News
Book Review: McCain’s ‘Hard Call’ deserves high praise
By Kathy Engle, Special to the Green Valley News
Even if Arizona Sen. John McCain weren’t the Republican presidential candidate, his latest book, “Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them,” would still merit the attention, laudatory reviews and brisk sales it now enjoys.
Written with longtime McCain aide Mark Salter, who collaborated with the senator on his four previous books, “Hard Call” ranks as a highly original, inspirational, educational and often enlightening book.
Described by New York Times critic Jacob Heilbrunn as a “fascinating, well-written, but flawed” effort, “Hard Call” skillfully weaves historical analysis with the struggles, failures and triumphs of a group of exceptional individuals.
As even Heilbrunn concedes, “John McCain’s political fortunes may be uncertain, but his literary ones are not.”
The highly diversified, exceptional people the book focuses on range from the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to baseball great Jackie Robinson, to Gertrude Ederle (the first woman to swim the English Channel) to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the African-born, American-educated whose opposition to brutal dictatorship earned her the title of Liberia’s “Iron Lady.”
As a major theme, the authors focus on six qualities of character they believe shape the best decisions — awareness, timing, foresight, confidence, humility and inspiration.
“A few of the stories illustrate flaws that led to bad decisions,” McCain writes. “When I have a tough decision to make, these are some of the stories I keep in mind and the warnings I heed.”
Though that may sound very simplistic, the book is not, considering the diversity of individuals and decisions profiled and the paths each chose to follow.
Though, as expected, “Hard Call” reserves its highest praise for warriors, soldiers, athletes, entrepreneurs and politicians, such as Israeli leader Menachem Begin, U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford, business tycoons Marshall Field and “King Camp” Gillette (the razor guy), many others find their way into the McCain galaxy, such as liberal theologian Reinhold Niebur and Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
The “flaws” in the book, according to Heilbrunn, in McCain’s analysis of the “great man school of history“ stem from Heilbrunn’s view that McCain never confronts the Bush administration, “which has systematically debauched” (the virtues McCain extolls) “in its contorted efforts to battle terrorism. The most that McCain volunteers about the Iraq war is the mild observation “the political and military mistakes we have made in Iraq offer a variety of examples of insufficient awareness.”
We take that criticism with a grain of salt, since McCain has consistently articulated his position on the Iraq war on the campaign trail and is likely do so, from a longer-range historical perspective, in future works.
In fairness to Heilbrunn, his review was written before McCain’s primary triumphs, and it does bring up a criticism that, given the deep divisions among Americans about the Iraq war, is sure to continue to haunt the Arizona senator throughout his presidential campaign along with questions about the economy.
That aside, “Hard Call” rates as highly recommended reading for those interested in some profound insights about history, outstanding people , the challenges they confronted and largely overcame, and, most importantly how and why.
Published by Twelve, Hachette Book Group, USA, New York, 456 pages, “Hard Call” is not yet available in paperback, but can be ordered from local booksellers or obtained at the Joyner-Green Valley Library.
Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. Contact her at kdengle@earthlink.net. Comment on this review online at www.gvnews.com.
Written with longtime McCain aide Mark Salter, who collaborated with the senator on his four previous books, “Hard Call” ranks as a highly original, inspirational, educational and often enlightening book.
Described by New York Times critic Jacob Heilbrunn as a “fascinating, well-written, but flawed” effort, “Hard Call” skillfully weaves historical analysis with the struggles, failures and triumphs of a group of exceptional individuals.
As even Heilbrunn concedes, “John McCain’s political fortunes may be uncertain, but his literary ones are not.”
The highly diversified, exceptional people the book focuses on range from the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to baseball great Jackie Robinson, to Gertrude Ederle (the first woman to swim the English Channel) to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the African-born, American-educated whose opposition to brutal dictatorship earned her the title of Liberia’s “Iron Lady.”
As a major theme, the authors focus on six qualities of character they believe shape the best decisions — awareness, timing, foresight, confidence, humility and inspiration.
“A few of the stories illustrate flaws that led to bad decisions,” McCain writes. “When I have a tough decision to make, these are some of the stories I keep in mind and the warnings I heed.”
Though that may sound very simplistic, the book is not, considering the diversity of individuals and decisions profiled and the paths each chose to follow.
Though, as expected, “Hard Call” reserves its highest praise for warriors, soldiers, athletes, entrepreneurs and politicians, such as Israeli leader Menachem Begin, U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford, business tycoons Marshall Field and “King Camp” Gillette (the razor guy), many others find their way into the McCain galaxy, such as liberal theologian Reinhold Niebur and Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
The “flaws” in the book, according to Heilbrunn, in McCain’s analysis of the “great man school of history“ stem from Heilbrunn’s view that McCain never confronts the Bush administration, “which has systematically debauched” (the virtues McCain extolls) “in its contorted efforts to battle terrorism. The most that McCain volunteers about the Iraq war is the mild observation “the political and military mistakes we have made in Iraq offer a variety of examples of insufficient awareness.”
We take that criticism with a grain of salt, since McCain has consistently articulated his position on the Iraq war on the campaign trail and is likely do so, from a longer-range historical perspective, in future works.
In fairness to Heilbrunn, his review was written before McCain’s primary triumphs, and it does bring up a criticism that, given the deep divisions among Americans about the Iraq war, is sure to continue to haunt the Arizona senator throughout his presidential campaign along with questions about the economy.
That aside, “Hard Call” rates as highly recommended reading for those interested in some profound insights about history, outstanding people , the challenges they confronted and largely overcame, and, most importantly how and why.
Published by Twelve, Hachette Book Group, USA, New York, 456 pages, “Hard Call” is not yet available in paperback, but can be ordered from local booksellers or obtained at the Joyner-Green Valley Library.
Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. Contact her at kdengle@earthlink.net. Comment on this review online at www.gvnews.com.
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