April 26th, 2010 / 12:26 am
Author Spotlight
Blake Butler
Author Spotlight
Decision Points
Why am I oddly stoked to read, or make attempts to read, this?
“Shattering the conventions of political autobiography”?
Looks like somebody’s been noodling with the Reality Hunger…
Tags: decision points, george w. bush
I was surprised when David Shields was on the Colbert Report.
I was surprised when David Shields was on the Colbert Report.
This is the sort of the book that could make me regret learning how to read.
This is the sort of the book that could make me regret learning how to read.
actually me too. there’s some preternatural pull not only in bush offering his empty insider’s take on the shitpit decade he helmed so haphazardly but also, as well, in someone so opposed in our imaginary to elegant language making committing to the active determination to openly life-write his legacy. seems like a recipe not so much for candid revelations (what is there to reveal really? everything nightmarish about that administration was essentially out in the open) as an occasion for exquisite ‘plain-talking’ rhetoric that codifies its contradictions by virtue of “being itself”. a personalized tour through what went wrong courtesy of a man whose attitude to words (no doubt, through ghost writing, tuned and refined to sound like the sound of bush, itself intriguing, and telling) was never quite right.
actually me too. there’s some preternatural pull not only in bush offering his empty insider’s take on the shitpit decade he helmed so haphazardly but also, as well, in someone so opposed in our imaginary to elegant language making committing to the active determination to openly life-write his legacy. seems like a recipe not so much for candid revelations (what is there to reveal really? everything nightmarish about that administration was essentially out in the open) as an occasion for exquisite ‘plain-talking’ rhetoric that codifies its contradictions by virtue of “being itself”. a personalized tour through what went wrong courtesy of a man whose attitude to words (no doubt, through ghost writing, tuned and refined to sound like the sound of bush, itself intriguing, and telling) was never quite right.
William Howard Taft beat him with Toast Points: 4 Years of Strategic White House Feasts.
William Howard Taft beat him with Toast Points: 4 Years of Strategic White House Feasts.
Right now, I really want a bag of Tostitos and a Panama-Canal-inspired, seven-layer bean dip.
Right now, I really want a bag of Tostitos and a Panama-Canal-inspired, seven-layer bean dip.
“Bush has said the book will not be a memoir but an account of key decisions in his presidency and personal life.”
sounds kind of like it should be titled: “All Right You Turkeys, Listen Up: Y’all Get It Right This Time”.
“Bush has said the book will not be a memoir but an account of key decisions in his presidency and personal life.”
sounds kind of like it should be titled: “All Right You Turkeys, Listen Up: Y’all Get It Right This Time”.
Does he have a badge on his right jacket-pocket?
The ’46’ in this makes me wish there was a way to make ’46’ all-caps here. Should’ve really been ’43’ per cent off as well.
Does he have a badge on his right jacket-pocket?
The ’46’ in this makes me wish there was a way to make ’46’ all-caps here. Should’ve really been ’43’ per cent off as well.
Bush is an interesting character. Say what you will about the man, a lifetime of entertaining post-presidential Bushisms is in store. When/Where is the W library going to be built?
Bush is an interesting character. Say what you will about the man, a lifetime of entertaining post-presidential Bushisms is in store. When/Where is the W library going to be built?
You would be surprised how interesting some of these books can be. A few months ago I read “No More Vietnams” by Richard Nixon and it was absolutely riveting. I assumed from the title that Nixon was going to apologize for Vietnam and outline a strategy for avoiding more military disasters, but no, he basically blames our failure on the Senate and explains, in a few hundred pages no less, how he could have “won the peace” had the government untied his hands. It’s utterly crazy and totally readable. I’m hoping for the same from “Decision Points”.
You would be surprised how interesting some of these books can be. A few months ago I read “No More Vietnams” by Richard Nixon and it was absolutely riveting. I assumed from the title that Nixon was going to apologize for Vietnam and outline a strategy for avoiding more military disasters, but no, he basically blames our failure on the Senate and explains, in a few hundred pages no less, how he could have “won the peace” had the government untied his hands. It’s utterly crazy and totally readable. I’m hoping for the same from “Decision Points”.
Flag pin.
This image reminds me of a JC Penney ad for a suit sale.
Flag pin.
This image reminds me of a JC Penney ad for a suit sale.
Guy looks pretty crisp. Wonder how many suits he has, and if he could recognise them all as his.
Guy looks pretty crisp. Wonder how many suits he has, and if he could recognise them all as his.
But somehow it’s true: “Decision points” is not “Decision Line”.
But somehow it’s true: “Decision points” is not “Decision Line”.
It’s also a lie. Have you ever read “The Trial of Henry Kissinger” by Christopher Hitchens?
It’s also a lie. Have you ever read “The Trial of Henry Kissinger” by Christopher Hitchens?
But that’s because Nixon was, while thoroughly evil, a smart, smart motherfucker. And a good writer who wrote all his own shit. Unlike this book, which is sure to be as bland and ghost-written as Sarah Palin’s. I think I’d rather eat a swampy bowl of ass than read anything that boring again.
But that’s because Nixon was, while thoroughly evil, a smart, smart motherfucker. And a good writer who wrote all his own shit. Unlike this book, which is sure to be as bland and ghost-written as Sarah Palin’s. I think I’d rather eat a swampy bowl of ass than read anything that boring again.
Great, great book. His book on the Clintons is fantastic, too. (Though his hatred for Hilary is a little bit over the top, so you have to take that with a grain of salt or three.)
Great, great book. His book on the Clintons is fantastic, too. (Though his hatred for Hilary is a little bit over the top, so you have to take that with a grain of salt or three.)
Oh yes, I’m in total agreement on the lie part. That’s what’s so astonishing about the book. He just keeps on going for hundreds of pages. Haven’t read the Kissinger. Any good?
Oh yes, I’m in total agreement on the lie part. That’s what’s so astonishing about the book. He just keeps on going for hundreds of pages. Haven’t read the Kissinger. Any good?
Also, I meant his ‘actual’ right pocket not his left breast pocket. I think it’s the sun but I like to think it’s really a sheriff’s badge that’s fallen out or something.
Also, I meant his ‘actual’ right pocket not his left breast pocket. I think it’s the sun but I like to think it’s really a sheriff’s badge that’s fallen out or something.
The title is all Bush. Anachronistic, imperial-sounding, but basically senseless.
The title is all Bush. Anachronistic, imperial-sounding, but basically senseless.
why is everyone always deriding the ass? swampy, sure, but damn fun.
why is everyone always deriding the ass? swampy, sure, but damn fun.
Seconded
Seconded
Silver presidential seal on a binder.
He is wearing a western-style belt, though — fancy’s himself a cowboy. Notice how his brother doesn’t have that fake Texas drawl.
Silver presidential seal on a binder.
He is wearing a western-style belt, though — fancy’s himself a cowboy. Notice how his brother doesn’t have that fake Texas drawl.
He is holding a folder of approximately the same color as his suit with what is probably the presidential seal on it.
He is holding a folder of approximately the same color as his suit with what is probably the presidential seal on it.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess the only conventions being shattered are the Geneva Conventions.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess the only conventions being shattered are the Geneva Conventions.
I really wish this was a book about pubic hair care.
I really wish this was a book about pubic hair care.
It’s well worth reading. And it’s quite small- you’ll get right through it. The only thing bad about it is it makes it harder to walk around all day knowing that Henry Kissinger should die in jail–and won’t.
It’s well worth reading. And it’s quite small- you’ll get right through it. The only thing bad about it is it makes it harder to walk around all day knowing that Henry Kissinger should die in jail–and won’t.
Oh snap he’s rockin the Z. Cavaricci belt. Haven’t seen one of those since the 7th grade. Who’s does his wardrobe, Zach from ‘Saved by the Bell’?
Oh snap he’s rockin the Z. Cavaricci belt. Haven’t seen one of those since the 7th grade. Who’s does his wardrobe, Zach from ‘Saved by the Bell’?
schyeah, tell me about it, Muzzy
schyeah, tell me about it, Muzzy
or else: “Profiles In Fuckup”
or else: “Profiles In Fuckup”
haha what a potentially endless series
nixon’s memoir includes a real gem of a section on what he was doing, and what his first thouhts were, when he was told that JFK was assassinated.
i don’t have the text with me, but it’s something: “i was playing tennis when i heard the news. i then went to see j. edgar hoover who said, ‘it was the communists!'”
really revision-y and everything.
“To vajazzle or not to vajazzle?”
“To vajazzle or not to vajazzle?”
After seeing that Ghost Writer movie and now seeing this I want to Google ” recent mysterious deaths of ghost writers”. Did Andrew Neiderman have a hand in this?
After seeing that Ghost Writer movie and now seeing this I want to Google ” recent mysterious deaths of ghost writers”. Did Andrew Neiderman have a hand in this?