(New York: Doubleday, 2008)
Hardcover, 180 Pages, Nonfiction
“Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren’t just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and our granddaughters today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters now the sky is the limit.”
—Nancy Pelosi, after being sworn in as Speaker of the House
From the Cover: When Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House, she made history. She gaveled the House to order that day on behalf of all of America’s children and said, “We have made history, now let us make progress.” Now she continues to inspire women everywhere in this thought-provoking collection of wise words—her own and those of the important people who played pivotal roles in her journey. In these pages, she encourages mothers and grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters to never lose faith, to speak out and make their voices heard, to focus on what matters most and follow their dreams wherever they may lead. Perhaps the Speaker says it best herself in the Preface: “I find it humbling and deeply moving when women and girls approach me, looking for insight and advice. If women can learn from me, in the same way I learned from the women who came before me, it will make the honor of being Speaker of the House even more meaningful.” This is a truly special book to share with all the women you know. It is a keepsake to turn to again and again, whenever you need to be reminded that anything is possible when you know your power.
My Review: A week or two ago Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was the guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She spoke about politics (as can be expected) but she also plugged her new book, Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters. I was intrigued by the title since I have a daughter, and seeing as this was a book written by the most powerful woman in America … I figured it was something that I should read. Surprisingly (he said, the words dripping with sarcasm) I did not have to put the book on hold at the local library. (It’s one of the few perks living in one of the most Redly Conservative counties in the nation that there is no waiting list for books such as this.)
Pelosi’s book is one part biography and one part political manifesto and honestly neither is very effective. Pelosi’s writing is pedantic at best and she Name Drops like nobody’s business. Every page contains five or six names that she throws out for no good reason other than to show who she knows and while Pelosi’s rise from housewife to Speaker of the House is a fascinating story … for the most part, the telling is dry. There is no spark here … and while I consider myself fairly liberal and am all for making a principled political stand, refusing to rent an otherwise perfect home in San Francisco while you, your husband and four children are living with your mother-in-law just because the owners of the home are leaving to work in Nixon’s administration … that sort of fanaticism (for lack of a better word) falls flat, especially when later in the book Pelosi claims that she is first and foremost a mother; the early story of the Nixon-house negates this claim of motherhood first.
However, all that being said, the final third of this book (titled “Know Your Power”) is where Pelosi shines. Her tale of becoming Speaker of the House, her stands against the excesses of both Bush Administrations and her message to the rising generation of women and girls is what every parent of a daughter and woman needs to read. Pelosi makes an authoritative call to power for women and girls everywhere. Really, if you are interested in reading Know Your Power, skip the first 119 pages and read the final section of the novel. This is where the heart of Pelosi’s message and the real power of her pleas lay. (Though the whole novel is a very quick read … it took me under 24 hours to get through it, so if you wanted to slog through the first two thirds, it wouldn’t take that long anyway.)
Despite the book’s initial flaws, by the end Pelosi is a powerful writer, an inspirational leader and—even more rare—an apparently honest politician. She is a woman and leader who deserves our respect and is one who, in eight years, I could see myself voting for if she chooses to run for President of the United States (after Barack Obama becomes President, of course). Hillary Clinton I had problems with; Nancy Pelosi is someone I could get behind as I have gotten behind Obama and Know Your Power shows why.
This review can also be found at Bryan’s Book Blog
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