Thanks, Obama

July 31, 2017
In this entertaining memoir, Litt recounts becoming, in 2011, one of eight speechwriters for President Obama. Two years later, he held the title “special assistant to the president” and was Obama’s go-to guy for funny lines, with an ever-larger role in the president’s remarks for the annual Correspondents’ Dinner. His career culminated in 2015 with the famous Correspondents’ Dinner featuring “Obama’s Anger Translator,” Keegan-Michael Key’s sketch-comedy character. Litt’s tale shares a starry-eyed sensibility and gratification in personal good fortune—in his case, landing a dream job soon after graduating from Yale—with other accounts published by former Obama staffers. However, he manages to come off as not (too) privileged or self-important, candidly recollecting some of his biggest gaffes as a White House speechwriter (for instance, gravely offending the government and people of Kenya with a single, thoughtlessly written line.) He also does an excellent job describing the genesis and performance of several of Obama’s most powerful speeches, including one made following the Charleston church shootings in 2015: “Then, without warning, he paused, looked down, and shook his head.... Then, softly, the most powerful person on earth began to sing.” Veering between tragedy and comedy, between self-doubt and hubris, Litt vividly recreates a period during which he saw his words sometimes become the words of a nation.

April 1, 2017

At age 24 one of the youngest presidential speechwriters ever, Litt was a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter when he left the White House in 2016, and he was also President Obama's special comedy writer. With a 60,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017
President Barack Obama's speechwriter offers his take on an extraordinary tenure inside the White House.There's an interesting subcategory of memoirs emerging from the Obama years. Unlike the heavy hitters from the Cabinet, we're hearing from the young professionals who propelled the senator to power and bore witness to his legacy. They also happen to be some of the funniest workplace comedies on the shelves. In a memoir following closely on the heels of former Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco's book, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? (2017), Litt, one of the youngest speechwriters in the history of the White House, delivers a fast, funny ride through the halls of power. Haunted by the specter of Sarah Palin ("So, how's that whole hopey, changey thing workin' out for ya?"), the author offers a stark contrast in leadership between then and now. Working first for senior adviser Valerie Jarrett before becoming senior presidential speechwriter, Litt admits his impressions were colored by The West Wing: "Like every Democrat under the age of thirty-five, I was raised, in part, by Aaron Sorkin." He reveals what it's like to write four White House Correspondents' Association dinner speeches for the president, and he chronicles some strange encounters with the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Weinstein, and the comedy duo Key & Peele. But for every White House men's room anecdote or gee-whiz moment ("Air Force One is exactly as cool as you would expect"), Litt offers piercing assessments of the nature of our politics. "Gridlock is an accident, an inconvenience," he writes. "What happened on Capitol Hill was a strategy, and its architect was Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell." His final thoughts, written as the next administration begins its reign, are telling: "But here, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the single most valuable lesson I learned in public service: There are no grown-ups, at least not in the way I imagined as a kid." President Obama's running question to Litt was, "so, are we funny?" Yes, they are--and insightful, too.

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September 1, 2017

Litt (head writer/producer, Funny or Die, Washington, DC office) served from 2011 to 2016 as special assistant and senior speechwriter to President Barack Obama, a job that included the serious business of writing jokes for the president. "Lips," as he was nicknamed by Obama, shares that one funny line results from 25 bad ones. Inspired by Obama's call for national unity and progressivism, Litt became an "Obamabot" volunteer during the 2008 campaign. Writing jokes and presidential remarks is high-pressure work, and as Litt vividly shows, a wrong word or phrase could lead to exile from the political cauldron. This book includes its share of humor, notably how Litt was caught in his underwear aboard Air Force One, but it's best for its coming-of-age themes that show the twentysomething author maturing against a backdrop of debate over the Affordable Care Act, the rise of ISIS, the divisiveness of race, and the defeat of the Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections. Litt's personal journey takes him from a college slacker to a highly regarded wordsmith who skillfully conveyed the president's goals and policies. VERDICT This perceptive and sharp-witted memoir will be enjoyed by political junkies and those interested in presidential speechwriting. See Mark Katz's Clinton & Me for another take on presidential joke writing. [See Prepub Alert, 3/8/17.]--Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.