Peril (book)

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Peril
Peril (Bob Woodward and Robert Costa).png
AuthorBob Woodward and Robert Costa
CountryUnited States
SubjectsPresidency of Donald Trump
2020 United States presidential election
Presidential transition of Joe Biden
Presidency of Joe Biden
GenreNon-fiction
PublishedSeptember 21, 2021
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Media typePrint, e-book, audiobook
Pages512
ISBN9781982182915 (Hardcover)
OCLC1267411961

Peril is a book by American journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa about the last days of Donald Trump's presidency, as well as the presidential transition and early presidency of Joe Biden. The book was published on September 21, 2021, by Simon & Schuster.

Considered the culmination of Woodward's reporting on the Trump Administration, Peril takes its title from an excerpt of Biden's inaugural address.[1] In the speech, Biden proclaimed that Americans "will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility."[2] This contrasts with Woodward's previous books about the Trump administration, Fear and Rage, which took their titles from Trump's comments made during a March 2016 interview conducted by Woodward.[3]

Background[]

Following the publication of Woodward's previous two Trump books, Fear and Rage, Peril acts as the final installment in Bob Woodward's Donald Trump trilogy. The book follows Trump's second Presidential campaign while interspersing details from Joe Biden's campaign. Peril has two narratives: one following Trump, and the other following the campaign of Joe Biden as he defeats his primary opponent Bernie Sanders and later faces Trump himself. The majority of the book was written as an exposé during the final months of Trump's presidency, detailing his legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election, his attempts to subvert the certification system, and his insistence that the election was stolen.

Content[]

The conversation between Mark Milley and Chinese general Li Zuocheng is one of the subjects of Peril. The book also reveals further new details behind attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election by the outgoing Trump administration.[4][5]

Reception[]

Peril received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Chris Megerian of The Los Angeles Times panned it as a "tedious" read, criticizing Woodward and Costa for "spending more time stacking up anecdotes like bricks than generating new insights into a presidency that has already received exhaustive coverage."[6]

Slate's Fred Kaplan wrote that Peril lacks narrative structure: "Like many of Woodward's past works, this is less a cohesive book than a string of anecdotes, some hair-raising, some less so than they appear to be. Perhaps because it was churned out so quickly, this book contains some very intriguing bits—the hints of a story, but not quite the follow-through—that someone should investigate more thoroughly."[5]

In his New York Times review, John Williams wrote, "Like an installment of a deathless Marvel franchise, for all its spectacle 'Peril' ends with a dismaying sense of prologue."[7]

In a positive appraisal of the book, Kirkus Reviews called Peril "[a] solid work of investigation that, while treading well-covered ground, offers plenty of surprises."[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Gangel, Jamie; Stuart, Eizabeth (August 17, 2021). "Exclusive: Title, cover and details of new Trump book from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa revealed". CNN. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Biden, Joe (January 20, 2021). Joe Biden's Inaugural Address (Speech).
  3. ^ Kavi, Aishvarya (September 9, 2020). "5 Takeaways From 'Rage,' Bob Woodward's New Book About Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Gangel, Jamie; Herb, Jeremy (September 20, 2021). "Memo shows Trump lawyer's six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election". CNN. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Kaplan, Fred (September 21, 2021). "The Most Confounding Part of Bob Woodward's New Trump Book Is What It Doesn't Say - It's heavy on scoops and light on analysis". Slate. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  6. ^ Megerian, Chris (September 17, 2021). "Review: 'Peril' is a damning — and tedious — portrait of American democracy on the brink". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  7. ^ Williams, John (September 17, 2021). "Bob Woodward Extends His Trump Chronicles With the Chaotic Transfer of Power". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  8. ^ "PERIL". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
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