Publishers Weekly
01/31/2019
The former New Jersey governor and advisor to Donald Trump ruminates on a litany of political slights in this rancorous memoir. Christie recounts his exploits as New Jersey's Republican U. S. attorney and then governor, celebrated for his tough-talking, man-of-the-people style. ("'Go ahead,' he told Democrats when they threatened to close down state government in a dispute over taxes. 'I'll order a pizza. I'll open a beer. And I'll watch the Mets until you reopen the government.'") The book's second half chronicles the humiliations Christie endured as an advisor on longtime friend Donald Trump's presidential run: first he's denied the vice-presidential nomination, and when the Republican National Committee chairmanship is dangled and then snatched away, he explodes ("this is bullshit!"). Christie paints venomous scenes of Trump's chaotic campaign and pillories rivals in the Trump organization, including Steve Bannon ("a fraud, a nobody, and a liar") and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who, he alleges, got Christie fired from the chairmanship of the transition team in revenge for Christie's prosecution of Kushner's father for a blackmail attempt involving a prostitute and a sex tape. (Per Christie, Bannon told him, "if you want to survive around here, you've got to agree with the kid 95 percent of the time.") Energized by seething resentments, Christie's memoir is a lively, swaggering, thin-skinned portrait of Trumpian politics by an accomplished practitioner. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"Part autobiography and part firsthand accounting of a presidency, the book...paints Mr. Trump as a phenom who was obviously effective as a candidate—but who has relied on the wrong people and has been ill-served by many advisers, including some members of his family.... Mr. Christie [has] lifted the curtain on some of the most explosive moments of the campaign."
—Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
"Explosive.... Exceptional as a chronicle of the score-settling and animosity that drove key decision-making in Trump's nascent presidency."—The Guardian
"The former New Jersey governor delivers plenty of jabs at political enemies.... But beneath all the record-correcting and score-settling... he offers a defense of the hyper-confrontational style that first made him famous, and later helped make Trump president."
—McKay Coppins, The Atlantic
"[A] fantastic book."—Stephen Colbert, "The Late Show"
"Stunning...intriguing.... Christie's history with the campaign means that when he talks about Trump and those around him—as he does in... Let Me Finish—we should all listen..."
—CNN "The Point with Chris Cillizza"
"Candid."—ABC "This Week"
"Go get [Let Me Finish], you will not regret it. If you like this show, you'll like the stories he tells....Great.... A perspective from inside and outside the administration."—Brian Kilmeade, FOX News' "The Brian Kilmeade" show
"[Let Me Finish] tells quite a story."
—Andrea Mitchell, MSNBC
"Not to miss."
—Entertainment Weekly
"A fascinating book."—Trevor Noah, "The Daily Show"
"If you've been missing the force of Chris Christie's personality since he returned to private life last year, you can now get your fix at full blast from his autobiography, Let Me Finish...a big, loud book."—NPR Book Review
"News-making stories.... A shrewd and strategic book.... Christie defends his decisions with the gritty realism of the political professional."—David Frum, The Atlantic
"Juicy, inside-the-campaign tales."—The Daily Beast
"A must-read. Really, it's the best of its kind, at least the equal of any political memoir I've read.... Let Me Finish is a terrific work ... candidly honest .... Funny."—Hugh Hewitt, "The Hugh Hewitt Show"
"Lively, swaggering."
—Publishers Weekly
"That rarest of books penned by a politician: one worth reading."—The Star-Ledger
"Plenty of juicy Jersey details."—North Jersey News
