Unbelievable by Katy Tur

Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting memoir and definitely contains some fodder for historians seeking to study the campaigns of politicians that go on to abuse power. My two main problems are that the jumping around through the chronology of the 2016 campaign is very difficult to follow. I followed the campaign closely and I'm still frequently confused.

My second big issue is the lack of depth one might expect from a more literary memoir writer. In the same vein, there is also a lack of analysis of what was happening at the time. The analysis of the suggested Muslim ban isn't that it's unconstitutional and why it's central to American values, it's a surface comparison to George W. Bush who said not to attack Muslim-Americans after 9/11. There's no analysis on dropping the Muslim ban issue or his attacks on other groups and instead Tur asked him questions about the size of his hands when the circus called for it. Any regrets or feelings of responsibility? No. In the same vein, whenever she touches upon feminist topics, there is no depth of analysis as to what should or shouldn't be allowed in journalism or social media or why.

It feels more like she left a voice recorder running while she reported and spoke on the phone to a friend.

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