A welcome reevaluation of a law enforcement legend, now much scorned, who so often operated above the law.
Doorstop biography of J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), who exercised outsize power for half a century.
As Yale historian Gage writes in this overlong but rich account, Hoover believed that the “thoroughly American” FBI honored the federal government’s progressive duty to make life better for “real” Americans while snipping leftist political thorns and suppressing minorities. Largely sidestepping the longtime speculations about Hoover’s sexual preferences, the author also notes that, while many writers have long thought that Hoover amassed power by blackmailing presidents and attorneys general, he stayed at the helm of the FBI because important people throughout the federal government wanted him there. One ally was Richard Nixon, and Gage breaks news by showing that although the FBI is supposed to be politically neutral, Hoover fed Nixon information about the Kennedy campaign during the presidential race. Nixon honored the debt by not firing Hoover, as much as he wanted to, as Watergate—whose exposure owed much to internal dissensions within the bureau—began to take bring down his presidency. When writing of a younger, more idealistic Hoover, Gage acknowledges his intellect and organizational skills—even as a teenager, he was keeping dossiers on everyone imaginable—while also noting that Hoover was committed to a racist fraternity that would influence his entire career path. “Taught as a young man to regard segregation as a bedrock of the social order,” writes the author, “he did not simply abandon those ideas when the Supreme Court declared otherwise.” His hatred of Martin Luther King Jr., however, seems to have been based less on race than on his conviction that King was a communist, the worst thing anyone could be in Hoover’s eyes. Gage closes by concluding that for all Hoover’s flaws and legally questionable programs, making him a scapegoat exonerates too many other guilty parties: “His guilt restores everyone else’s innocence.”
A welcome reevaluation of a law enforcement legend, now much scorned, who so often operated above the law.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-670-02537-4
Page Count: 864
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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