Rage

People may feel like they have already read “Rage,” Bob Woodward’s latest book, without even seeing a copy of it.

Excerpts of recordings of President Donald Trump’s numerous interviews with Woodward, book excerpts, Woodward interviews, etc., have filled the airways and numerous articles during the past couple of weeks.

Judging from the media blitz, one would assume the book is about Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it is … the last half of it.

The first couple hundred pages are about what Woodward was originally researching – the development of Trump’s presidency since the conclusion of Woodward’s last Trump book, “Fear.”

The first half of the book looks at the Mueller investigation into Russian collusion and the impeachment. But the focus of the first half of the book is on Trump’s relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un – their meetings, their evolution from schoolboy taunts to something akin to love letters to one another. 

The nation also teetered dangerously close to war with North Korea, according to Woodward’s reporting.

The book also spends a lot of time looking at the tenure of Gen. James Mattis as Trump’s first secretary of defense. 

The second half of “Rage” delves deep into Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic – the subject of the widespread coverage of the book.

“Rage” is interesting with the added incentive of Trump’s words based on Woodward’s access to the president through multiple interviews. 

Woodward appears to still be at top form after decades of reporting on the American presidency during the past half-century.