Volume 38, Number 12 · June 27, 1991

Sitting on Top of the News

By Michael Massing
The Commanders
by Bob Woodward

Simon and Schuster, 398 pp., $24.95

The release of each new book by Bob Woodward has become something of a national ritual. As the publication date approaches, word spreads that Woodward has spent months interviewing officials in one or another of the government's deep recesses. Book reviewers are informed that, because of the book's sensitive contents, they will not receive advance galleys, only the published book. When it finally does appear, The Washington Post runs extracts on its front pages for several days running, and Newsweek, a Post property, features it on the cover. Woodward himself makes the rounds on TV and radio, fielding questions about his reporting technique.



Review, 4637 words

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