Member Reviews

An amazing read. Enjoyed the cute, sweet, honesty of Beck. The challenges of being a young, talented young woman in any career or walk of life can relate to her the inside look into an administration is relatable to anyone.

Was this review helpful?

In the spirit of Thanks Obama, My Hopey, Changey, White House Years comes From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein. Beck is a young 20-something in Washington DC who's finding her way. She's working a couple of jobs to help ends meet and comes upon a Craigslist ad and applies, assuming it's just another job. She's stunned to find out that it's a position as a stenographer -in the Obama White House. She travels on Air Force One and comes to be a part of her own White House family. I'm finding it hard to express just how much I enjoyed this book. I loved getting to read about life inside the administration, but the part that sticks for me was reading about Beck's relationships with the other employees. She's so relatable and funny and writes with an incredibly authentic voice. Warning: this will likely make you miss 44, if you haven't been already.

Was this review helpful?

Very interesting viewpoint of behind the scenes of the Whitehouse. I never thought of a stenographer as one of the presidents staff. This book will keep you reading long after bedtime. It has heart, friends and heartbreak

Was this review helpful?

This memoir is a fun look at what it was like having a front seat to history as a White House stenographer during the Obama presidency. Beck joined the team prior to the 2012 campaign season. I laughed out loud often reading this book, especially at her descriptions of Washington and some of her experiences traveling with the president. I also cried in solidarity of her pain, and the last bit of the book beginning with a trip to New York in September 2016 through Innauguration Day had tears rolling down my cheeks.

I really enjoy memoirs in general, but especially political memoirs, and this one did not disappoint! I heard this book has been optioned to be turned into a TV show or movie, and it's in the vein of fun workplace relationships and experiences. It's full of messy relationships, learning from mistakes even as you make them again, and what true and real friendship looks like. This may be my favorite book of 2018 so far, and I've read some deeply loved books this year.

Was this review helpful?

I loved this behind the scenes look into authors life and also in the White House and presidency. No matter who you voted for this book is quite funny and breathtakingly honest. I'm so impressed. Highly recommend.
Thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Was this review helpful?

Beck surprisingly gets THIS job, shows up every day , figures out who’s who and what’s what and, in spite of the vaGIANTS, makes it her own.Compulsively readable, you CARE about these 20-somethings who commit to this 24-7 lifestyle for the thrill, the travel, the “life in the bubble”. Luckily, Beck kept notes (her journals) so we can share in her goods and bads....men don’t seem to be any more understandable in DC....but... the boys were right.....this woman can write...you GO girl!

Was this review helpful?

4.5 stars for this.

Beck Dorey-Stein was a twenty-something former teacher unsure of not only what she wanted to do with her future, but whether she'd even be able to find a job to sustain her until she figured out her life. Living in Washington, DC to be closer to her boyfriend, she cobbles together a number of part-time jobs to make ends meet, but she's envious of those who know what they want.

When she answers a Craigslist posting for a job, she figures it won't amount to anything. She's more than shocked to find out that this isn't a random clerical job—it's a position as a stenographer in the Obama White House. Stenographers don't take dictation anymore—instead, they're in the background of every speech, every presentation the president makes, no matter where in the world he is, microphone in hand, recording his words and transcribing them for history and/or public release.

From the Corner of the Oval follows Beck as she learns the ropes of her job and White House protocol, builds friendships with her colleagues in different positions throughout the administration, and begins to travel the country—and the world—viewing current events and the president's reactions to them at close range. She gets to have opportunities she never would have thought of, such as traveling on Air Force One and running on a treadmill next to the president.

"We're always just a few ticks, clicks, updates, and pings away from personal and collective disaster, but right now we're not our titles but our own selves—people with backgrounds and futures and exes and half-dead pets and crazy parents and broken hearts and broken hearts and big dreams; people who are listening to the president as he tells a funny story from two countries back, twelve hours ago, depending on which time zone you're counting in. We're so different, but we're swimming in this same punch-drunk delirium, and we have one major thing in common: We've found ourselves, shockingly, amazingly, how-the-fuck-did-this-happen crazily, flying halfway around the world on Air Force One. We are lucky. We are so goddamn lucky."

The constant demands of her job take their toll on her relationship with her boyfriend, who after volunteering with Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, becomes more desperate to recapture that enthusiasm and magic. Their on-again, off-again, often-long-distance relationship leaves her vulnerable to the advances of another senior staffer, someone far from appropriate relationship material, yet someone Beck finds unable to resist, no matter how many times she winds up hurt.

As the Obama presidency moves closer to its conclusion, Beck becomes ever more enamored with her job and the president, and more confused about what her next step should be. This book so accurately captures the enthusiasm so many felt around the Obama administration, his family, and his reactions to the events which unfolded—tragedies like Sandy Hook, the Boston Marathon bombing, and his historic trips to Cuba and Vietnam. At times I felt sad reading the book because of the immense juxtaposition between his administration and the one currently in the White House.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Dorey-Stein is so engaging, and she drew me right in as she began recounting her experiences. Her story was told almost in an "aw, shucks" manner, as if she couldn't believe her good fortune in getting to be witness to history and be in such close proximity to this president. Her description of the despair many of her colleagues felt when Hillary Clinton lost the election stung, because I remember feeling similarly, although for different reasons.

I don't read a lot of memoirs, but this was so appealing, so enjoyable, and such a quick read. All of the people with whom Dorey-Stein shared her writing throughout her tenure in the White House weren't lying—she really can write, and we are lucky she shared her seemingly unbelievable journey with us.

NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Was this review helpful?

I devoured this book. Beck pulls us along on her journey into the Obama administration from her vantage point as a stenographer. Access to the history-making moments and the people who made them was fascinating. The relationship sagas woven into the snapshots of history was icing on the cake. This is a memoir but reads like fiction. The writing is smart and well developed. The end came too soon and left me mourning (along with Beck) the end of Obama’s time all over again. A must read for anybody who wants a closer look into the lives of White House staffers deftly told from the vantage point of someone living in the middle of it.

Was this review helpful?