Everything about the book and its story is interrelated and unanticipated. The book started out as a story about a bribery scandal involving Ethiopian taxi drivers in Washington. Wilber was working a tip he received that the FBI was investigating the matter. In the field office the chief agent pulled a gun in a bag from a desk drawer and showed it to Wilber. It was the gun that John Hinckley, Jr. used to shoot Reagan and others that day. When you read the book you'll see how, for decades, people and events were woven together until they arrive at this unique time and place in history.
The book was very well written and Wilber stays focused on what matters. He never drifts off onto meaningless tangents. I also appreciate that the book didn’t turn into an opportunity to take pot shots at Reagan or opine on political issues. While he does provide us with a charming portrait of Reagan you do not have to be a fan of his or even a conservative to read this book. Wilber does a great job of writing about why Reagan matters today without getting bogged down in political debates about his policies or his legacy. And with the stories he tells of Reagan in the early part of the book it is hard not to find him a charming and impressive figure. They endear the reader to the President and set him up to be hoping for him to get well even though it is no surprise how the story ends.
The book felt like three biographies to me: one for Reagan, Parr, and Hinckley. Reagan's was endearing, Parr's inspiring, and Hinckley's ominous. I did get annoyed a bit when reading about Hinckley. I felt like he was the villain and I didn't care to know much about his life but it did show how random the threat to the President's life can be. Parr's connection with Reagan though is much more interesting. Ever since he was nine years old, when he saw The Code of the Secret Service starring Reagan, he wanted to become an agent. How amazing it must have been for him to be protecting the President all those years later, much less the fact that Reagan was elected.
As you get to the day of the shooting the suspense picks up. It’s not because Wilber is increasing the pace of the narrative but because he is writing like a newspaperman who is recounting the events but with no limit on the number of words. Not only is the narrative very good but it is also quite informative. He gives you a behind the scenes look at how officials prepared for that day and then responded to the tragedy. One thing Wilber highlights is that Reagan was in much worse shape than anyone had known. Although the President walked into the emergency room on his own he took a bullet that ended up an inch from his heart and they had to put him down to operate. There was a potential vacuum in leadership as top administration officials were trying to decide whether to have Vice President Bush take over and how to make that transition happen according to the 25th Amendment.
Once I picked up the book I kept reading it everyday and was pulled along by the suspense and interest brought out by great writing. It is such an amazing story and eye-opening story and you’ll enjoy reading it. This book is a page-turner. I would recommend it to anyone.
http://rawhidedown.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment