Michael Friedman

Richard Ben Cramer will always be known as the great political writer of What It Takes. It is, after all, the best piece of presidential political writing in America. Here he writes a brilliant biography of Joe DiMaggio which is both tender and enthralling. The true heroine here is Marilyn Monroe and makes one pine for Mailer's book/photo essay on her. One will miss the short, erudite oeuvre of Mr. Cramer.

In my opinion, the final chapter on the death of Richard Nixon is the finest piece of political writing in American history. At once hilarious, sarcastic and poignant, it is the prefect topping to this look at the election of William Jefferson Clinton in 1992. Scott Sowers does a fine job of capturing the anger and vision of Thompson's bizarre view of politics in the late 20th Century.

An excellent polemic on many levels of a woman who is to the outside world a humble savior of the poor, but in reality is a woman who shills for the Catholic prohibitions against contraception and takes millions from the worst and richest elements of society and delivers unrelenting pain in the name of Jesus Christ.

Yes. Excellent.

Mother Pain.