Publishers Weekly
02/19/2018
Political consultant Rodota chronicles the history of the D.C. address known as the Watergate from its conception in 1960 in the offices of the Italian construction company SGI to its present place in the registry of historic landmarks. An integral part of the Watergate story is the 1972 break-in at the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee, but Rodota doesn’t overemphasize that incident; he happily careens from the break-in to lesser-known but significant Watergate-connected scandals, including a gay prostitution ring that did business at the Watergate Hotel, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair (relevant because of Monica Lewinsky’s Watergate residence), and a host of other misdeeds and transgressions that either occurred at the Watergate or were perpetuated by Watergate residents. Rodota includes innumerable anecdotes about both ordinary and rich and powerful Watergate dwellers, among them cabinet members, senators, and political operatives. He also devotes energy to the Watergate’s controversial architecture and the zoning battles that surrounded its planning and construction, as well as the high-wire financial challenges faced by the development’s Watergate Hotel. This account mixes history, finance, and high-level political gossip to evoke the Watergate complex’s mystique. Agency: Sterling Lord Literistic. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Excellent. Captures... some of the Watergate’s most notorious residents.” — USA Today
“Joseph Rodota has written an engaging biography of a building—the Watergate—whose name is forever linked with the politics, intrigue, and power of Washington.” — Karl Rove, former part-time resident of the Watergate
“An informative, comprehensive account of one of America’s most famous building complexes.” — Wall Street Journal
“The Watergate tells the story of this incredible ‘city within a city,’ where some of history’s most colorful personalities have lived. Rodota does what every historian aspires to do: he invites the reader to be a fly on the wall. Rodota brings this iconic building to life.” — KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence
“A banquet of gossip and intrigue.” — The Week
“Joseph Rodota gives us the definitive history of the Watergate complex. Crime sleuths, politicos, fans of the rich and powerful, architects, gossipers and renters everywhere will find The Watergate a fascinating and rewarding read.” — DONNA BRAZILE, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and New York Time bestselling author of Hacks
“A fascinating account, part history, part society page.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“If walls could talk... Joseph Rodota reports what those in the world-famous Watergate complex have been discussing. Read for yourself—you won’t be disappointed.” — JOHN W. DEAN, former Nixon White House counsel and New York Times bestselling author of Blind Ambition
“An entertaining, gossip-filled history. ... Richly detailed.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A thorough and thoroughly engrossing account of this legendary Washington address.” — Booklist
“Joseph Rodota recounts all the drama under the Watergate roof.” — Washington Post
“Skillful. ... Does a good job of mixing historical facts with personal anecdotes to tell the story of what was both the most famous and most infamous hotel in Washington, DC.” — KITTY KELLEY, Washington Independent Review of Books
“Rodota has a calling for the subject matter. ... Meticulous and intriguing details are many.” — Washington Times
“The Watergate Hotel has a fascinating food history. ... Rodota unveils accounts of the often forgotten, quirky, fun, or even underhanded events that have transpired under its roof since 1965. ... Juicy.” — Food & Wine
“Meticulously chronicles the buildings’ biography, including gossipy accounts of various residents (from socialite Anna Chennault to Monica Lewinsky) and, of course, details of the historic burglary.” — Washingtonian
“Based on painstaking and remarkable research, Rodota... delves deeply and eloquently into the exciting and wild shenanigans. ... Give[s] life to this inanimate configuration of apartments, offices and a hotel complex.” — WARREN ADLER
“Mixes history, finance, and high-level political gossip to evoke the Watergate complex’s mystique.” — Publishers Weekly
“If the walls of the Watergate could talk, they’d transcribe a book we’d all want to read. Well, now they do, in Joseph Rodota’s paean to this iconic Washington hotel and residence. No other capital address, save maybe 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, has been more intertwined with critical figures in modern American history.” — MICHAEL SMERCONISH
“Incredible research. ... Tells the entire tale of Watergate. ... The perfect book for anyone who loves the complexity of Washington history.” — The Hagstrom Report
Wall Street Journal
An informative, comprehensive account of one of America’s most famous building complexes.
KATE ANDERSEN BROWER
The Watergate tells the story of this incredible ‘city within a city,’ where some of history’s most colorful personalities have lived. Rodota does what every historian aspires to do: he invites the reader to be a fly on the wall. Rodota brings this iconic building to life.
DONNA BRAZILE
Joseph Rodota gives us the definitive history of the Watergate complex. Crime sleuths, politicos, fans of the rich and powerful, architects, gossipers and renters everywhere will find The Watergate a fascinating and rewarding read.
USA Today
Excellent. Captures... some of the Watergate’s most notorious residents.
The Week
A banquet of gossip and intrigue.
JOHN W. DEAN
If walls could talk... Joseph Rodota reports what those in the world-famous Watergate complex have been discussing. Read for yourself—you won’t be disappointed.
Karl Rove
Joseph Rodota has written an engaging biography of a building—the Watergate—whose name is forever linked with the politics, intrigue, and power of Washington.
Booklist
A thorough and thoroughly engrossing account of this legendary Washington address.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH
If the walls of the Watergate could talk, they’d transcribe a book we’d all want to read. Well, now they do, in Joseph Rodota’s paean to this iconic Washington hotel and residence. No other capital address, save maybe 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, has been more intertwined with critical figures in modern American history.
Washington Times
Rodota has a calling for the subject matter. ... Meticulous and intriguing details are many.
KITTY KELLEY
Skillful. ... Does a good job of mixing historical facts with personal anecdotes to tell the story of what was both the most famous and most infamous hotel in Washington, DC.
Food & Wine
The Watergate Hotel has a fascinating food history. ... Rodota unveils accounts of the often forgotten, quirky, fun, or even underhanded events that have transpired under its roof since 1965. ... Juicy.
Washington Post
Joseph Rodota recounts all the drama under the Watergate roof.
Warren Adler
Based on painstaking and remarkable research, Rodota... delves deeply and eloquently into the exciting and wild shenanigans. ... Give[s] life to this inanimate configuration of apartments, offices and a hotel complex.
Washingtonian
Meticulously chronicles the buildings’ biography, including gossipy accounts of various residents (from socialite Anna Chennault to Monica Lewinsky) and, of course, details of the historic burglary.
The Hagstrom Report
Incredible research. ... Tells the entire tale of Watergate. ... The perfect book for anyone who loves the complexity of Washington history.
Washington Post
Joseph Rodota recounts all the drama under the Watergate roof.
USA Today
Excellent. Captures... some of the Watergate’s most notorious residents.
Booklist
A thorough and thoroughly engrossing account of this legendary Washington address.
Wall Street Journal
An informative, comprehensive account of one of America’s most famous building complexes.
WARREN ADLER
Based on painstaking and remarkable research, Rodota... delves deeply and eloquently into the exciting and wild shenanigans. ... Give[s] life to this inanimate configuration of apartments, offices and a hotel complex.
KARL ROVE
Joseph Rodota has written an engaging biography of a building—the Watergate—whose name is forever linked with the politics, intrigue, and power of Washington.
Kitty Kelley
Skillful. ... Does a good job of mixing historical facts with personal anecdotes to tell the story of what was both the most famous and most infamous hotel in Washington, DC.
Kate Andersen Brower
The Watergate tells the story of this incredible ‘city within a city,’ where some of history’s most colorful personalities have lived. Rodota does what every historian aspires to do: he invites the reader to be a fly on the wall. Rodota brings this iconic building to life.
MAY 2018 - AudioFile
The Watergate, a multi-building site that includes a hotel, an office building, and an apartment complex, played a role in two presidential impeachment dramas. It was the site of the infamous Democratic headquarters break-in in 1972, and it was home to Monica Lewinsky in 1998. Narrator Bronson Pinchot delivers a low-key reading that lets this heady mixture of Washington gossip, history, and scandal take hold in listeners' minds. The complex, built on a weedy, noisy former industrial site, touched the lives of people like Anna Chennault, Martha Mitchell, and even Elizabeth Taylor. It also became a tourist destination and the genesis of a pistachio pudding shortage created by a "Watergate cake" recipe. Passages about real estate deals and planning hearings can be slow going but are integral to the story. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-11-22
The story of the six-building complex of residences, offices, and hotel that has served as a Washington, D.C., power center from the time it opened in 1965.In June 1972, five men broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office building, beginning a chain of events that led to Richard Nixon's resignation two years later—and made "Watergate" synonymous with scandal. Journalist and political aide Rodota makes his literary debut with an entertaining, gossip-filled history of the architecturally innovative structures along the Potomac River. Advertised to prospective residents as "the Garden City Within a City," the complex boasted a reflecting pool, luxurious baths (each with a bidet), views of the Potomac from private balconies, and state-of-the-art security—which, it turns out, did not prevent a spate of burglaries. It became a coveted address during the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, "second only to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Rodota writes, offering a fabulous French restaurant, opulent pastry shop, beauty salon, and four psychiatrists. The author profiles the personalities and interior design choices of many famous, and sometimes notorious, Watergate residents: politicians, lawyers, doctors, diplomats, and businessmen. Two women stand out: Martha Mitchell, the volatile, outspoken, hard-drinking wife of Nixon's attorney general and campaign manager, John Mitchell; and socialite Anna Chennault, a wealthy widow described by her biographer as "extremely aggressive socially, and ambitious, and she wanted to be the queen, she wanted to be on the top of the social heap, and she worked it." Other notables include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, newspaper editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, Sally Quinn; Condoleezza Rice; and Monica Lewinsky, who apologized to her neighbors for "intrusions" during the Starr investigation. Like the residences, the hotel attracted stars: Pearl Bailey, who cooked a roast for Henry Fonda in her suite's kitchen; Shelley Winters, who breakfasted in the hotel dining room wearing a bathrobe and slippers; and Katharine Hepburn, who demanded that her room's heaters be disconnected so her room would be cool enough.A richly detailed history of a site awarded landmark status.
