Bush Book: New York Times Review

It’s still better than “beach read”: The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani proclaims George W. Bush’s upcoming book, Decision Points, “the most casual of presidential memoirs.” She says the former president exhibits a variety of moods, including “frat boy irreverence, religious certainty and almost willful obliviousness.” She also notes his frequent use of the word “blindsided” to describe various crises, from Abu Ghraib to the Justice Department scandal to the economic crisis. Kakutani concludes, “Despite the eagerness of Mr. Bush to portray himself as a forward-leaning, resolute leader, this volume sometimes has the effect of showing the former president as both oddly passive and strangely cavalier.”