Mr. Book just finished Bill Clinton: An American Journey, by Nigel Hamilton.

This was an extremely thorough look at Bill Clinton’s life leading up to his election to the presidency. It is the first of a two-volume biography by Hamilton.

There was no topic that stood out as being better, or worse, covered than anything else, with one exception. I do have to address something I saw in an Amazon review on the book: “Did Kitty Kelley write this book? Hamilton writes more about Clinton’s penis than his politics.” The second sentence was an exaggeration, although sometimes, it felt like it wasn’t. There were several times in which I wished the book could operate under courtroom procedures: we will all stipulate that William Jefferson Clinton does have a penis, we stipulate that he used it a lot, the jury is therefore instructed that, as a matter of law, they must accept that as proven fact and there is therefore no reason to be able to introduce evidence on it.

Hamilton’s obsession with going on and on about sexual exploits was what cost this book an A+. Obviously, no biography on Clinton would be complete without the topic, but I would have been extremely happy to see him limit the discussion on sex. That could be done without cutting a single word about the political and other consequences to Clinton.

This was one of those books that was very long, but didn’t feel like it. It was a fast paced narrative and, even though I have a few others that I’d like to read first before I get to his sequel on the presidential years, I am definitely looking forward to that one.

I give this book an A. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on July 8, 2024.