Chiasson...writes exhaustively and often beautifully—he is a poet, after all ... Chiasson sets about peeling back the layers on the palimpsest of Mr. Sanders’s life ... Sanders refused to speak to the author but does not seem to have stopped others from spilling their beans to him ... Chiasson has written an admiring, even loving, account of the life of a man he observed from 'a front-row seat.' It’s not a hagiography—the author is too astute for that ... There’s no small amount of pleasure in reading about it.
Impressive but frustrating ... I have no doubt that Chiasson has written the authoritative history of the Sanders tenure in Burlington. Whether this somewhat confounding labor of love was necessary, whether it tells us something important or new, is more difficult for me to say.
Chiasson’s deep research and graceful writing do vindicate his at-a-distance approach. Despite the book’s unnecessary length, the author’s sprightly style keeps readers mostly interested and occasionally entertained. Bernie for Burlington will be seen years hence as the definitive origin story of a unique political career.
