Author: Erik Malinowski
A title like “Betaball” is a miss on many counts. The notion of “beta” is common in Silicon Valley and is short for “beta test” which refers to the trial of a product before it is ready for general consumption. I think the author chose the name to somehow signify that they were always innovating, much like a technology company. Even for someone like myself, for whom technology is a day job and Basketball is relaxation, I felt the title was rather off.
The book is really a history of the Warriors franchise. I am a relatively recent fan of the Warriors and was happy to learn about the early days and how the band came together. The fact that the owners are venture capitalists and had a more egalitarian approach to managing the team, definitely helped make them who they are. This book tells you about the science behind their journey and you will learn that the Warriors franchise was not always the smooth operation that you see today. It makes for a great read, especially if you are a Warriors fan. Go Warriors!
Author: Michael Wolff
There’s not a single day that passes where I don’t read a few news articles about Trump and his administration. Reading this book, confirmed for me that I truly am a Trumpaholic. The first thing that struck me was the level of access that Mr. Wolff had to Trump and his entourage. His language is colorful and he has some wonderful caricatures of Trump. One memorable one is Rupert Murdoch’s view of Trump as “a clown price among the rich and famous”.
Since this book was written before many of the heads began to roll at the White house, it mostly covers the three gentleman that were running the administration at the time. Bannon provided the president with inspiration and purpose while Priebus was the connection to Paul Ryan and outsourced all of the work to Congress. Finally, it was Kushner who coordinated all the rich men who spoke to Trump at night.
Wolff casts Bannon as Trump’s Cromwell, a moniker that Bannon seemingly accepted. I laughed out loud at some of the tongue in cheek comments like this parenthetical one “Murdoch said getting rid of Bannon was the only way to deal with the dysfunction in the White House. (Murdoch, of course, made the assumption that getting rid of Kushner was not an option.)”
Throughout the book there are numerous examples of Trump’s disdain for the job including the hiring of his advisors. He was quickly bored of people who lectured to him and McMaster was one such person. However, with pressure mounting on naming a replacement for Flynn, he finally succumbed to Kushner’s insistence and ultimately hired McMaster, not because he agreed it was a good choice, but he definitely didn’t want to have another meeting with him. When he later saw that McMaster gave a good interview on Morning Joe, he quickly warmed up to him and decided he had made a good hire.
In describing the President agreeing to the NY Times, Maggie Haberman interview he let’s loose another memorable line “.. one of the most peculiar and ill-advised interviews in presidential history, from a president who had already, several times before, achieved that milestone”.
Overall, the book is a joy to read if you are eager to try to make some sense of the cast of characters that have sojourned at the White House.
