At once of the moment and out of date, overtaken by the rapid-fire political upheavals in the lead-up to the 2024 election ... Whether you agree with Pelosi’s policies, The Art of Power leaves readers with a disconcerting question: What will become of the political process in America if people as courageous as Pelosi decide that running for office is simply not worth the risk?
A defense of her record in Congress and a right-wing offensive ... Pelosi’s words are a demonstration of how power is wielded — and shrewdly maintained — how a more perfect union is shaped, how the victories are especially sweet and how falling short of the ideal is part of the process.
If I struggled to stay awake during her painstaking description of the battle to pass the Affordable Care Act of 2010... I was gripped by her hour-by-hour account of the attack on the US Capitol in 2021 ... Pelosi isn’t much interested in self-criticism; nor does her book explain, even slightly, how an 84-year-old woman continues to exert such influence on the Democratic party ... Like all politicians everywhere, she falls back on, at best, sophistry and, at worst, willed blindness when it suits her ... But The Art of Power, so sober and detailed, has brought me to reassess her.
It’s the first and final chapters that bring a new element to the Pelosi era, detailing in personal and painstaking ways the toll that America’s violent strain is taking on civic life and public service.
Mrs. Pelosi describes her use of power with grandiose platitudes ... Yet the book does shed light on what has made Mrs. Pelosi an effective politician, for good and ill ... Her book presents itself as a memoir of her 36 years in the House, but she only writes about the episodes she feels reflect well on her; the rest she ignores.
Uneven ... Pelosi shines when discussing "issues of conscience" ... But this palpable passion fizzles during extended, eye-glazing recaps of wonky negotiations over legislation ... This is short on insight into the private person behind the historic figure.
