Columnist and pundit Wattenberg (Fewer
) documents his conversion from Bronx liberal to passionate neocon in this pugnacious memoir-cum-history of neoconservatism filled with juicy insider tidbits. Comparing himself to Woody Allen's Zelig
, the author describes being amused as he repeatedly popped up “at times and places at just about the right moment and wondered how I wandered into the frame”—and political junkies will relish his blow-by-blows from Lyndon Johnson's White House (where he worked as an aide) and stories about his “political hero” Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson cornering Wattenberg in a restroom after the Massachusetts primary in 1976 to relay his belief that they had secured the Democratic nomination (they hadn't). There are surprising details along the way—chiefly Wattenberg's unexpected support for Bill Clinton (he voted for him in 1992). While the book occasionally devolves into intellectual gossip and name-dropping (as in the chapter “Media Matters Most”), its rousing refutation of myths and prejudices that dog neoconservatism make it a welcome addition in a time when the ideology is publicly embattled. (July)
