What Happened (Clinton) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee…. It is worth reading.
New York Times


What Happened is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena.
Washington Post


The most useful way to read What Happened is as one last instance of Clinton doing what she calls her civic duty.
Los Angeles Times


Contains…insights into Ms. Clinton’s personality, character, and values, and the challenges confronting women in politics.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


The writing in What Happened is engaging — Clinton is charming and even funny at times, without trying to paint herself in too flattering of a light…. Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.
NPR


An engaging, beautifully synthesized page-turner.
Slate


In What Happened, the former Secretary of State reflects on her failed presidential campaign, reflecting on her concerns about the direction President Trump is taking the country and how she handled her loss.… Clinton peppers the book with references to books that she thinks help explain Trump's rise and how America should respond to it as well as poems, novels and essays that inspired her and helped her cope with her loss
Time


Here is Clinton at her most emotionally raw.… While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.… She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.
People


What Happened is not a standard work of this genre. It’s interesting; it’s worth reading; and it sets out questions that the press, in particular, has not done enough to face.
Atlantic


[Clinton] indicts everyone responsible for her stunning defeat in this rancorous memoir.… [H]er sense of entitlement clouds her analysis, and …[t]he lack of serious reflection…makes the book a telling epitaph for Clinton's campaign.
Publishers Weekly


Clinton…[is] eagle-eyed about her faults and clearly recognizes where her statements and actions (deplorables, anyone?) worked against her.…  Clinton brings much-needed perspective… [as to] what happened and why. — Ilene Cooper
Booklist


Gracious, sometimes-wonkish post-mortem of the last presidential election.… A touch too reserved and polite…. Still, a useful book to read — and, for many, to mourn over.
Kirkus Reviews