Publishers Weekly
07/15/2019
President Trump and his supporters come across as nearly cartoonish villains in this vehement screed. Likening Trump to Batman nemesis the Joker, Reid (Fracture), host of MSNBC’s AM Joy, flays the president as a corrupt liar, a monstrous xenophobe (“there was no cruelty he wouldn’t visit on the teeming masses of brown and non-Christian aliens”), a puppet of Fox News, “a potential threat to national security, acting on behalf of a foreign power,” and an “autocrat” whose “appetite for destruction and revenge was only growing” and who wants “to bond the U. S. to Russia North Korea.” She dismisses Trump administration initiatives as merely efforts toward pandering to the bigotry of insecure white reactionaries. Reid takes further swipes at Trump’s voters, who “bonded around the ritualized pain inflicted on the brown, the foreign and the poor” and “enjoyed seeing them suffer”; at Trump adviser Stephen Miller (she repeats comments by an anonymous White House staffer likening Miller to members of Hitler’s SS); and at Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, “a favorite of Russian state media.” Reid’s indictment of Trump’s misdeeds, from sleazy business deals to Russia collusion allegations, is a sketchy rehash. There’s plenty of red meat for Trump haters here, but not much substantive or nuanced analysis. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor. (June)
From the Publisher
Joy Reid masterfully combines the immediacy of news reporting, the intimacy of memoir, and the sweep of a history book—from the anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party of the 1850s to Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid attempt at ‘reconciliation.’ The Man Who Sold America delivers a compelling account of how we got to Trumpism and what will happen next.” — Lawrence O’Donnell, host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
“Passionate, smart, and breathtakingly original, The Man Who Sold America will explain Trump to readers for years to come.” — Michael Tomasky, contributing opinion writer, The New York Times; editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas; and author of If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How It Might Be Saved
“The political analyst and host of AM Joy on MSNBC argues that President Trump’s administration is characterized by grift and venality that demeans the office and diminishes America.” — New York Times Book Review, “New & Notable”
“Passionate, well-intentioned and certain to draw approving nods. ... Imagines a path beyond our current divisions.” — Carlos Lozada, Washington Post
“An impassioned exposé of Donald Trump. … In fiery prose, Reid delivers a well-researched narrative. … A searing indictment.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A shrewd analyst of current political trends, Reid offers fierce scrutiny of Trump’s controversial performance and fresh insights into his potential legacy.” — Booklist
“Valuable. … Reid does a fine job. … Find[s] real wisdom.” — The Guardian
Carlos Lozada
Passionate, well-intentioned and certain to draw approving nods. ... Imagines a path beyond our current divisions.
Lawrence O’Donnell
Joy Reid masterfully combines the immediacy of news reporting, the intimacy of memoir, and the sweep of a history book—from the anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party of the 1850s to Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid attempt at ‘reconciliation.’ The Man Who Sold America delivers a compelling account of how we got to Trumpism and what will happen next.
New York Times Book Review
The political analyst and host of AM Joy on MSNBC argues that President Trump’s administration is characterized by grift and venality that demeans the office and diminishes America.
The Guardian
Valuable. … Reid does a fine job. … Find[s] real wisdom.
Michael Tomasky
Passionate, smart, and breathtakingly original, The Man Who Sold America will explain Trump to readers for years to come.
Booklist
A shrewd analyst of current political trends, Reid offers fierce scrutiny of Trump’s controversial performance and fresh insights into his potential legacy.
Lawrence O’Donnell
Joy Reid masterfully combines the immediacy of news reporting, the intimacy of memoir, and the sweep of a history book—from the anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party of the 1850s to Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid attempt at ‘reconciliation.’ The Man Who Sold America delivers a compelling account of how we got to Trumpism and what will happen next.
Booklist
A shrewd analyst of current political trends, Reid offers fierce scrutiny of Trump’s controversial performance and fresh insights into his potential legacy.
Carlos Lozada
Passionate, well-intentioned and certain to draw approving nods. ... Imagines a path beyond our current divisions.
Kirkus Reviews
2019-05-29
Another heated examination of the current president, who "seems ripped right out of [a] comic book supervillain universe."
MSNBC political analyst Reid (Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide, 2015, etc.), the host of AM Joy, serves up an impassioned exposé of Donald Trump, from his early adult years as an ethically challenged businessman through his first two years as president. As part of the big picture, the author also skewers the corruption of the Republican Party. In fiery prose, Reid delivers a well-researched narrative about how Trump methodically overcame establishment Republican opponents to dominate a political party he had shunned for most of his life. The author terms the new partisan reality the "Trump Republican Party." She explains how Trump managed to divide the country into factions that constantly battle over both politics and culture. She scrutinizes Trump's dealings with nations both friendly and hostile, delineating the president's ugly attraction to "strongmen" in other nations. Russia's Vladimir Putin is the most prominent example, but others include the dictators of the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Hungary, and Poland. The chapter in the book containing the least amount of rehashed material is titled "What America Can Learn From South Africa." Reid's father is Congolese but spent much of his life working in South Africa, and she explains how Nelson Mandela instituted racial reconciliation as a national imperative, despite the persecution he faced for decades. The "frankness about race, from black and white South Africans, felt refreshing and surprisingly healthy," she writes. Reid contrasts the selflessness she saw in South Africa with Trump's self-centered approach of dividing and conquering, especially along racial and cultural faults. Another chapter that moves beyond relating oft-repeated allegations about Trump highlights the author's frustration at the news media for more or less normalizing his unique cruelty as president.
A searing indictment and a good choice for readers who have never delved into Trump's pre-presidential background.
