Who Said It Would Be Easy?: One Woman's Life in the Political Arena

In a compelling, dramatic account of a remarkable career, Holtzman recreates her two decades in public office, from 1973, when she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress (D-N.Y.), to 1993, when she lost her bid for reelection as New York City comptroller. Her investigative work as a member of the House Judiciary Committee helped thwart Nixon's cover-up of Watergate. Her efforts to bring Nazi war criminals hiding in the U.S. to justice led to the creation of a federal Nazi-fighting unit that expelled hundreds of Nazis from the country. She writes movingly of her tumultuous years as Brooklyn District Attorney (1981-1989), prosecuting cases of rape, battering, incest, child abuse and other crimes. As NYC comptroller, her campaigns to block municipal incinerators and to fight corruption, wasteful spending and bureaucracy put her in direct confrontation with the Mafia, the pollution lobby and a contracting system mired in vested interests. She calls for a ""peace dividend,"" a post-Cold War redirection of military spending to schools, affordable housing and social services. Though this memoir at times veers toward self-promotion, Holtzman, a liberal and activist, emerges as a woman of integrity who lives by her principles. Her coauthor Cooper wrote Mockery of Justice: The True Story of the Sheppard Murder Case. Photos. (July)