Toobin: The Crimes of Donald Trump

Jeffrey Toobin is my dream writer. I've read all of his books but his first one; they tend to be gossipy, smart, highly-opinionated accounts of scandalous national news events.

"The Run of His Life"--Toobin's book about OJ, and his masterpiece--can stand next to "In Cold Blood." (I think it's more fun than "In Cold Blood.")

One of many pleasures in a new Toobin book is the sexy title. Just look at this list! "The Oath," "The Nine," "American Heiress," "A Vast Conspiracy," "Too Close To Call" -- book titles are in this guy's big, big bag of tricks.

In "The Oath," Toobin had a nervous John Roberts attempting to get an oath from Barack Obama, while a bumbling Biden made foolish, unsolicited remarks in the background. The new book, "True Crimes and Misdemeanors," opens with a similar scene. This time, Mueller is meeting Trump.

Toobin takes a moment to comment. Both of these men come from wealth; both have Ivy League degrees. Both have ties to New Jersey. But consider the differences. Mueller is in great shape; Trump, not so much. Mueller has many friends; Trump doesn't have that situation. Mueller was eager to serve in Vietnam; Trump dodged the war, then complained in the press that trying to date in New York while avoiding STDs was "like a personal Vietnam."

Not that Mueller gets off easily here. Toobin goes on to underline Mueller's failures: allowing Trump to get away without an interview, writing up findings too dense for most of the world to understand.

All of this is riveting, right away. I tend not to love new fiction, but a Toobin non-fiction book is like a great Victorian novel. There are the larger-than-life characters, making dramatic choices. There are the wars in the background, the clandestine meetings, the paunch beneath the long red tie....

I love this stuff. Believe the hype.

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