Alyssa Mastromonaco

With US politics being completely unpredictable these days, I felt like reading something harking back to a time when my phone wasn’t giving constant ‘BREAKING’ notifications. Alyssa Mastromonaco’s story of her time working for Senator and then President Obama fit the bill. It’s not dry and serious, more a look at what it is like working for one of the most in-demand politicians in the world. It was a fun and insightful read.

The first thing to know about this book is that it’s show more not in chronological order – it jumps from the author’s time working on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, then to Obama’s office from the White House to his time as a senator and his presidential races. The second thing is that it’s not all about Obama – it’s Mastromonaco’s story and the president is not on every page. With chapters devoted to leadership, confidence and humility, it’s a combination of anecdotes, stories and how Mastromonaco learned from multiple lessons (kudos to her – she’s not afraid to show herself making mistakes). It’s a bit girl power-ish at times, but in the political era where it seemed like anything was possible (yes, we can), who can blame the author?

It’s not all sunshine and roses at the White House, more late nights and multiple security clearances. I was a little surprised to read that the White House buildings are no different to other government buildings, right down to the lack of tampon vending machines (not an easy thing to find when the workforce is predominantly men, or when it’s difficult to duck across the street to buy some because of security). The book also personalises people in the White House – Barack Obama truly seems like a nice guy, pretty chill and thoughtful. (He calls Alyssa from Air Force One to offer condolences on the death of her cat. I love that he cared enough to call). I didn’t recognise all the names being Australian, but one of the staffers mentioned in the book was in a recent newspaper article – he’s still in politics, which was interesting given that it’s mentioned in the book several times that White House jobs are crazily stressful, and most people won’t last that long. The people the author describes seem determined to do their best for their country.

Making this book in the style of ‘so you’re a woman who wants to work in politics’ was a good move, as it made it really relatable with a friendly tone. There’s even a packing list for short notice travels (but it seems to miss underwear). It’s a fun, very readable story about political life without getting dragged down by…politics.

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Most of the DC politics books I read in 2018 ended up fairly far down on my ranked list. Why? Even if historically important, the play-by-play narration of events was often tiresome, and most authors didn't seem to have a good sense of what actually counts as important to the story at hand, if not the larger context. Not so here! Mastromonaco was a campaign vet by 2008, and entered the White House as one of the senior staff in charge first of advance and later domestic policy. This was a show more surprisingly human take on what working with and for Obama was like, down to the mundane and humbling parts of a job that is extremely important and also all-consuming. An unsung highlight of this book by critics, in my opinion, is the chapters about her post-White House life, trying to figure out where her talents could be utilized and what to leave behind in DC. show less

This is a fast, highly enjoyable read about Alyssa Mastromonaco’s experience working in politics, particularly in the White House with Barack Obama.

What I love about this book is that it doesn’t really focus on the politics of everything. She has a few stories that delve into policies and trips, but mostly, it’s just her telling some stories about what her job was like. Sometimes, it’s about the difficulty of finding a tampon in the White House, and sometimes, it’s about meeting show more the Queen of England. Mastromonaco has an easy wit and is able to find the humor in situations. Reading this book is like talking to your sardonic friend telling you about her crazy job. It’s fun and insightful and so, so relatable.

I feel like a lot of people might pick this up hoping to hear inside information about Obama, but that isn’t really what this book is about. While some stories feature the Obamas, this book is about Mastromonaco’s experiences and how she was able to get to her position. There’s a lot of advice for young people (especially women) who want to make a career for themselves in a highly demanding job, which I found to be helpful and on-point.

If you’re at all interested in memoirs and want to know what it’s like working as a woman in politics, I highly recommend this book!

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Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in Obama's adminstration Mastromonaco's memoir about working in the White House. Or rather, that's what I thought it would be. It's really more about being a professional working woman and what she's learned about how to do that well, with a fair amount of stories about working in the White House as examples of those lessons. I don't know if it was that the book wasn't what I was expecting or that I found Mastromonaco's narration of the book a bit show more dull and monotone and hard to engage with, but I found this book pretty meh. Some of the specific stories were really interesting, but on the whole I just wasn't that invested. I wanted more "behind the scenes at the White House" and less general advice-y stuff about being a professional woman. I also had a really hard time following her organization (she mentions that she organized around kinds of advice rather than chronologically, so my problems with this probably stemmed directly from my dissatisfaction with the focus of the book). Disappointing for me, but if you *want* what Mastromonaco delivered, probably a pretty great read. show less