Talking Back: . . . to Presidents, Dictators, And Assorted Scoundrels

Publishers Weekly

Millions of TV viewers may feel they already know Mitchell-she has reported on politics for NBC for some 30 years and is married to the Fed's Alan Greenspan-but there's lots to learn about her in this engrossing memoir. Mitchell began as a "copyboy" at radio station KYW in Philadelphia in the 1970s. After covering the major political conventions for them, she was hired by NBC and headed to Washington. Shortly after, she flew to Guyana for her first major story: the 1978 Jonestown massacre. She has covered all the presidents from Carter through George W. Bush, done exclusives with Castro, sat in on high-level negotiations in the Middle East and North Korea, and much more. Mitchell's tales are fascinating, but her evolution as a journalist is even more intriguing. She was a gender pioneer, for example, but her gender rapidly became a nonissue. Yet her original insistence on a clear separation of work and social life seems progressively undercut by her own account. She mentions many dinners with dear friends like the Cheneys, and parties with the Bushes, Rice and Rumsfeld, and then wonders why the media got the Iraq WMD question so wrong. Still, this is a treat for political junkies. Agent, Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly. (On sale Sept. 12) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Political and news junkies are in for a treat with Mitchell's revealing memoir of her 30 years as a journalist. While she embarked on her career at a time when it was uncommon for women to report hard news, she certainly didn't ease into the business. For one of her first major stories, Mitchell flew to Guyana to cover the 1978 Jonestown massacre-after the previous NBC correspondent had been murdered by Jim Jones's assassins. As a White House correspondent, the author covered Presidents Carter through George W. Bush. In addition to offering a behind-the-scenes view of presidential politics, her recollections give listeners a glimpse at the human sides of the Presidents and their families. She also discusses her marriage to Alan Greenspan and how it is sometimes difficult to balance her life as a "Washington insider" with her journalistic career. Mitchell's reading of the abridged edition is engrossing, but many listeners will want all the details included in the unabridged version, capably read by Melissa Edris. Both programs are highly recommended.-Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Veteran TV journalist Mitchell delivers a memoir of recent political history she has seen up-close. Her first broadcast, at age 11, was the day's announcements from the principal's office of her elementary school in New Rochelle, NY. Following role model Brenda Starr, she became a cub reporter. In Philadelphia, she learned how to cope with formidable politicos like the fearsome Frank Rizzo. It wasn't much of a leap from that to wider ranging broadcast journalism, covering such eventss as the Jonestown deaths and the Three Mile Island meltdown. She reported on the fantastic Iran-Contra goings-on and the bizarre confirmation hearings on Clarence Thomas. As a member of the White House press corps, Mitchell covered Reagan, Carter, the Clintons and Bushes. Moving down Pennsylvania Avenue, she covered doings on the Hill (her "years in Congress") and, finally, the wider world: Cuba with Fidel, North Korea with Kim Jong Il, Afghanistan with the Taliban and all the other garden spots. Coverage of domestic politics with the boys on the bus may have been no picnic either, but she has always been the venturesome reporter, ready for the next call. She knows all the people who give the orders that matter, and rarely does she have a bad word for any of them. (Well, maybe she wasn't so fond of Don Regan.) And she's circumspect about her own politics, though partisan readers may try to detect certain leanings. The mover-shaker she likes best: husband Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Fed. He is "funny and sweet and very endearing." Indeed, they seem an exemplary power couple. Beyond Mitchell's admission that she blogs (for work, though), there is scant personal stuff. That's kind of charming, especiallyconsidering the diminished state of today's journalism. What reporters do, minus breaking news.