Saturday, December 7, 2019

Jodi Kantor/Megan Twohey, She Said






- This is a thrilling and vitally important read. Easily one of the great journalism stories of our time - up there with Woodward and Bernstein's All the President’s Men. Superbly written and structured it's about two New York Times journalists' struggle to persuade women to break their silence on famed Hollywood producer and serial abuser Harvey Weinstein.

- What strikes you is the courage of the many actresses and staff who came forward about Weinstein, putting their careers at real risk. Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan, Selma Hayek and many others. 

- It's also a gripping story about how aggressively Weinstein fought back, using highly experienced lawyers to protect him. Besides large sums of money the legal documents they drew up to ensure confidentiality were extraordinary. Some clauses often defied common sense and were surely unenforceable, however they seriously scared the victims into silence. 

- These lawyers were celebrities in their own right, eg, David Boies (Al Gore’s lawyer in the 2000 presidential recount) and Lisa Bloom (well-known 'feminist’ lawyer). 

- Some of the stories of Weinstein's abuse are appalling and heart wrenching. The journalists worked day and night for more than year to persuade the women to come forward. And what I found remarkable is the seriously high level of support and encouragement they received from senior editors and staff at the New York Times, particularly from Executive Editor Dean Baquet.

- The last third of the book details the case of Christine Blasey Ford and her Congressional testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whom she accused of attempted rape at a party when they were high school students. She was another victim courageously coming forward.

- I so enjoyed this book. It's a brilliant and inspiring read.





No comments:

Post a Comment