Synopsis
This reissue of the penetrating biography of Senator John McCain, the
man who may be the next president of the United States, by celebrated
author Robert Timberg now has a new foreword that updates readers on
the politician's life since this book's original publication in 1999.
In John McCain: An American Odyssey,
Timberg provides a riveting account of McCain's remarkable life -- from
his rambunctious childhood and his madcap escapades as a U.S. Naval
Academy midshipman to his grim experiences as a combat pilot and POW in
Vietnam, where the North Vietnamese held him prisoner for five and a
half years. Most important, the author illuminates Senator McCain's
postwar evolution into one of our country's most distinguished
politicians and a formidable presidential candidate. This biography
probes deeply into the life of this hugely colorful, straight-talking
American original. It is a rich and captivating portrait of one of
America's most fascinating and provocative public figures -- a man who
has captured the imagination of millions of Americans and who will
continue to be a most prominent figure in the American political
landscape.
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
To buy or not to buy: that is the question. Librarians may recall Timberg's The Nightingale's Song
(1995), which took a nuanced look at the U.S. Naval Academy and its
role in American life by examining the careers of five graduates:
McCain; Iran-contra figures Oliver North, John Poindexter, and Bud
McFarlane; and novelist and former navy secretary James Webb. In this
volume, the author draws on his earlier McCain research but adds "new
chapters on McCain's boyhood and youth, on the Keating Five scandal,
and on the years since that ordeal ended," as well as a recast Prologue
and a new Epilogue. Timberg, himself an Academy graduate, was White
House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun during the Reagan
administration; he is now deputy chief of that paper's Washington
bureau. Where interest in the Arizona senator's presidential candidacy
is strong, this focused volume may be popular, especially because
McCain's own recent work (Faith of My Fathers ) covers only the military careers of the senator and his father and grandfather. Mary Carroll
From Kirkus Reviews
The remarkable story of a
young man who believed in America and served in an unpopular war but
was frustrated by no-win rules imposed by far-off Washington that
prolonged the horror and caused mounting casualties. Timberg (The
Nightingale's Song, 1995), a former White House correspondent and
newspaper reporter, chronicles McCains journey from Annapolis to Hanoi
to Phoenix to Washington, D.C. The feisty McCain, whose father and
grandfather were four-star admirals, was a self-admitted ``hell
raiser'' in prep school and the US Naval Academy, which he graduated
from near the bottom of his class. He qualified as a naval aviator and
flew combat in Vietnam, where he was shot down and imprisoned for over
five years by North Vietnamese communists. As a POW, McCain defied his
captors and suffered broken limbs, near-starvation, and torture as he
refused to condemn the US for propaganda purposes, until he reached his
breaking point, which he has regretted ever since. His first marriage
ended in divorce after he and his wife had been separated for eight
years. McCain's second marriage has worked, and brought him to Phoenix,
his wife's hometown. His natural magnetism, energy, and love of
interacting with people led him to politics and friendship with Ronald
Reagan. McCain proved a maverick congressman and senator, at times
bucking his own Republican Party. His military expertise has drawn him
into many debates, and he continues to take independent, confident
stands. McCain's greatest political ordeal, which threatened to end his
career, was the Keating savings-and-loan scandal; five senators (the
Keating Five) were involved in allegedly receiving funds to influence
legislation. McCain was eventually cleared and found only to have used
``bad judgment''a lesson he took to heart. An honest, warts-and-all
evaluation of a presidential candidate, a war hero with character, a
politician who has matured after a hectic life. Who knows where his
odyssey will take him next? -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
John McCain
"Bob Timberg...often gives me the unsettling feeling that he knows more about me than I do."
Product Details
Robert Timberg, an award-winning Washington journalist, is a 1964 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and a Marine veteran of the Vietnam war. He was The Baltimore Sun's White House correspondent during the Reagan presidency.
Product Details
Paperback: 239 pages
Carton Size: 40 books
Publisher: Free Press (September 18, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141655985X
ISBN-13: 978-1416559856
Product Dimensions: 8.59 x 6.59 x 0.67 inches
Shipping Weight: 0.59 pounds
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