Book Review: Unbelievable - My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur

I was quite looking forward to reading this book despite being on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum to Donald Trump. However, while it started out strong, it reads very much like how Trump's Presidential campaign panned out, getting less and less interesting as it gets closer to an ending that everyone knows.

Unbelievable - My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur doesn't really deliver much of an insider view beyond what NBC correspondent, Katy, and others reported on the news. Sure we get an insider look at Katy's perspective and some of the politics of being an on air news reporter when you're not particularly known for political reporting, but I don't feel we really get too much more.

I didn't get the sense it was particularly any more crazy than any other campaign despite Trump's head on approach to saying exactly what he thought in front of the media, and for his supporters seemingly thinking they had a license to say anything on their mind too, no matter how antagonistic. I guess you had to be there?

You do get the impression that only Katy had any sense that Trump might win thanks to her front-row seat, with everyone else believing Hilary Clinton was basically a done deal for the next President.

From a complete outsider perspective it was never a surprise to me that Trump won. Not because he had the better campaign or he was the better candidate. Anyone else on any side of politics would've lost their conviction at some of Trump's missteps. The problem was with the Democrats not getting out of their own way. For some reason they thought Hillary Clinton was their best chance.

I have no doubt Hillary may have been a great President. I just think her timing was off. She still needed a little more distance between her and her husband's time as President. Had she not run against Trump, with his campaign focused on her private email server controversy, she may have been the better candidate over Joe Biden in the next election.

But I digress. Unbelievable skips around various time periods for no apparent reason. I guess it's to remind you that despite everything, Trump wins in the end. Like anyone needs reminding.

While there are moments I do remember, like Trump specifically calling Katy out at press conferences, and of course the very memorable 'grab them by the pussy' recording that somehow didn't kill Trump's momentum at all, there just isn't that much in the book that we didn't see play out in public.

Maybe the book is marred by Trump's complete lack of interest in the media, and always travelling on his own plane. As a result there's very little in the way of behind the scenes on his actual campaign trail. The only behind the scenes we really get is Katy and her colleagues going from hotel to hotel, working 24/7 seemingly. It seems more like a front row seat but still not anywhere close to the stage?

I don't know? Like I said, I was looking forward to this book. It does start strong but it's really treading water in the last 50 pages. I found it very hard to get through them.

In her author's note, at the beginning of the book, Katy makes a point of saying she spoke with a lot of people to cross reference her memories in order to be as factual as possible. I just kind of wish she had included more of those voices. This book could have been a broader overview, with many more perspectives of how Trump's campaign unfolded.

In the end it's more a book about Katy Tur than it is the campaign. She called it before anyone.

Available on Amazon (Affiliate link)
Unbelievable - My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur

Comments

Boom Crash Opera Born Classic But Not Again

Boom Crash Opera are an Australian Band that reached the peak of their popularity in the mid to late nineteen eighties. They are a band that I knew about at that time but was never really excited by until they released their ill fated double album Born and Born Again in 1995 (Album cover pictured). At the time of its release I was very much into emerging Australian musical acts and was also looking out for new sounds that were different and had kind of a futuristic/electronic sound. Artists that I was buying at the time included; Swoop , Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Its Self . As well as a really interesting release by David Bowie, the concept album, Outside . Born was a fairly radical departure for Boom Crash Opera (BCO). The first single, Gimme , was often compared to the sounds of Gary Glitter, particularly his single, Rock n Roll part 2 , because of the pounding drum loops. Watch the video below. My favorite single from the album is dissemble which probably went now...

Kids today are smarter than their parents?

Mother's Bed Art Board Print by TET. Available from RedBubble . How often have you heard it said that kids today are smarter than their parents? I’ve heard it quite frequently in the media – even Dr Phil has said it. I say speak for yourself. It’s not true and don’t let the media fool you. Today’s kids may have access to more information that may give them more choices but in my experience, they only take in what they want to hear and still make stupid, uninformed decisions. Just like we used to at their age. Like any cross section of people there will be exceptions. There are kids that are genuinely smarter, more mature and responsible for their age. However the vast majority know everything they need to know by the time they turn fourteen. They’re ‘adult’ enough to be responsible for all their own decision making so parents should just let them do what they please…right? Just like we thought at fourteen. Don’t be fooled. Just because your son knows how to download MP3’s onto an i...

What If Being Yourself Isn't Good Enough?

One of my most personal public videos is a collection of outtakes edited together with my narration, read word for word, from my blog post written back on August 5th, 2007 titled Is Being Me Good Enough? I made the similarly titled video the next day. At the time the video (which you can view below) generated some discussion in the comments and was a real turning point for me personally in how I thought about myself and how I presented on camera. It took a weight off my shoulders. [Note that especially for this article I've re-edited and re-uploaded the video to Youtube because the last sentence on the original version was cut off by Youtube's uploader. The new version is identical other than I've added a title screen at the beginning and cropped the footage for 16:9 ratio - plus added some length to the end to ensure it doesn't get the last line cut again.] I came to be thinking about this video again because of my latest video diaries - which I will...

The Lego Man - He's got all that!

Who would have thought that owning one of the worlds largest, private Lego collections could take you so far. Tom Lucieer of Angaston, South Australia, not only has met the Queen (of England) but is a frequent guest of her majesty and family when they are in Australia. He's also met Prince Charles, Lady Diana and Camila Parker-Bowles. Not only that, he grew up with TV Vet, Dr Harry, and is a friend of the Irwin family (yes, that's Steve Irwin's family). Tom will happily tell you all this as part of the guided tour of his collection, which, aside from Lego, includes much railway memorabilia and colourful anecdotes about days gone by, his achievements and more. Frequently he will finish each particular monologue with the phrase, "Have you got that?", just to check that he hasn't confused you because, as he points out, his display and the stories behind it are a lot to take in at once. In the photo you can see Tom holding a special award, which I think is for bei...

The Truth About Modern Art

Paul J. Watson's video, The Truth About Modern Art popped up in my social media stream today. It's basically a rant video denouncing, mainly conceptual art, with a few other similarly criticized art movements/styles/techniques thrown in.

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog