With a combination of talent, hard work, connections, and family wealth, Eliot Spitzer built an amazing career. By his late forties, he'd gone from Princeton to Harvard Law to dramatic success as a prosecutor and attorney general to the governorship of New York. Many thought he would become the first Jewish president of the United States. Then came the prostitution scandal that shocked and mystified the nation. Peter Elkind's definitive account gets at all sides of this complex man: the well-intentioned do-gooder, the aggressive lawyer, the hardball politician, the dutiful son, the loving husband and father, and the secretive "Client 9" of the Emperor's Club escort service. Elkind interviewed dozens of key sources, ranging from Spitzer's family, friends, and closest aides, to targets of his high-profile investigations, to central players in the prostitution ring. He reveals many groundbreaking new details about Spitzer's rise, his short time as governor, and the way his enemies plotted against him. The result is a gripping, almost Shakespearean narrative—a tragedy of one man's noble intentions and fatal flaws and the powerful forces (both internal and external) that destroyed him.
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"If you are interested in the life and downfall of Eliot Spitzer, this is the book for you. I saw this on the library shelf, and I was interested after seeing the documentary about Spitzer. It was interesting to read an account of both is accomplishments and what cost him his job as governor of NY." — Jeff (4 out of 5 stars)
"If you are interested in the life and downfall of Eliot Spitzer, this is the book for you. I saw this on the library shelf, and I was interested after seeing the documentary about Spitzer. It was interesting to read an account of both is accomplishments and what cost him his job as governor of NY."
“The Eliot Spitzer story plays like a novel that might have been plotted by Theodore Dreiser and peopled with characters by Tom Wolfe…The tireless reformer compared to Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne…finds his much ballyhooed future as a possible presidential contender smashed to pieces, and the word ‘disgraced’ seemingly permanently stapled to his name like a Homeric epithet.”
Narrator Arthur Morey provides a smooth, unadorned rendering of a complex story. Eventually, Morey fades to the background as the sad drama that leads to disgrace takes center stage.
“Even if there weren’t a prostitution thread, this would be a page-turner. Elkind’s style is journalism at its best: well-reported but pared down, and full of colorful scenes.”
“Peter Elkind’s Rough Justice, [is] an absorbing account of Spitzer’s improbable journey from New York rich kid to celebrated Wall Street scourge—to infamous Client No. 9 of the Emperor’s Club…Elkind captures the conflicting sides of Spitzer. He was an idealist who was genuinely outraged by the Wall Street pandemic. Yet Spitzer was also plagued by a volcanic temper and an over-caffeinated ego that was unable to keep his worst impulses in check.”
" Well that was fun. I would have given him 5 stars if he had interviewed me. "
" So far - so fascinating. See the sub-prime usual suspects already doing the nasties in early part of 2000's. He was a better DA than a governer. "Hubris is Terminal".... interesting read. "
" Great read for politics junkies. Spitzer never fails to fascinate and Elkind does a great job of giving us his story of Spitzer's rise and fall. "
" A very fair portrait, I could have gone for a bit more of the aftermath.Like a Phoenix, eliot has resurrected himself on cable news, once again in the public eye. "
" Highly salacious, highly readable. "
" Well researched, well written. Learned a lot not only about Eliot Spitzer but also the world of Wall Street. No wonder the economy is in a mess. "
" Whenever Eliot Spitzer starts sounding reasonable, read this to remind yourself what a deeply scuzzy pol he is. "
" Very well-written and impeccably researched, this was nonetheless a tough read. Watching such a smart man implode amidst so many other government officials doing ridiculously selfish and stupid things gives a bleak picture of mankind. "
" read 1/2 book; interesting & dynamic details about Eliot's upbringing and career. "
" Excellent book telling the story of Eliot Spitzer's political career and his self inflicted implosion. A character study of a man with a fatal flaw. "
Peter Elkind is an editor at large at Fortune magazine and an award-winning investigative reporter. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, and Texas Monthly, and he is a former editor of the Dallas Observer. He lives in Texas.
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.
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