The Bookseller.com

5th December 2008

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Political memoirs: 'Petty, shabby and shallow'

13.05.08

The Guardian's Julian Glover looks at the latest raft of political memoirs--from Cherie Blair, John Prescott and Lord Levy-- asking "they are petty, shabby and shallow, and tell us nothing about the real workings of government. No wonder the latest crop of backbiting political memoirs - from Cherie Blair, Lord Levy and John Prescott - make such compelling reading. But why write them, and why now?"

According to Glover, "what really unites all three of the latest books is an aura of pettiness", but adds: "All three books are instant and shallow and will soon be forgotten, if they sell at all, and yet they are also addictive in the way gossip can be."

He delves into the long tradition of the political memoir, and analyses the likely reasons behind Blair, Prescott and Levy's books.

He concludes: "If Brown's abbreviated sleep allows time for nightmares, one must be of the memoirs still to come. Ken Livingstone? Peter Mandelson? As for the unexpurgated Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair, their promise never to embarrass a Labour prime minister in power may be one of Brown's motives for hanging on. At least it will give Brown something to live for after Downing Street: his own memoir. Revenge."

Guardian

Media John Prescott Cherie Blair Lord Levy