Truth

The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

By: Mary Mapes

Narrated by: Mary Mapes

Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Mary Mapes's Truth (previously published as Truth & Duty) was made into the 2015 film Truth, starring Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace and Elizabeth Moss. A riveting play-by-play of a reporter getting and defending a story that recalls All the President's Men, Truth puts listeners in the center of the 60 Minutes II story on George W. Bush's shirking of his National Guard duty.

The firestorm that followed that broadcast - a conflagration that was carefully sparked by the right and fanned by bloggers - trashed Mapes' well-respected 25 year producing career, caused newsman Dan Rather to resign from his anchor chair early and led to an unprecedented "internal inquiry" into the story...chaired by former Reagan attorney general Richard Thornburgh.

Truth examines Bush's political roots as governor of Texas, delves into what is known about his National Guard duty - or lack of service - and sheds light on the solidity of the documents that backed up the National Guard story, even including images of the actual documents in an appendix to the book. It is peopled with a colorful cast of characters - from Karl Rove to Sumner Redstone - and moves from small-town Texas to Black Rock - CBS corporate headquarters - in New York City.

Truth connects the dots between a corporation under fire from the federal government and the decision about what kinds of stories a news network may cover. It draws a line from reporting in the trenches to the gutting of the great American tradition of a independent media and asks whether it's possible to break important stories on a powerful sitting president.

©2005 Mary Mapes (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Revealing

What did you love best about Truth?

The detailed investigations of how the witch hunt was effected.

What other book might you compare Truth to and why?

Not sure. Will get back to this question.

What about Mary Mapes’s performance did you like?

Perfect. Great speak voice. I hope to hear more of her narrations.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Truth: the Press, and Privilege of Power

Any additional comments?

A must listen.

Worth Revisiting

I read the book in 2005. With the story in the news again I decided to listen this time. Was pleased it was read by the author. That ratcheted up the drama considerably. MM is really quite funny, amazingly grounded and self effacing. This incident happened barely ten years ago, it certainly foretold a wickedly vile new direction for investigative journalism. Recommended!

Bizarro All The President's Men

Where does Truth rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As narrated by the author, the performance is top notch. The book and its narrative, however, if handled as deftly as Woodward and Bernstein handled their experience, could have become a landmark piece of journalism. Instead, its full of finger pointing and self-mythologizing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could have listened to it in one sitting but divided it into two.

Any additional comments?

See the movie instead, there's still some bias there but objectivity wins out.