What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era

Noonan left a job as writer for Dan Rather at CBS-TV to join Reagan's White House as a speechwriter; later she helped Geoge Bush defeat Michael Dukakis, devising such catch phrases as ``a thousand points of light.'' Part political memoir, part autobiography, this conversational, effusive, anecdotal reminiscence offers a reverential portrait of ex-president Reagan (``probably the sweetest, most innocent man ever to serve in the Oval Office'') that at times borders on embarrassing, schoolgirlish adulation. Not surprisingly, perhaps, she gives us Reagan's view of himself instead of detached analysis. She discusses White House in-fighting, the 1984 presidential campaign, key speeches she wrote or helped shape, her clash with Don Regan, the drive to win public support for the contras. There are cameos of Pat Buchanan, Larry Speakes, Andy Rooney, Bill Moyers and others, along with an extended defense of conservative ideology and policies. First serial to New York Times Magazine, Mirabella and Saturday Evening Post; BOMC altenate. (Mar.)