Fishbait
Author: William Fishbait Miller and Frances Spatz Leighton
Publisher: Prentice-Hall Inc
Published In: Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Date: 1977
Pgs: 381

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
From the late 1940s through 1974, William “Fishbait” Miller served as the Doorkeeper for the Congress of the United States. A large personality, Miller was the distinctive voice that introduced the President when he came to speak before Congress. This tell-all showcases the things he saw and overheard during his many years on the edges of power in Washington DC.

Genre:
Autobiography and memoir
Behind the Scenes
Biography
Government
History
Non-fiction

Why this book:
This is the last in the series of political memoirs and biographies that Nancy gave me to read off of her bookshelf.

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The Feel:
Miller lays it on too thick trying to paint himself as a yokel who good things just happened to.

Pacing:
The pacing is fine. The chronology issue and the gossipy name-dropping tone of the book impacts the pace in a deleterious way.

Hmm Moments:
The interminable parliamentary procedures sections are brain numbing. If this is how Congress actually functions sometimes, there is little wonder that bastards never get anything done.

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
No. Just no.

Casting call:
John Malkovich, Bryan Cranston...both could take on the title role, but I really hope they never do.
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Last Page Sound:
Meh. Just...meh.

Author Assessment:
The tome is very gossipy. The tone is very telling-stories-out-of-school.

Editorial Assessment:
The storytelling style is scattered. There is very little sense of chronology to the story.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
meh!

Disposition of Book:
Nancy’s bookshelf

Would recommend to:
no one ( )

2302 Fishbait: The Memoirs of the Congressional Doorkeeper, by William "Fishbait" Miller As told to Frances Spatz Leighton (read 2 Jul 1990) This is a 1977 book by a man who worked for the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1974. He was a poor boy from Pascagula, Mississippi, who went to Washington in 1933, getting a job through his Congressman, William Colmer. He became Doorkeeper in 1943 or so, and held the job till the Democrats voted him out in 1974. This is a gossipy, folksy book, not very flattering to many of the people he talks about. Some of it is funny, and if what he says about morals of members of Congress is all true, it makes me sick. But it was easy reading, though not especially memorable. ( )