Publishers Weekly - Audio
10/02/2017
In the audio edition of her 2016 presidential campaign retrospective, Clinton sounds like Clinton: a strong, tough, smart, experienced woman. She’s a little wobbly-voiced in the introduction, deeply concerned that people won’t want to hear what happened, “especially from me,” she states. But she quickly finds her clear, collected tone and rhythm, sounding slightly more relaxed and conversional than she usually is in speeches and interviews. She is emotionally composed even when describing her fury at Trump, at FBI director James Comey, at Senator Bernie Sanders, at the media. At one point in the book, she even says, “I wear my composure like a suit of armor—for better or for worse.” Thus the drama is not so much in her reading as in the descriptions of her intellectual and emotional responses to events such as when Comey reopened the investigation into her email days before the election, the instant she learned she lost the election, or Trump’s inauguration. The one jarring aspect of the audio is her long pronunciation of the indefinite article a, constantly interrupting the flow of her normal speech. It’s Clinton’s most personal book yet; hearing it read in her own voice further reminds listeners of the person behind the politician. A Simon & Schuster hardcover. (Sept.)
Publishers Weekly
09/18/2017
The 2016 Democratic presidential contender indicts everyone responsible for her stunning defeat in this rancorous memoir. Clinton names many culprits: FBI director James Comey, whose late-October resurrection of the investigation of Clinton's emails sent her poll numbers tumbling; Russia's computer hackers and anti-Clinton fake news and social media operators; Green Party candidate Jill Stein for skimming off left-leaning voters in key states; the press for harping on her minor transgressions while downplaying her opponent's scandals; and American voters for choosing tweeted anger over sensible platforms. Clinton's retelling of the race often reads like campaign literature, with glossy montages of policy proposals, inspirational portraits of herself as an icon of women's empowerment, and cameos from supporters like "Kristin in Dearborn" and "Katy from Bellevue." Clinton's campaign narrative is often riveting—her portrayal of Trump's sinister physical demeanor in debates is a gem ("Now we were on a small stage, and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces")—but her sense of entitlement clouds her analysis, and she doesn't grapple with the appeal of his message on issues of immigration and trade. The lack of serious reflection on how her own campaign and proposals might have fallen short makes the book a telling epitaph for Clinton's campaign. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee.... It is worth reading.”
—The New York Times
“What Happened is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena.”
—The Washington Post
“The writing in What Happened is engaging — Clinton is charming and even funny at times, without trying to paint herself in too flattering of a light.... Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.”
—NPR
“An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner.”
—Slate
“Here is Clinton at her most emotionally raw.... While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.”
—People
“Contains... insights into Ms. Clinton’s personality, character, and values, and the challenges confronting women in politics.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“What Happened is not a standard work of this genre. It’s interesting; it’s worth reading; and it sets out questions that the press, in particular, has not done enough to face.”
—The Atlantic
“The most useful way to read What Happened is as one last instance of Clinton doing what she calls her civic duty.”
—Los Angeles Times
“This is an important book, and anyone who’s worried by what happened last November 8 should pick it up.”
—Entertainment Weekly
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee.... It is worth reading.”
—The New York Times
“What Happened is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena.”
—The Washington Post
“The writing in What Happened is engaging — Clinton is charming and even funny at times, without trying to paint herself in too flattering of a light.... Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.”
—NPR
“An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner.”
—Slate
“Here is Clinton at her most emotionally raw.... While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.”
—People
“Contains... insights into Ms. Clinton’s personality, character, and values, and the challenges confronting women in politics.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“What Happened is not a standard work of this genre. It’s interesting; it’s worth reading; and it sets out questions that the press, in particular, has not done enough to face.”
—The Atlantic
“The most useful way to read What Happened is as one last instance of Clinton doing what she calls her civic duty.”
—Los Angeles Times
“This is an important book, and anyone who’s worried by what happened last November 8 should pick it up.”
—Entertainment Weekly
Library Journal - Audio
★ 11/01/2017
In addition to breaking down the events around the 2016 presidential election, Clinton also takes the opportunity to expound on her theories of public service and where (and how) the country must move forward. This is more than just a rehashing of the same arguments that played out during the election, although those are certainly included. The book talks about the email scandal, the James Comey press conferences, and what she could have done better. It is also part campaign diary, with a lot of insider information on how a presidential campaign functions. Clinton takes the chance to put forward her ideas on energy, civil rights, and health care, among other topics, many of which were lost in the barn-burning pace of the campaign. Their inclusion takes the book beyond a mere recap of the race and turns it into a starter map for future discussion of progressive ideas. Clinton's narration shows a side of her that was rarely seen throughout the campaign. She talks with passion about women's rights, recounting her history in the workplace, along with other personal stories; these are the moments when the book is at its best. VERDICT For listeners looking for a rehash of the 2016 election, Clinton's thoughts on the outcome, and ideas for moving ahead.—Robin Bradford, Timberland Regional Lib., Olympia, WA
OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile
Hillary Rodham Clinton's book is pure Hillary—forceful, inspiring, yet humble. No one could deliver her story as she herself does, and she does it brilliantly. How does one recover from a defeat that, by all accounts, should have been a victory? As she puts it, losing is one thing—but “losing a race you'd thought you'd win is devastating.” She performs the work with dignity, speaking carefully (as always) and letting the impact of her thoughts sink in. Trump supporters will hate the book, since she doesn't hold back her disdain for the man. The book tries to explain how she lost the election and, in doing so, raises many questions about how society treats women. And her fans will love the shots she takes at Trump. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-09-18
Gracious, sometimes-wonkish post-mortem of the last presidential election by its surprise loser, who still can't quite believe…well, what happened."I ran for President because I thought I'd be good at the job," writes Clinton (Hard Choices, 2014, etc.), modestly. She adds, a touch less demurely, "I thought that of all the people who might run, I had the most relevant experience, meaningful accomplishments, and ambitious but achievable proposals, as well as the temperament to get things done in Washington." Against her was arrayed a field of Republican candidates that included the one no one took seriously—but also, as the author notes in a reckoning that is remarkably measured, a whole cultural and political field of opponents, including Russian hackers and a grudge-bearing Vladimir Putin, the crew of WikiLeaks, Bernie Sanders and his devout followers, misogyny, and a few missteps that, refreshingly, Clinton's not shy about owning up to. (One takeaway: don't campaign with pneumonia. Take a day off.) Of the many enemies, writes the author, misogyny was likely the most intractable, even given James Comey, the screams about emails, voter suppression, and Donald Trump's hammering away about "lying Hillary," to say nothing about looming behind her creepily in debate. Mostly, Clinton campaigned against anger, and she could never quite get a handle on how to reckon with it. Pundits have since insisted that Clinton should have spoken more from the heart and been less managed, which isn't really how politics is done—well, until Trump came along and opened the door to a post-truth America. Of all the upshots, that truth business seems to be what bothers Clinton most, but mostly she's understandably amazed, as are so many, to have gone to bed in one America and awoken in another: "I picture future historians scratching their heads, trying to understand what happened. I'm still scratching mine, too." A touch too reserved and polite, given the circumstances, and in need of supplementing by hard-edged books like Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes' Shattered. Still, a useful book to read—and, for many, to mourn over.
