Fire and Fury

Not as credible as one would like.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not. When I began fact checking, I immediately found that the book exaggerated situations. While I am not a Trump fan, I don't want to be misled either. One example of misinformation is when the author discusses Trump's speech to the CIA. When I compared what the book reported to the entire speech on CNN, it was obvious that the book was editing out, and misrepresenting what was said.

Would you recommend Fire and Fury to your friends? Why or why not?

No, primarily because of the misrepresenting information. I prefer my journalism to be factual and allow me to make my own opinion.

Did Fire and Fury inspire you to do anything?

Be more diligent in fact checking.

Any additional comments?

Please leave the spin out of journalism, it's hard enough to get to the truth when people are being factual.

316 of 404 people found this review helpful

Difficult to differentiate real from fake info

the author basically starts off the books saying although he's done so much research and interviewed a lot of people He is uncertain what parts of the book are real and fake and sometimes he will let the audience know and other times he leaves it up to the audience to determine. This is a mistake and significantly reduces The credibility of the book. It would have been better if the author had used his research to make an educated guess on what was going on rather than adding conjecture. Increased ambiguity on such an important issue is disappointing. having said that the narrator is top-notch.

218 of 290 people found this review helpful

Entertaining Yet Lacks Credibility

This book would have been so much better if the author was able to eliminate his own bias. I am by no means a Trump supporter, but many points in this book are discredited or provably false with simple observation or common sense. According to this book, Trump is a stumbling, bumbling idiot, who accidentally became president. That is painfully untrue. Whether he is delusional or not, Trump believes he will be/is a great President and it has been his goal to become so for years. To claim otherwise takes so much credibility away from this book, which is sad. It is sad because there are, what I am sure are many moments of truth in this book, but it is deluded by its dishonesty.

134 of 193 people found this review helpful

A disappointment.

Most non-fiction comes in with hard facts & supports the initial premise as the book progresses. Sadly, a lot of hype prompted me to purchase this book. I kept yearning for something more substantive & less salacious.
<yawn>
This book was more commentary than investigative journalism. If you regularly keep informed about politics and policy, there is ZERO need to read/listen this book.

Anyone interested in good journalism should read “Dark Money!”

205 of 298 people found this review helpful

The power of marketing

If your news sources includes the WSJ, NYT and Washington Post, then you pretty much already have read much of what is written in this book. No doubt there is some exaggeration, but all in all, this book is a yawner. Had there not been so much political noise about this book, many people (myself included) would never have bought it. All in all, it was not very good.

44 of 64 people found this review helpful

One sided emotion

Well, I got the book to get some insight into the Trump presidency but a few chapters in and it's hard to listen to. The narrator is the biggest problem. He speaks with obvious bias, contempt, and near rage at Trump's existence that I can barely pay attention to the content. The CONTENT! Well, if you hate Trump, you'll love this book.

Whatever. RETURNED.

10 of 15 people found this review helpful

Colorful but stretches the actual quotes a bit far

The good: this is well-paced, and traces the events and personalities well. Some historical context and analysis is offered, such as practices of earlier presidents, compared to Trump's. These passages are well-crafted. Some of the rightist figures I found surprisingly interesting, such as Bannon and Ailes. The depictions here go beyond the two-dimensional cutouts offered in much popular press. The narration is superb. The book overall is a nice recap and update to the conversation. Keeping a fair distance from every last assertion this author makes, I do feel I am better educated on the history and players, having listened through this. Some of the fly-on-the-wall feel of being there came through well, though not all.
The bad: there is too much of a disembodied, unattributed, omniscient straw-person voice floating around explaining everything in the standard blue way, if a colorful and cleverly-phrased version of it. There are stretches where actual quotes would be more welcome (as small a sample as each might be anyway, to use the statisticians' term). The author's opening disclaimer too casually tries to dispel this deficiency. A bit more caution and care in the journalism would suit me.
Finally, I applaud this release as flushing out Trump, brandishing his lawyers' threats and his nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements. It it is high time his straddling the public-private line and getting a free ride attempting to privatize the truth was tested in the courts. Not that I think he will follow through. His track record in such fights has been severely patchy as it is. Yet, he plunges forward, unable to resist rising to the bait. Ha!

136 of 210 people found this review helpful

Everything we already knew, but in high-def detail

What made the experience of listening to Fire and Fury the most enjoyable?

It's the curtain-opening moment showing in great detail that the emperor not only has no clothes, but barely even understand he is emperor.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fire and Fury?

The McDonalds Revelation

What about Michael Wolff and Holter Graham ’s performance did you like?

Wolff has recorded these conversations, so you can hear the distinctly Trumpesque or "Bannon-ese" nature of all quotes in the book.

Any additional comments?

It reads like fan fiction about the White House, which is great fun at first, but then you remember "this all actually happened", and it's a bit terrifying. We now have a clear, referenced exposé of how this so-called "draining the swamp" ironically consisted of dumping 1000s of tons of toxic waste right back in, then letting it sit stagnant because the Command-in-Chief doesn't even want to be there in the first place.

207 of 326 people found this review helpful

Hurry up, Mueller. Please, hurry up.

My favorite comment I’ve read so far comes from another reviewer: “Reading this book is like being forced to eat an entire 5 gallon carton of ice cream.” This book add important perspective to the debased, insane world of Donald Trump and the pathetic people who choose to be in his orbit. The sad joke of it all is that Mr. Trump was elected by less than 30% of the population and has the tools to put his lack of intellectual ability, declining faculties, perverse penchant for conspiracy theories, and ceaseless appetite for self-indulgence and gratification to damage our national interests for generations to come. So my plea upon finishing this book on the day of its publication is this: Hurry up, Mueller!

200 of 315 people found this review helpful

I can't believe I voted for this man !!!

If you could sum up Fire and Fury in three words, what would they be?

Eyes are open !

What did you like best about this story?

The book flowed very well.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Mayhem and embarrassment... Plus we need to vet or do background checks on people much better running for president !!!

Any additional comments?

With this inside information I understand now what I did wrong in voting for this man - I feel so betrayed and foolish for ever believing in such a person !!! Hopefully with the coming elections I can undo the wrong I did...

553 of 878 people found this review helpful