Bytes and bombs, bureaucrats and booze dominate Wiener's lively account of the six months he spent as the CNN executive producer in Saddam Hussein's Baghdad. When the veteran newsman—he previously covered the Vietnam conflict and the Romanian War- -arrived in August 1990, Iraq and the non-Arab powers were inching toward war. Wiener soon discovered that working in the Iraqi capital was unlike any of his earlier assignments. For one thing, foreign correspondents were assigned Iraqi ``minders,'' functionaries whose job, according to the authorities, was to facilitate the news- gathering process but who were, in fact, little more than government informants. Setting up the CNN offices in the Al-Rasheed Hotel, Wiener and his staff managed, despite the obstacles placed in their way, to broadcast reports that accurately detailed conditions in the country. Government ministers were interviewed, and the local situation was analyzed on a day-to-day basis in such a way that the Iraqi powers-that-be gradually became more cooperative. (Wiener made it clear to them that he felt the Bush Administration's early handling of the crisis was provocative and bound to fail.) When war eventually broke out and most of the foreign press was expelled, Wiener and his crew were allowed to remain. The CNN news team—notably Peter Arnett and Bernard Shaw- -were thus able to become the first in history to report on a conflict from behind enemy lines. Several vignettes here capture such personalities as Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, and Carl Bernstein, all of whom visited the Iraqi capital during the crisis. Wiener views most of these emissaries with a jaundiced eye, finding their motives self-serving. According to the author, Bernstein was a moocher, Ali seemed punch-drunk, and Jackson received special treatment from the American embassy. A refreshingly candid memoir told with pride but also an often disarming flippancy.
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 1992
ISBN: 0-385-42165-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
An assessment of the first year of Bill Clinton's presidency with no major scoops but with long-term insight into Clinton's style and character. Brummett, a veteran Arkansas journalist and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, here competes not so much with fellow Arkansas reporter Meredith Oakley (On the Make, p. 614), who exhaustively portrays Clinton's gubernatorial reign, but with ur- investigator Bob Woodward (The Agenda, not reviewed). Though he can't claim Woodward's access or propound verbatim conversations, Brummett did move to Washington and spoke to Clinton, former chief of staff Mack McLarty, and other White House officials. ``Bill Clinton is a man of awesome talent and troubling personal weaknesses,'' Brummett declares at the outset, and his account of Clinton's major efforts and crises bears that out. He grounds Clinton's cautious liberalism and winning personal style in home- state politics and shows how Clinton thrives extemporaneously and dies by TelePrompTer. America needed either ``a great moral leader or a clever policy synthesizer,'' the author argues, and Clinton is the latter, as shown in his budget plan. Brummett's treatments of missteps like the Waco disaster and the White House travel-office scandal add little new. He finds himself sympathetic to Clinton— ``a victim of his own optimism''—regarding his withdrawal of the Lani Guinier nomination. Brummett is more pointed on the suicide of White House chief deputy counsel Vincent Foster: He discounts talk of a scandalous cover-up but argues that any veteran of Arkansas politics should have been prepared for Washington nastiness. While his defense of Clinton's foreign policy performance is weak—he blames subordinates—Brummett notes credibly that Whitewater pales in comparison to previous executive-branch violations of the public interest like Iran-contra. Ultimately, Brummett is optimistic that Clinton will grow into the job—or, if defeated in 1996, return ``Ö la Nixon for us to kick around some more.'' Weaker on policy than politics, but with nuance and psychological truth.
Pub Date: Nov. 8, 1994
ISBN: 0-7868-6046-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
A solid primer despite its opening rant.
A detailed how-to on lower-cost computer-system organization.
Hughes is a specialist in the Virtual Memory System computer platform, a big-budget server system used by corporations, and here he demonstrates how to lower the cost of service-oriented architecture (SOA) by creating it in-house. SOA is structured so that companies purchase the basic platform and buy additional accoutrements, called services, during the life cycle of the computer system. In the first five chapters, Hughes passionately argues that this a la carte model, though practical, has been used to the advantage of major computer companies like IBM, which make dollars hand over fist on unwitting businesses. According to his history, modern-day computer-system providers haven't had such a market advantage since the '70s, the last time SOA was in fashion. The author recommends the first, largely non-technical chapters be read by business management, but his overzealous soapbox speech isn't likely to convert people not already in agreement, especially considering that they may have made these so-called unwise investment decisions themselves. Meanwhile, SOA implementers probably don't care about the bigger picture or, if they do, are not in the position to make management decisions within their company. The first five chapters could have easily been edited down to a precise introduction. Nonetheless, the book is meant for programmers–those actually setting up the business SOA–and the meat of the book is C++ programming language code. Thankfully, Hughes includes a CD with all pertinent code and extensive instructions. With The Minimum You Need to Know, Hughes is attempting two books: One, a scathing indictment of big SOA providers, and another, a precise overview of do-it-yourself SOA. Only one is really effective.
A solid primer despite its opening rant.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9770866-6-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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