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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| My problem with Fire and Fury? The sucking-up that’s left out of it | My problem with Fire and Fury? The sucking-up that’s left out of it |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Contact author | Contact author |
| Thu 11 Jan 2018 17.39 GMT | Thu 11 Jan 2018 17.39 GMT |
| Last modified on Fri 9 Feb 2018 18.35 GMT | |
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| Michael Wolff, author of the White House expose Fire and Fury, has been subject to a lot of comparisons this week – mostly to his own target, Donald Trump. How fitting, it is remarked, that an author who some say operates under the banner of “truthiness” – that is, with a certain elastic approach to fact – should be the man to take down its greatest practitioner. | Michael Wolff, author of the White House expose Fire and Fury, has been subject to a lot of comparisons this week – mostly to his own target, Donald Trump. How fitting, it is remarked, that an author who some say operates under the banner of “truthiness” – that is, with a certain elastic approach to fact – should be the man to take down its greatest practitioner. |
| The person I’ve thought about in relation to Wolff, however, is Joe McGinniss, the author of Fatal Vision – a true crime book published in 1983 that attracted a notorious lawsuit by its subject, Jeffrey MacDonald. MacDonald, who was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife and two children, sought damages on the basis that McGinniss had gained access to him under false pretences, feigning belief in his innocence, then putting out a book condemning his guilt and diagnosing him as a “narcissistic sociopath”. | The person I’ve thought about in relation to Wolff, however, is Joe McGinniss, the author of Fatal Vision – a true crime book published in 1983 that attracted a notorious lawsuit by its subject, Jeffrey MacDonald. MacDonald, who was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife and two children, sought damages on the basis that McGinniss had gained access to him under false pretences, feigning belief in his innocence, then putting out a book condemning his guilt and diagnosing him as a “narcissistic sociopath”. |
| What was remarkable about this case was the sympathy drummed up by the lawyers for MacDonald, whose hurt feelings and sense of betrayal were considered by at least half the jury to be persuasive enough to punish the journalist who caused them. When the jury failed to return a verdict, the publishers settled out of court with MacDonald for a sum in the hundreds of thousands. | What was remarkable about this case was the sympathy drummed up by the lawyers for MacDonald, whose hurt feelings and sense of betrayal were considered by at least half the jury to be persuasive enough to punish the journalist who caused them. When the jury failed to return a verdict, the publishers settled out of court with MacDonald for a sum in the hundreds of thousands. |
| MacDonald posed no danger to the free world, of course. He was a common murderer. But the distaste reserved for journalists who flatter and seduce in person only to murder in print is one that has been largely turned on its head by Wolff. Look at me, he has implied: while other journalists have been consistent in their toadying, only I have had the courage to flatter Trump then reverse-toady. | MacDonald posed no danger to the free world, of course. He was a common murderer. But the distaste reserved for journalists who flatter and seduce in person only to murder in print is one that has been largely turned on its head by Wolff. Look at me, he has implied: while other journalists have been consistent in their toadying, only I have had the courage to flatter Trump then reverse-toady. |
| Make no mistake, Wolff’s toadying was spectacular. As Jonathan Martin points out in the New York Times this week, the opening of Fire and Fury paints a vivid portrait of a dinner in which Trump, Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon are quoted at length, but in which the author fails to disclose that the venue – a “Greenwich townhouse” – was his own, and he the host. | Make no mistake, Wolff’s toadying was spectacular. As Jonathan Martin points out in the New York Times this week, the opening of Fire and Fury paints a vivid portrait of a dinner in which Trump, Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon are quoted at length, but in which the author fails to disclose that the venue – a “Greenwich townhouse” – was his own, and he the host. |
| It is assumed that the stakes are so high, the ends justify the means and, rightly, no one is feeling sorry for Trump. For many journalists, however, the methodology behind Fire and Fury leaves a slight queasiness: a suspicion that the sucking-up part of Wolff’s approach is not entirely explained away by the heroism of a man in “deep cover”. | It is assumed that the stakes are so high, the ends justify the means and, rightly, no one is feeling sorry for Trump. For many journalists, however, the methodology behind Fire and Fury leaves a slight queasiness: a suspicion that the sucking-up part of Wolff’s approach is not entirely explained away by the heroism of a man in “deep cover”. |
| Doctor dilemma | Doctor dilemma |
| An acquaintance whose wife is expecting their first baby asks if I can recommend a paediatrician, and I hesitate before answering. My children’s doctor, apart from bearing a resemblance to Harold Shipman, meets our needs in every way. He is kind and efficient and a prompt returner of phone calls. I know from other New York parents, however, that his approach is unusual for this city. | An acquaintance whose wife is expecting their first baby asks if I can recommend a paediatrician, and I hesitate before answering. My children’s doctor, apart from bearing a resemblance to Harold Shipman, meets our needs in every way. He is kind and efficient and a prompt returner of phone calls. I know from other New York parents, however, that his approach is unusual for this city. |
| “He’s quite … relaxed,” I say, and my acquaintance looks taken aback. “I mean, 99% of the time he tends to think your kid is OK.” | “He’s quite … relaxed,” I say, and my acquaintance looks taken aback. “I mean, 99% of the time he tends to think your kid is OK.” |
| “Oh no,” said the man. “No, no, no. My wife is a type-A New Yorker, that’s not going to work.” | “Oh no,” said the man. “No, no, no. My wife is a type-A New Yorker, that’s not going to work.” |
| “Yeah,” I shrug. “He’s a good doctor for a British person. But it sounds as if you should carry on looking.” | “Yeah,” I shrug. “He’s a good doctor for a British person. But it sounds as if you should carry on looking.” |
| Golden oldie | Golden oldie |
| There was a brief flap over the appearance of Kirk Douglas at the Golden Globes, and whether it was impolitic to invite the old rogue to a ceremony pushing back against sexual harassment. But all I could wonder at was how a human being could look so old and not only continue to function, but be poured into a suit and wheeled out on stage. Douglas at 101 was like something from Black Mirror, a spectacle that at least afforded us a break from partisan division for a nightmare – extreme old age – we can all get behind fearing. | There was a brief flap over the appearance of Kirk Douglas at the Golden Globes, and whether it was impolitic to invite the old rogue to a ceremony pushing back against sexual harassment. But all I could wonder at was how a human being could look so old and not only continue to function, but be poured into a suit and wheeled out on stage. Douglas at 101 was like something from Black Mirror, a spectacle that at least afforded us a break from partisan division for a nightmare – extreme old age – we can all get behind fearing. |
| • Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist | • Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist |
| Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| Notebook | Notebook |
| Trump administration | Trump administration |
| US politics | US politics |
| Michael Wolff | Michael Wolff |
| comment | comment |
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