All The Best: My Life in Letters and Other Writings
 George Bush
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 1999 A Lisa Drew Book/Scribner NY USA
  ISBN: 068483958X


This former president's collection of letters, diary entries & memos with his accompanying commentary gives us a revealing look at one of America's most private public figures.

A very ordinary fellow, an American through & through with the love of his life at his side, his share of sorrows & joys, bad health & good, everyday life & unusual drama.

Perhaps because George Bush has preserved his privacy so very well, it is astonishing to realize that this former congressman; Ambassador to the United Nations; U.S Liaison Officer in the People's Republic of China; CIA Director; Vice-President & President has been in the hub of politics for decades & has been one of the quietest, least headlined player before the unforgiving glare of the press. The Glossary of Names reads like a Who's Who on the global scene for the second half of the last century.

George Bush's writings give us glimpses of an unflappable, polite yet earthy man, deeply respectful yet emphatically certain, enthusiastic about adventure, gravely aware of the sacrifices made on behalf of his country & office & an unrepentantly sage & humorous family man.

Think of any period since the 1940s & you'll find a comment, a reassurance, a retrospection on it. This quiet American has a lot to say about everything from holiday letters to his expanding tribe to thank you notes to celebrities; from thank you letters to old friends for funny gifts to senators with whom he disagrees; from letters in debate to political challengers to memos to speech writers.

All The Best is a grand read & the title is indeed apt. George Bush has had the very best in life - danger, death & sorrow mixed in with power, prestige & playfulness.

George Bush's All The Best; My Life in Letters and Other Writings is an absorbing patchwork of one man's thoughts about his life & the times in which he's lived.

Also by George Bush:
Looking Forward(with Victor Gold)
A World Transformed(with Brent Scowcroft)
(03/26/00)

Rebecca