The New York Times Book Review is considered " one of the most influential, if not most august, institutions in American letters," as The Nation put it.
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That's why social media is all over the Times' review of Jared Kushner's new book, "Breaking History: A White House Memoir." Kushner, a real estate executive, rose to public attention first by meeting and marrying Ivanka Trump. He then became a senior adviser to president Donald Trump despite having no political experience. Nonetheless, Kushner has nothing but good memories of his time there, including his hand in negotiating the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. His book quotes colleagues who call him "a genius" and "one of the best lobbyists I've ever seen."
Times columnist Dwight Garner begs to differ.
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Reviewer Dwight Garner called the book "a slog" and "a queasy-making book." [...] He adds that the writing is akin to "a college admissions essay."
Garner's critique called the author "a pair of dimples without a demographic" and noted Kushner's devoted loyalty to Donald Trump: "Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog's eye goo."
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On the bright side, Kushner's book has gotten a rave from his wife. "I love my husband's amazing new book and I know that you will too!" Ivanka Trump tweeted.
The List
If you have a NYT subscription, you can read the review here.“Kushner almost entirely ignores the chaos, the alienation of allies, the breaking of laws and norms, the flirtations with dictators, the comprehensive loss of America’s moral leadership, and so on, ad infinitum, to speak about his boyish tinkering … with issues he was interested in.
“This book is like a tour of a once majestic 18th-century wooden house, now burned to its foundations, that focuses solely on, and rejoices in, what’s left amid the ashes: the two singed bathtubs, the gravel driveway and the mailbox,” Garner continues.
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The Times review mocks Kushner for including in his memoir “every drop of praise he’s ever received” for his work in the West Wing.
“A therapist might call these cries for help,” Garner writes.
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“You finish ‘Breaking History’ wondering: Who is this book for? There’s not enough red meat for the MAGA crowd, and Kushner has never appealed to them anyway,” Garner concludes. “He’s a pair of dimples without a demographic."
Yahoo
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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