The Anti-Trump Book Club is a new monthly column wherein reviewer Jim Behrle will walk us through literature thatâs critical of the Racist-Grandpa-in-Chief. Follow along this month as Jim takes on Michael Wolffâs Fire and Fury. âEds.
There must be a German word fit to describe the experience of reading Fire and Fury, the phenomenal bestseller by reporter Michael Wolff, which quite simply blows the lid off the Trump White House. It must be at least one part âI told you so,â and two parts dread and fear, with a splash of pure joy. Wolff keeps the pages turning with a combination of great storytelling, remarkable behind-the-scenes access to this most unusual administration, and a breathless, breakneck urgency that grips the reader even in its quietest moments. Amid all the juicy, newsworthy tidbits of gossip, there is a clear-headed portrait of the most toxic workplace imaginable, where the daily stakes are, literally, the world.
Steve Bannon is a larger figure in Fire and Fury than even the president. Clearly, Wolff has found himself the perfect quote machine in Bannon, who alternately seems like heâs simultaneously playing everyone else and himself, and yet somehow remains the truest of true believers in the emerging Trumpism. From the unexpected victory on election night 2016, the reader is given a front-row seat to all the ensuing chaos.
Spoiler alert: Itâs quite chaotic. Surrounding the president are divided centers of power all desperate to come out ahead and survive a White House thatâs all over the road. Wolff seems to get the most out of Bannonâand gives him the most. Throughout, one has to remind oneself that Bannon isnât the main character. And, indeed, the book suffers upon Bannonâs exile. The bookâs pace quickens and the end comes too soon, as if rushed to print. Some administration officials are introduced without fanfare, only to quickly disappear.
This book may not change any readerâs mind about the politics of the moment. Everyone, it seems, has made their own peace with that. But Fire and Fury is back in most bookstores after delays and necessary reprintingâthe book allegedly has sold almost 2 million copies since the first week of January. That was certainly helped along by the presidentâs lawyers threatening to stop the bookâs publication. Wolffâs publisher, Henry Holt & Co., simply moved the release date up, and happily ran out of copies. Never tell the American people what they shouldnât read.
Whether discussing Trump tweeting from bed between cheeseburgers or Melania crying on election night, the book has got enough juice to keep the reader going, and itâs scary enough that theyâll worry about the future of the republic. Fire and Fury is an enjoyable dissection of Trumpworld and a vital warning about the disastrous folly that is the current executive branch. Wolff may have wormed his way into the White Houseâs good graces, but what he emerges with is a tale well told. And, for many readers, itâs not a moment too soon. For Trumpâs detractors, it might be an âI told you soâ reading experience. For others, it may be the scariest book theyâve read since The Exorcist.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
by Michael Wolff
(Henry Holt & Co.)
