Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was a bit queasy when "What Really Happened" came to me for review. Having read Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime I felt I'd heard probably the most objective word about Rielle Hunter you're likely to get, but then again most of the comments reported there came from John Edwards staffers who clearly had an axe to grind against Hunter. I certainly tried to approach "What Really Happened" with an open mind, realizing that there are two sides, and sometimes more, to every story. That said, there is a certain self-serving quality to Hunter's book that not only lacks balance, but which shows her own naiveté and character flaws for all to see. Hunter does make some valid points about the Edwards's marriage and Elizabeth Edwards in particular, but the difficulty is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Undoubtedly Elizabeth Edwards was profoundly shattered by the early death of their child and her subsequent health scares, but can you really blame her for detesting Hunter and fighting to save her marriage? Hunter's depiction of how she came to meet John Edwards and how their relationship unfolded is particularly disturbing in her profound lack of self-awareness and how her behavior impacted those around her and the Edwards campaign. Her prose here fairly screams of self-absorbsion and narcissism. In that respect it's no wonder she was drawn to John Edwards as they're truly two peas in a pod. The intimacy between them and their burgeoning relationship feels a bit gratuitous, falling into the category of over-sharing, something that really could describe the whole book. I understand that Hunter wants to set the record straight from her perspective and that she wants her daughter to understand how she came to be. There's a similar mix of naiveté and narcissism to her belief that she still has a potential future with John Edwards and the truth is that subject remains somewhat open. On the flip side my own thought was "who cares?" Edwards clearly is a spent force politically; it's unlikely there will be a Nixonian second act. The sainted Elizabeth Edwards is dead and cannot defend herself. In the end "What Really Happened" becomes much ado about nothing. Edwards was an also-ran in 2008, a one-term senator, and now disgraced beyond repair. The beauty of "What Really Happened" is that Hunter betrays herself as she really is. Even her worst enemies couldn't have written a book that damages her as deftly as she slaughters herself. As a result "What Really Happened" becomes a bit like fighting over a deck chair as the Titanic slips below the waves; it doesn't really matter anymore.