February book reviews, part 2

Continuing reviews of books I am currently reading.

Today: Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

I finished a great book about the 2008 election, Game Change, about a week ago, but due to the slog of going through a 436-page book over two weeks, I haven't put together my comments until now.

That doesn't mean, however, that this book wasn't knock-out terrific.

For anyone who is at least a remote fan of politics or current events, this book is a must-read. It takes the storylines so many people saw in public in the run-up to the 2008 election and balances them with what was going on behind the scenes. Don't worry, it's not a rumor-mill hype extravaganza. In fact, it's quite the opposite: An even, methodical, well-told narrative about the story that was the 2008 election.

The characters and main plot lines have long been known, but Game Change puts in the added elements of framing in text what the candidates and their campaign aides were saying and thinking while it all happened. Furthermore, with the dust settled from all the excitement around the election and the campaigns, this book provides a simple retelling of events that could often become muddled in the thick of the race.

Halperin and Heilemann are both well-seasoned reporters, and you can tell this by the care they take with constructing their themes, chapters, and patches of dialogue. They include enough detail and plot hints to carry the story along and inform the reader but not so many that the reader feels thwatched over the head by recurring points. Even better, Halperin and Heilemann have a knack for knowing which names and points to repeat (for those not in the middle of politics) while letting other big-brand names, with their history long etched in America's mind, simply speak for themselves.

No spoilers here, but there are tons of scintillating details in the book that reveal how much of the race was how it looked like on the surface, and how much was drummed up by a candidate's campaign or the press. (Ah, the poor press. That's a theme, too.)

And best of all, Halperin and Heilemann do it all using the candidate's words and stories. Especially riveting are the mental gymnastics inside the Clinton campaign, the lunacy that is John and Elizabeth Edwards, and the sadness of Sarah Palin admitting she had no clue what she was getting into. (They're pretty light on the Palin-bashing, preferring to use the classic media approach of, "We'll let Sarah incriminate herself by just talking.")

The book is heavy on the Democratic side of the race, which makes sense considering it had more candidates, was a lot closer, and was basically repeated in the general election. But the book also gives a fresh view of John McCain that Republican diehards will appreciate when wondering what happened in November 2008.

And, to top it all off, there are some glimpses of Barack Obama that show he's not as fallible as everyone thinks. A year later, people are beginning to grasp that. But Halperin and Heilemann also capture it in their book.

The project is an excellent benchmark for closing up the 2008 scrum and looking ahead to the future, whatever that may be.