A superb treatment of a still-mysterious episode in modern American politics. ( )

Sometimes gut-wrenching, this is a fascinating exploration of why, how, and when politics and the coverage of politics changed, drastically and irreversibly. Chalked up to whim or coincidence, or to a force that was building, the fact is that the relationship between presidential hopefuls (and politicians in general, perhaps) and journalists was forever changed in the 1980s, and arguably, in 1987 to be exact. As the popularization of television changed the way that politics and politicians Could be reported, so too did a scandal surrounding Gary Hart's personal life change the way that reporters could and would follow politicians. And whether these changes are chalked up to whim and coincidence or to a force that was building in society, and sure to come at some point, the fact is that the change happening as it did and when it did had consequences that are hard to fathom.

Bai's All the Truth is Out is something of a dissection, but also much more. As the world watches the primaries of 2016, where entertainment and values and opposite forces have maybe never before been more in play, it's difficult to read this book and not feel some form of regret. But for every individual out there who's sitting back and occasionally wondering, 'How did we get to this point?', I firmly believe that this is a must-read. The author's examination and presentation of history, policy, and game-changing values & questions is utterly masterful.

It's hard for me to imagine who shouldn't be interested in reading this book, simply enough, and I believe there's a lot to be said for knowing -- and understanding -- where we've come from, and all of the material presented in this fascinating, heartbreaking, worthwhile book.

Obviously, absolutely recommended. ( )

This was a really excellent book. Really puts into perspective the stupidity of the press. ( )

Most people hate the current political culture of lies, vapid empty suits, and the demonizing of those on any side of a political argument by those on some other side. We dislike what has become of our press, both national and local. We distrust our political leaders more than we ever have before.

We have to ask ourselves - do we have the government, the leadership, that we deserve?

Does character count?

Matt Bai's book did something that's more rare than it should be - it caused me to rethink what I thought I knew of a situation, and caused me to reevaluate some personal ideas about our culture. It's a very thoughtful work, very readable despite packing an incredible amount of factual reporting and complex analysis into remarkably few pages.

As someone who was an adult voter in 1987 during the Gary Hart "scandal", and as someone who read a lot about politics and who considered myself at the least an informed citizen, I had no doubt that I knew and understood what happened to Gary Hart and his campaign. I shook my head and moaned about the loss to our country of such a talented and brilliant man, and said what many people have said in the last 27 years - "How could such a smart man do something so dumb?"

Of course Gary Hart had an affair with Donna Rice, right? Of course he challenged the national press corp to "follow me around", didn't he? We all know that that hilarious photo of him wearing the "Monkey Business" tshirt with Rice on his lap caused him to drop out of the 1988 presidential campaign, no doubt in our minds.

This book not only brings a long-needed reassessment and reclarification of that facts of that time, Bai is also very convincing in his arguments that this one "media event" was perhaps the turning point in our informing press becoming our entertaining press, our leaders becoming soulless followers of public opinion, (rightfully) frightened of uttering a misplaced word, tap-dancing for our approval rather illuminating and elevating our condition.

You really should read this book. Only in the last chapter does Bai expound more on just what those changes has wrought in recent years. The last two paragraphs of the book are extremely touching and, I believe, deserved.

Does character count? Of course. It's what we consider to be "character" that's causing many of our current problems. ( )

A really thoughtful revisit, review, rethink of what the heck happened to the US political and media system at a time I was too young to be paying attention. Read Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death", and then this book. ( )