The Long Slide - Tucker Carlson Book Review

 

The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism by Tucker Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve only watched Tucker Carlson’s show once or twice, ever.

Something about the constant scowl, mixed with the pretty boy face.
And I don’t get cable. I’m a dinosaur who discovered, literally, just last week that his show is on Youtube, too.

But when I read a review of “The Long Slide,” it intrigued me enough to try it at the local library.
I was NOT disappointed.

The review noted that the key to Carlson’s success is his good writing. That’s what makes his monologues compelling. After reading The Long Slide, I’m convinced that is true.

The book is a compilation of magazine articles from 20-25 years ago, NOT current events commentary. He is seldom partisan in his writing, though often covering political figures. Carlson’s strength in covering the likes of George W Bush, John McCain, and Al Sharpton, is his up-close observations of personal characteristics. McCain sleeping on the bus. Bush attracting evangelicals but using the f-word liberally in private. Being caught himself in a firefight in Baghdad’s green zone, while on the phone with his wife.

But the best articles were cultural, about growing up with the opposite of helicopter parents. I read one or two of these out loud to my family, and they are laugh-out-loud funny.

The introduction is the only commentary on current events. Here, Carlson blasts the publisher of his book for canceling authors for political reasons, which seems indisputably warranted to me. Simon and Schuster probably published it to refute his argument, but it was bizarre to see.

The title of the book is rather self-serving. Tucker is using his own articles to say, “see how far journalism has descended since I wrote these! Now it’s all just partisan hackery and advocacy journalism.” I would say not all. World magazine makes a valiant effort at unbiased journalism today.

But Carlson’s point is valid, however self-aggrandizing, and reading this is an edifying opening of a time capsule into the recent past.

4 stars.

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