Reagan was an upperclassman. Morris learned more about Reagan's early days than any one else, and with his credentials, met with the President later in life and documented more of his life. Morris blends a memoir of his own youth with that of the young Reagan. This, along with Morris's unique skill in describing physical details of a scene makes for an intimate tone and a feeling that you are really there back in the past. But Reagan, who was a loner despite the crowd that flocked to his charismatic presence, remains largely unknown in this biography. As a result, the book seems fragmented and we really don't come away knowing much more about one of America's most popular presidents. In this respect, Morris fails to enlighten the reader except for a handful of interesting but disconnected facts we may not have known; a portrait of his father but not how Dutch viewed him, his first sweetheart but not how she influenced him. As the biography progresses, it seems more and more fragmented--as Morris gets away from what he experienced firsthand in Reagan's early years he is left to flounder in unsuccessful interviews. This is where the book fails. There is a touching scene in the epilogue: Morris is interviewing Reagan, who revealed that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. He could remember the past but was fuzzy on the present--typical for early Alzheimers. "I saved 76 people when I was a lifeguard" he reflects, "but not one of them thanked me." Perhaps he never let them close enough to do so. Joanna Daneman
Rating: 
Summary: Author's style renders substance unreachable
Review: This is one of the most obnoxious books that I have read. The writing style of the author is thoroughly annoying and obscures the substance of the Reagan presidency. Why Morris was chosen to write the "official" biography, I have no idea.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Reagan?
Review: I have been laboring through this book and I don't know if I can finish it. I didn't want an autobiography of Edmund Morris, but that's what I got. And in it, I learned about this hoity toity fuddy-duddy old fart who hates the fact that he never got to know Ronald Reagan. Perhaps Reagan sensed that this weirdo couldn't be trusted. I understand that the review must stick to the contents of the book, and since Edmund Morris decided to write his own memoir and trick people into reading it by disguising it as a Reagan memoir, I feel perfectly justified in criticizing this writer. I'm dismayed that this man spent so much time with Reagan and failed to see what made him great. Morris couldn't even refrain from condescension and jealosy in relaying the most innocuous information. If you were looking for a Reagan Memoir, keep looking.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading - despite the weird stuff
Review: I didn't know if I'd like "Dutch" when I started it, because of the weird way Edmund Morris made himself a semi-fictional character in the "memoir". That made me hesitant to read "Dutch" when first released and it was only after I so thoroughly enjoyed Morris' two books on Theodore Roosevelt that I wanted to read "Dutch" in spite of the weird stuff. All things considered, I enjoyed "Dutch" much more than I expected I would and I'd definitely recommend it because despite some drawbacks, "Dutch" is very well-written and interesting from start to finish. I totally understand why critics and people close to the Reagans were disappointed and even angry with what President Reagan's "official biographer" produced. The Morris that pops up, Zelig-like, thoughout Ronald Reagan's life is not just an unusual literary device, it's a rather annoying and distracting one as well. It seemed totally unnecessary - the same information could have been written about in just as interesting a way without inventing a fictional character that all but stalks Reagan throughout his life. Worse, whenever "Morris" popped up, I found myself flipping back and forth to the thorough "Notes" section in the back to see what was real and what was fiction. Even though the book is heavily sourced, it's hard to get past the fact that a large part is fiction and it's simply disconcerting. And I can of course see how those close to Nancy Reagan were dismayed - he starts off in the introduction by comparing her eyes to a couple of jellyfish and only rarely does his impression of her become more favorable. While there are certainly reasons to dislike this book, I wound up enjoying it anyway. "Dutch" is never dull, Morris even made some of the really dry and boring policy stuff readable. Morris is such a gifted writer that I would say "Dutch" is still worth reading even if you conclude that you hate what Morris did. Decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Not so odd!
Review: ... This is a beautiful book to read, in my opinion the best biography I know and (important) it treats Ronald Reagan honestly and (by doing so:) well. I hope you will enjoy it as I do!
Rating:
Summary: Stopped listening after about an hour...
Review: This refers to the audiotape version. I generally don't write bad reviews, but, in this case, I felt the need to warn others before they waste their money. I am a big fan of _The Rise of TR_ and so I bought these tapes without hesitation, but, man, was I ever disappointed. I love Presidential biographies and can read/listen to them for days, but this book is bad! I mean really bad. I don't know what Morris was thinking - maybe he was just trying something new - but it just didn't work for me. If you are a fiction fan maybe this will work for you, but if you like traditional bios, you had better pass this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs of... Who, Exactly?
Review: Edmund Morris does a fine job of recounting his own past, as well as his visions of Reagan - however, Reagan is viewed not as a man, but as the central character to a pretentious, convoluted student film. Though his words are masterful and poetic, Morris' text reads like the biography of one Alzheimer's sufferer as recounted by another. Muddled and prosaic, this is one biography best left to the professionals.
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