This was a really great read. I received an advanced copy through Net Galley and took a little while to pick it up, but once I did I couldn't put it down. Maybe it's because I'm in marketing and went to school for Political Science, but this book hits all the right buttons. It's an interesting peek into how government uses marketing principles and guerilla tactics to sway media one way or the other. The flip side of it is this book is also a very real peek at an individual who is dealing with some mental health problems. I didn't expect to see that side of the author. Overall great read.

This book was fascinating in a train wreck sort of way. You can't look away, but remain horrified by what has occurred. I hope the author has grown from the experiences because his actions certainly put him in the category of "all the worst humans" by the things he helped happen.

So let me get this straight. A guy collects tons of money from mass murderers and tells us how manipulative he is...and he is now being rewarded for this by selling a book that uses those same manipulation tactics to make himself look better so that he can get even more money?

I’ve written for various music blogs and worked PR for a few independent artists. Though I’ve been out of the game for a while, that world still fascinates me. Marketing and publicity its incredibly interesting. My experience in the field was nothing like Phil Elwood’s, thankfully.

All the Worst Humans, Elwood’s recently released memoir, is a rollicking journey through the world of politically focused PR campaigns. He worked for several upscale firms that did damage control for “dictators, tycoons, and politicians,” according to the book’s full title. They were the titular “worst humans.” It starts with the FBI approaching his door about one of the clients he worked with and doesn’t slow down until the very end. Phil’s honesty about the toll his work took on his mental health is quite refreshing. He’s an incredibly likeable storyteller that you’ll find yourself rooting for by the end.

I love a good tell-all that teaches you about a world you’re unfamiliar with. This book is a MUST READ for anyone with an interest in politics and marketing.

An eye opening account of the how and why of many news stories, of what a PR person can really do for a client and just how sleazy it can be. It’s an ugly story, but I’m glad to be more informed on the subject. Elwood worked at firms that were willing to represent clients, no matter how harmful or murderous. He did his job and it took it’s toll as he describes. The book is fast reading, although there were times I got a bit lost following the various machinations. The information is worth the read.

The first time Phil Elwood told me a story about babysitting Gaddafi’s son in Las Vegas, I thought, “There’s no way this guy is for real.” It turns out, Phil is the real deal - and All the Worst Humans has the receipts, for the Vegas bender and so much more.

The breezy tone of the opening chapters is a trap: Phil has worked for some of the most evil people alive the past few decades, burnishing their images and helping them do their dastardly deeds to the world’s applause (or at least, fewer sanctions). He’s wielded influence and connections to shape reputations and change the course of history. He openly admits to taking advantage of reporters to “win” words for his clients. Having been both a journalist and a public relations pro (although of a very different sort than Phil’s), I found much of this book deeply unsettling. I suspect that’s exactly the reaction he’s going for. People’s dim view of reporters (their motives, their intelligence) and the media (just there to do the bidding of the rich and powerful) certainly isn’t helped by hearing how a guy like Phil uses reporters to get a favorable outcomes for people who have the means to pay lots for it.

Like Darth Vader the cat, Phil bites the hand that feeds him: All the Worst Humans peels back the curtain on his many shady clients, his former firms, the journalists who allowed Phil to use their bylines to launder his clients’ reputations. PR dark arts has real consequences. It’s to Phil’s credit that he unflinchingly acknowledges the harms his work facilitated, and his remorse over his role. He names names. (The reporters actually come out looking alright.)

As much as this is about the wild stories of Phil’s career, this is also a deeply intimate look at his personal demons, some that come from that wild history, some that are simply part of his brain chemistry. There is no vice Phil hasn’t experimented with and procured for clients. He explores the opioid crisis through the lens of his own near-miss with being overprescribed Oxy post-surgery, and through Perdue Pharma’s marketing of “legal heroin” by employing McKinsey. And includes a frank discussion of his own battles with bipolar II and PTSD, and works his reputational magic on ketamine as a life-saving treatment for depression.

As a full disclosure, I’m not exactly an unbiased reviewer here: I’m friendly with Phil and his wife, Lindsay, whom I previously worked with and who features prominently through these pages (I’ve also pet Darth Vader the cat and seen the subpoena from the Mueller investigation that hangs on the bathroom wall in Phil and Lindsay’s apartment). But while I may have picked up a galley of this book because of that personal connection, that’s not what kept me reading. This is not your typical This Town tell-all. It’s a wild ride, laugh-out-loud funny, and a punch to the gut, and well worth your time.

CW: This memoir discusses all manner of real, evil people and events. It also includes an on-the-page, graphic descriptions of suicidal ideation, drug and alcohol use, and untreated mental illness.

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

All The Worst Humans by Phil Elwood is a book about Mr. Elwoods rise as a publicist and spin doctor for some of the worst people on the planet. While reading this book like a lot of other reviewer‘s I almost got caught up in feeling sorry for the author but then I reminded myself how one of his first jobs was trying to get people to skew their own professional opinion. He wanted academic professionals to claim tuna wasn’t as harmful to embryos and fetuses as it was, so pregnant woman would eat more tuna. He lied and attached hisself to One of Michelle Obama‘s legitimate campaigns to get leverage on a corrupt country getting the world soccer tournament he got the Syrian leaders wife into vogue just days before it went public that he killed his own people and on and on the stories do not stop the only reason he’s even feigning remorse is because he got caught. He would even have no problem with people talking bad about America he didn’t care what side he was on as long as they were paying him. I know this review it so I can say whether I think other people would find it enjoyable and the answer is yes. It is well written and tells a great story and although throughout it sounds more like he’s boasting as a pose to being shamefaced and like OMG I can’t believe I did that. The book really shows how the world works I mean when a college dropout can become an intern for a major senator when hard-working students probably applied for the same job that his friend just gave him it really says nothing good about America. The book is interesting however and I do recommend it for many reasons. I do want to say I have no respect for this man whatsoever I’m glad he’s nice to Darth Vader, his cat but don’t like him at all and can’t believe he has a girlfriend shame on her. I want to thank Henry Holt and Company for my free Arca copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

All the Worst Humans was a wild read! I liked reading about the different ways the media was used to spin stories about terrible people.

All the Worst Humans isn’t in my usual genre wheelhouse. It’s a memoir from a (maybe) disgraced PR person who was a fixer for, well, All the Worst Humans. To me, this book was the epitome of guilty pleasure. Our narrator is clearly a bad guy, he knows he is, and he’s mostly unapologetic. I wouldn’t want him to be my friend, he makes many choices in this book that are morally indefensible, and while I was reading the book I kept thinking, this guy worked in PR--and this is his spin on his own story?!? Presumably trying to make himself look good?!?!? The mind, it boggles.

BUT I couldn’t put the thing down! I had to know what happened next! I read it in one day and like two sits. I kept talking about it to my boyfriend. I had such a good time reading it. I wouldn’t want to be friends with this guy, but I sure as hell would listen to him hold court at a cocktail party for hours. He’s not a good man, but he nails the likable scoundrel.

Finally, if there’s one thing PR shills know how to do, it’s write an engaging, pithy sentence. This author has a way with words that makes reading this book a very enjoyable experience. If you want to read Kitchen Confidential, but for the Washington public relations meat grinder, this book is for you.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this honest review.
Will post on June 11 and add links.

A unique perspective from inside the world of public relations; working for dictators and getting them and their families good press.

My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for an advance copy of this memoir of a person who worked for some of the worst people in the world, helping them influence public opinion, ie get the media to either support or ignore much of what made these people bad, for money, influence, or for fun.

When people look at the current state of the world and wonder why things are as bad as they are, it all just comes down to both human greed and ego. People will do a lot of nasty things for money, sometimes selling out their morals, ethics, even futures for surprisingly little amounts. One can't forget the lure of power. Being around the powerful is its own heady allure, capturing people who know they are not that smart, or would ever have any pull on their own into an orbit where the can be something. Players in a game of lowering the bar as quickly and as deeply as possible. Darn the consequences. I got mine, fudge everyone and everything. And abetted by a journalism class who wants both the cachet of being the people who call people to task, while inviting them to correspondent's dinners, and writing books. Into this world stepped Phil Elwood, who quickly became very good at what he was doing. Until it all went bad for him. All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians is a story about a man, a series of plans, willing journalists, and politicians, and how cheaply people sell themselves for.

The book begins with a come to Jesus moment for our narrator Phil Elwood. Though this Jesus works for the FBI and they have a few questions, which is something no one wants to hear. The book flashes back to a younger Elwood losing himself in college, but finding a job as an intern to than Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a place that seemed to teach young Elwood that real things get done in backrooms with lots of booze. Readers follow his slow ascent to buying drugs for the sons of dictators. Or getting the county of Qatar the World Cup, whose stadiums were built by slave labor. There are deals, pitches, and willing journalists who settle for complete stories given to them, so they don't have to work. To a lot of people this will be revelatory, but to anyone paying attention, many of our last wars played out like this.

I was never a fan of The Wolf of Wall Street, which seemed a more how awesome is this kind of story about excess, while omitting the people who suffered so one guy could get Margot Robbie. Nor have I ever been a fan of Tucker Max, which seems to be a white guy thing in all these books. The writing is good, one would hope a PR man would be a good writer, or could find a good collaborator to do the typing. One can get wrapped up in the narrative, until one remembers again, this is a PR guy, so the truth, the feeling bad and discussing of guilt might be a little fake. One should read this to find out why governments get away with what they do. Why money seems to go everywhere but to places like Flint, Michigan that need clean water. To many this is all a game, omitting that quite a few people get wiped off the board, not knowing they are playing.

Recommended for people who took their ethics classes at the Kennedy School as a pass/fail. I felt nothing for the narrator, but I did enjoy learning more about the situations and politics that went around behind the scenes on a few things. Books like this show the rot that is apparent to all, but to make change takes work. It's easier to just take the money.

This was a good book. I really love the world building and the characters. The pacing was really good and it was an interesting story to read. This was a wild book and it took me on such a crazy ride

Fun, buzzy book. It is a super quick read and I often found myself captivated by the story. Felt a little self congratulatory at times and didn't really have an overarching narrative throughout but I enjoyed.

Thanks to the publisher for access to this book! I very much enjoyed it - both the description of a world I'm not too familiar with (PR) as well as the author's examination of his struggles with mental illness and substance use.

Man this book was a ride! It had the anxiety-inducing suspense of fiction, but I was hooked from page 1. This story was crazy and mind blowing at times, but Elwood gives both a narrative on PR as a career but also on politics and social justice. I found the book absolutely fascinating.

I had many conflicting feelings when I read this book. First there was horror and disbelief as Phil Elwood told story after story of working with the eponymous "worst humans" (not an exaggeration, think Muammar Gaddafi), but also an unhealthy fascination - people employed by dictators and foreign governments don't often share such details with the wider public. Then there was compassion, as I read about the impact this crazy job had on the author, leaving him with PTSD and severe depression. Towards the end I even began to cheer for him - but then I suddenly realised that I was reading the words of a man who is a master of manipulation, so I began to question how sincere his remorse was.

In the age of disinformation, it is certainly a timely and eye-opening read. And it is very well written - even the parts where you despise your narrator are maddeningly engaging.

Thanks to the publisher, Henry Holt and Co., and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Shocking, bleak, and oh so entertaining. Kudos to the author for sharing his stories and giving readers a glimpse of the power of PR and its intersections with global politics, crises, corruption, etc. Highly recommended, especially to readers interested in global affairs and anyone who has passed through or lived in the DC area.

Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and NEtHalley for the opportunity to read a copy.