Is anyone reading Breaking History, Jared Kushner's White House memoir, besides reviewers getting paid to read it? I'm not, but I sure enjoyed Dwight Garner's review in The New York Times.
Garner says Kushner's book is "like a tour of a once majestic 18th-century wooden house, now burned to its foundations, that focuses solely on, and rejoices in, what's left amid the ashes: the two singed bathtubs, the gravel driveway and the mailbox."
Garner also listed the many times in the book where Kushner boasts about how smart and effective he was:
Kushner, poignantly, repeatedly beats his own drum. He recalls every drop of praise he's ever received; he brings these home and he leaves them on the doorstep. You turn the pages and find, almost at random, colleagues, some of them famous, trying to be kind, uttering things like:
– "It's really not fair how the press is beating you up. You made a very positive contribution."
– "I don't know how you do this every day on so many topics. That was really hard! You deserve an award for all you've done."
– "I've said before, and I'll say again. This agreement would not have happened if it wasn't for Jared.
– "Jared did an amazing job working with Bob Lighthizer on the incredible USMCA trade deal we signed yesterday."
– "Jared's a genius. People complain about nepotism — I'm the one who got the steal here."
– "I've been in Washington a long time, and I must say, Jared is one of the best lobbyists I've ever seen."
He also excerpts this vomit-inducing paragraph from the book where Kushner recounts having lunch at Bono's house:
On that Sunday, we were having lunch at Bono's house in the town of Eze on the French Riviera, when Rupert [Murdoch] stepped out to take a call. He came back and whispered in my ear, "They blinked, they agreed to our terms, we have The Wall Street Journal." After lunch, Billy Joel, who had also been with us on the boat, played the piano while Bono sang with the Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof.
If you must buy a copy of this book, here's the link.
