RESIDENCE Inside the Private World of the White House

Brower's history is a tedious, frequently repetitive, account of the lives of the service staff of the White House from the early 1960s to the present. Narrator Karen White's performance is coldly impersonal and poorly suited to the book's theme of fierce loyalty. Combining historical sources and in-person interviews, Brower reveals bias as she chooses words and language constructs with a clear bent for positive comments on liberal Democrats and negative comments on conservative Republicans. Also, the text sounds as if the author wants listeners to be impressed with how much time she's spent within the walls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. White's greatest weakness is her insistence on impersonating many of the staffers, making them sound similar or stereotypical. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2015]