2 out of 4 stars
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Bill Robertson, a retired marketing executive of a multimillion-dollar organization, started a blog in 2008 called No Smoke Blown. Worried about the standard of living of his grandchildren, he started blogging about the problems America are facing, his perspective on the political climate, and practical solutions.
The book consists of all the author’s cornerstone blogs spanning from 2008 to 2017. 9 years of thoughts and feelings are condensed into one single sitting. The blog style includes dates throughout the years and offered the book an epic realness that made a considerable impact, especially on those that follow American politics.
I am South African, and I have been following American politics for the last couple of years. The author supports the Republican party, and I respect that. This piece is on his opinions and I kept that in mind. I tried to my best to stay objective. That being said, I did not agree with the majority of what the author had to say.
The major problem I had with this read was that it was primarily a rant. When I read the blurb, I was expecting an insightful, objective analysis on American politics and the worry he has for his grandchildren. Instead, I read a very uncompromising, one-sided debate. Does that make what the author has to say any less real? No. Did it make me slightly mad? Yes.
I’ve never thought of politics as black and white, but the author clearly does. The use of words and phrases like ‘perverts’ and ‘crackpot darling of the environmental zealots’ had me clenching my fists. If I wanted to hear a tirade on politics, I would go read a few threads on Twitter. I am not a Republican or a Democrat but even I saw the blatant bias.
Another problem I had was the author didn’t elaborate on anything. It’s assumed the reader knows the political jargon and knows all the current events and political figures. I would have liked it if it had been clearer on the organizations and figurehead he was discussing.
There was one quote in the book that struck a chord with me. “This is not a Democratic or Republican thing. This is an American thing.” I wish the book had followed this idea. The author is clearly an intelligent individual and I liked some of the points he brought up, but the way it was written has me shaking my head. The writing itself was informal and looks professionally edited. I only noticed one typo throughout the whole read and the author’s writing makes it feel like he is talking to you.
I rate Better Lives for Our Grandchildren: A Plane Crash Survivor's Perspective on Politics and Life 2 out of 4 stars. The writing was clear, and the author made it a very personal read, which I liked. I did not like the biased, one-sided tirade. I would recommend this book to those that are of the Republican party or those seeking to look inside the mind of one.
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Better Lives for Our Grandchildren
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Don't get me started on Twitter! Thanks for the informative review.
