Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Disloyal is eye-opening. I’m very glad that Michael Cohen persevered and it was published. What I have seen of Trump in the news, especially over the past couple of years with his tweets and off-the-cuff remarks, has led me to question his mental competence (as well leaving me stunned that no one has taken his phone away from him). I’m one of the caregivers for my dad-in-law, who suffers from narcissism and dementia, among other things, and their behaviors are alarmingly alike. Back to the book. At first, I had trouble at believing Cohen, because I misread something in the book, and I had to wrangle my brain past what I thought was a misquote to continue reading the book. (I was wrong about the error. I want to thank the commenters who pointed that out.) However, I continued reading on and was glad that I did. When I can see how willing Cohen is willing to reveal his shame at his behavior and crimes and how much of his behavior he is testifying to, I have to believe that anyone willing to speak that much truth about their own wrong behavior and mindset is being truthful when they are talking about Trump. (Cohen owns his behavior and greed for power even as he explains Trump’s influence.) I truly believe that there are people who are so charismatic that they pull others into their cult of personality. I think you could base a good doctoral dissertation on the psychological aspects of being pulled into Trump’s orbit and essentially brainwashed. If you want all the stories, read the book. If you care about integrity, read the book. Judge for yourself. As I said, I am a lifelong Republican. I have voted Republican since the year I tromped through the snow in New Hampshire with other college students campaigning for Reagan. This may be the first general election that I do not vote for the Republican candidate. (Truthfully, I’m not fond of Biden, either, but currently he seems the lesser evil.) Trump was never the picture of my ideal political candidate; I was hoping for a qualified candidate or a complete overhaul of the American political system (which I vastly prefer). I actually cannot believe the Republican party nominated Trump again. I was and am still flabbergasted. Reading Cohen’s book only emphasizes that everything I thought was true and worse. While I’m convinced that Trump has always been a conniving, amoral narcissist that Cohen has represented honestly, I believe that now Trump has serious cognitive issues as well based on his bizarre utterances. (One telling example: that Trump thought that simple cognitive test was hard and was confused enough that he thought that acing it meant that he was very intelligent. I can attest from watching my dad that a person can have serious cognitive deficits and still ace that test easily.) Highly recommended for those with open minds or a desire to see the Republican party nominate someone who deserves to be President. A few quotes: “I saw this all the time in Trump, as he sought praise and then offered praise in return, as if the act of bestowing his half-true approval lent the observation more gravitas.” “He wanted all of his interactions with the press to be manipulated for maximum benefit, no matter the underlying truth, and in a postmodern society where the representation of the thing was more important than the thing itself, at least in Trump’s intuitive way of seeing power and spin, that meant a relentless willingness to lie, exaggerate, mislead, and above all brag and boast and boost.” “The fact that I was willing to literally physically fight and punch another man in the face on behalf of Mr. Trump should give you a sense of the lengths that I was willing to go to please the Boss, much to the ongoing and growing disgust of my wife and kids.” “I knew he was a liar and a master manipulator, along with the myriad less-than-sterling characteristics I had witnessed over the years, but I believed his positive qualities outweighed the downsides and perfection shouldn’t be the enemy of good.” “I was like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, lusting after the power that would come from possessing the White House—“my precious”—and I was more than willing to lie, cheat, and bully to win. Trump was the only person I had ever encountered who I believed could actually pull off that feat, and I recognized early the raw talent and charisma and pure ruthless ambition to succeed he possessed. I saw what others didn’t, what others thought was a joke, at their own peril, and that was my true motive. I knew Trump would do whatever was necessary to win. I just lacked the imagination and moral purpose to actually think about what that would mean for America, the world, for me, and for my family. Because here’s the thing: When you sell your soul, you do exactly that: sell your soul.” “… the truth was that the media’s psychotic fascination with Trump was one of the biggest—maybe the biggest—cause for his rise to power.” “Not that Trump deserved the admiration and support of the devout folks he’d just met. Trump’s true feelings about the encounter with the evangelicals, and the laying on of hands, a supposedly sincere and pious summoning of the will of God, were revealed as I entered Trump’s office at the end of the day to have a final recap of his thoughts on the laying on of hands ceremony. ‘Can you believe that #%&?’ Trump said, with incredulity, referring to the ritual and the evangelicals. ‘Can you believe people believe that #%&?’” ETA: Tried to make part of the review more coherent and corrected an error pointed out by commenters.