Review: If you're first, you don't have to be the best - as long as it's a good standard
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 15, 2013
This is an appropriately-priced e-book, and is a solid example of what the format can provide - longform nonfiction work that's timely right now, but would be much less so in six months when a reader's attention has been diverted (Politico's Kindle series is good too, though I've only read excerpts).It's a fun read, with plenty of behind-the-scenes anecdotes collected in one lengthy format. Hastings' accounts of his often contentious relations with fellow journalists and Obama campaign officials are entertaining and snarkily told. His reporting - a lot of which his endnotes explain was compiled by and credited to other journalists - gives a good, broad overview of the last couple months of the Obama campaign, when things looked good for his reelection, then horrible, then okay, then unsure, until the victory that with hindsight looks inevitable - I mean, President Romney? Really? Just three months later, that seems so silly.Hastings is at his best when he goes after everyone with his brand of lacerating humor. He describes Press Secretary Jay Carney as a "regime collaborator," which is just so over-the-top and meanspirited and original - and appropriate. Carney, a former Time reporter, crossed over to the bigtime of politics, so if he's not a "collaborator," what is he?The biggest flaw is there's not enough in the book of what makes Hastings work so fun to read. InThe Operators, which I also liked, he related point-by-point conversations with exquisite detail - he looked bad, they looked bad, everybody looked bad. But it was honest, and that gave it value.Here, he often starts what could be an equally great scene, but doesn't go far enough. He tries to crash a dinner of campaign officials (Jon Favreau, Samantha Powers, others) and is turned away - rudely? Politely? He leaves it out, unfortunately.The book switches between first-person scenes, and after-the-fact reporting, a style he also used inThe Operators. In that book, I preferred the first-person parts, but in "Panic 2012," I thought the more objective reported scenes were a little stronger.Flaws aside, this is ideal for the format. If I'd paid $25 for a hardcover, it might have seemed a little wanting, but I felt good value here. It was a good, quick - but not trifling - read for a flu-ridden day.If Richard Ben Cramer'sWhat It Takes: The Way to the White Houseor Hunter Thompson'sFear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72are 10 of 10s on the campaign book scale, this is a solid 7, with reservations for its level of comprehensiveness. That is a price for speed, but the flipside is all these events are still in reader's minds, which makes the narrative a lot more compelling.This book will be surpassed in months to come. Other reporters, with more access and time will do a better job at retelling this story. The key word is "retelling." Hastings got there first with this entertaining campaign narrative that will satisfy a lot of appetites.