Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

Yes, as some critics state, this book is a rehash of events that are known and public. I taught history for a number of years, and I'd say that is what history is. But another important part of the story/history is its interpretation. Thus, it was helpful to me to review and reflect on these events through the eyes of the author.Our challenge is to interpret these events. Thus, to me at least, the events recorded here help us to understand the character and personality of Donald Trump. Haberman writes: "Some know him better than others, but he is often simply, purely opaque, permitting people to read meaning and depth into every action, no matter how empty they may be" (p. 508). These events also often reveal Trump to be a vulgar, vain, and selfish man. Everything was about him, no matter how his words and actions tore down others. There seems to be no awareness on Trump's part that we are all called to become more fully human, people who help elevate and perfect situations, not tear them down for our own benefit. The former is what brings us fulfillment and happiness.So, that is what I find helpful about the book. It helps the reader understand the personality and character of a man who became president of the United States and left the nation worse off than he found it. What a legacy! (I've had some fierce arguments about this view with people who strongly disagree with me!)I gave the book a 4.5, which rounded up to a 5. Part of the 4.5 is based on my own likes and dislikes, style preferences, etc. Even so, I am left after reading it with a better idea of the man, although I don't like what I have found.As far as readability goes, the 508 page book is nicely divided into 32 chapters, each of which has several breaks/subsections, so the reader can easily stop and ponder, or just take a break. The author is gracious, giving ample credit to those who helped her in researching and writing this book. It would have been helpful to have included a list of names of people and their roles in the Trump administration, because there are so many people involved it is easy to forget who they are.The story is not yet over! I write this one day after Trump has been charged in the January 6 case. There are other cases likely coming, and who knows what else there may be. Stay tuned. More forthcoming!

For an impartial understanding of how Trump came to be the Trump of today this authoritative book is essential. It is told chronologically in as dispassionate and factual non-opinionated manner as I suspect is possible. You cannot understand him without understanding his past and that is exactly what she details.

This is the best single-volume history of the Trump administration to date. It is not a partisan screed, nor is it speculative, nor based on piles of anonymous sources. Haberman simply lines up the known facts and ties them together with the simplest possible story.What you get is something no Trump fan or pro-Trump book will ever be able to provide: a coherent account of his time in office that accounts for all known evidence.

There is no one better suited to write this book than New York Times reporter, Maggie Haberman. The logical progression she takes the reader through on the Rise of Trump is one that every American, and those around the World should become familiar with since the final chapter of Trump has yet to be written. Miss Haberman does a wonderful job of presenting detail without overwhelming the reader. Sure, it's a lengthy book, but no one would want a condensed, "Reader's Digest" edition...although some would argue that there should be a Classic Comic Book edition for those of Trump's most loyal followers with limited reading skills.I highly recommend this book for those in and out of academia. In fact, the common man, the Every man should read this book and take it as a warning for future generations.Miss writes in an easy, understandable style. For those that know her from her TV interviews and appearances, you can hear her voice telling the story, a story that is, in my view, sadly true.

Maggie Haberman never fails to deliver. As opposed to all the "Trump books" that list what he's done, this concentrates more on the man himself. Well worth the read.

One Amazon reviewer summed up my reaction to this inelegantly-written book:“ Fair read, but nothing not already reported over the years.“I was put off by the many run-on sentences throughout the book which resulted in many re-reads to totally understand was was being said.”Peter Baker and Susan Glasser have just published an elegantly-written book, “The Divider,” that covers the period between Trump’s 2015 run for the presidency and January 6 and its aftermath. No need to suffer the awkward sentences, incompletely-explained events that make reading the Haberman book a chore. And all of significance that you’ll miss in reading “The Divider” is The Confidence Man’s business cons. All his many political ones are there, and they are the ones that are currently destroying our democracy.Two stars only because of the poor writing and the availability of a far better book that covers the most important events of the Trump presidency better and is a pleasure to read.

Let’s start with “I read every page and looked at all the photos”; no skimming, so it took close to 10 days to read the entire book. It’s written in a style that quickly jumps from one idea to the next. The reader also needs to separate the “facts” in the book from the obvious bias of the author; on the other hand my original thought was that if only 5% is true then its a scary view of Trump and his associates. I would now temper that to just 2%. I would encourage everyone to read the book, especially since we are in an election year; my only wish would be to have Marggie Haberman write a similar expose on Presiden Biden. If she did, it would greatly enhance were reputation as a historical biographer….but I suspect that we will never see such a volume.

This book should be required reading for everyone old enough to read it. Haberman does a remarkablejob of showing us just who this creature is. He's been rotten his whole life. The book is well researched.Don't read it too close to bedtime if you don't want nightmares. Get out there and VOTE this November!

Have barely gotten into the book and already I know so much about him. Ms. Haberman dissects him very well, and we can see how he became the type of person he is now, and his tricks and strategies.Highly recommended if you are trying to figure him out.EDIT: I have read some of the 1-and2-star reviews, and they pretty much all say that this book is just a repeat of history n NYC. Well, not all of us who are reading the book were in NYC during that timeframe, so it is NOT a rehash of history for us. There is a lot I did not know about, so to me it is all new and fresh.

Maggie Haberman's chronicle of the rise of Trump and Trumpism is heavily researched and documented and based on decades of reporting on Trump and his many businesses. It's not a quick read but it is so well written you just keep coming back. Her periodic observations in brackets are priceless and always add an extra dose of fact. Her writing is at all times balanced and objective; not an easy task given the subject and some pretty controversial subject matter. This is perhaps one of the best explorations of Trump world written to date. When added to the growing body of literature, this will stand the test of time.

This has to be the best political ‘memoir’ I’ve ever read. I have to be honest, I dislike Trump with a passion and suspected this book would feed my dislike. It was an absolute feast!!

, Die Autorin beschreibt in beeindruckender Weise den Charakter Trumps. Es ist erschreckend, welche Untiefen sich da auftun. Der Mann ist weiter eine große Gefahr nicht nur für die USA, sondern die ganze Welt.

There’s no doubt that this is an excellent compilation of all the facts surrounding Donald Trump’s emergence to fame and path to the presidency. Bravo Maggie for all your diligent research. But for me, I found it was a very dry read like swimming through gravy: one news article botched onto the next, and the next, and so on. To be fair, I’m not a voracious reader, but I much prefer the style of Bob Woodward or (even Ken Auletta) where the script somehow seems to engage the reader so much better. Ultimately, with Confidence Man, I felt like I was reading an intense academic history book. This should be on the shelves of university libraries.