Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History
by Katy Tur
Think back to the morning of November 9th, going to work and thinking “How exactly did this happen? How could we not have seen this coming?” Now imagine you’re journalist Katy Tur, on the campaign trail for 500 days, and on election night wondering the same thing. It wasn’t until it was too late that she realized what was going to happen. By then it was too late. “Something is happening.”
We all have opinions about Donald Trump, but few of us saw the rise and triumph happen on the inside the way Katy Tur did during the campaign trail. Unbelievable is one of those books that serves as the perfect primer for those of us who want to understand just how the Trump campaign managed to pull off such an upset. Not only is it loaded with interesting observations and anecdotes, but is also benefits from being narrated by someone like Tur. We don’t want a mommy, we want a friend, and that’s exactly what Tur becomes as she helps us navigate through all the ups and down, lefts and rights, and downright slithering and maneuvering of the Trump campaign all the way to victory.
Through it all Tur not just lets us in on who exactly she and her family are but also a little about who Donald Trump is (though not much about where he came from). The Trump Tur experienced during her time as correspondent was complex to say the least and varied from defensive, to ornery, to friendly, to oblivious, to downright deceptive. His greatest strategy is to always have a comeback and never back down. Say what you need to exonerate yourself. And when the chickens come home to roost, deny everything. And his appeal? Voters related to his rough edges. He was the millionaire they would be if they were rich.
It’s difficult to find what’s not to like about this book. Unbelievable is a fascinating page turner that engages its reader whether it’s about Trump or about Tur herself.
