Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America

In this passionate political memoir, Reich (The Common Good), former U.S. secretary of labor under Bill Clinton, calls on Democrats to refocus on the working class. As a boy, Reich was bullied for his dwarfism by schoolmates who tried to dunk his head in a toilet; he frames his progressive politics as a stand against such tormenters. The worst bullies, Reich contends, are Wall Street financiers and the politicians who cater to them, and he castigates Democrats for aligning with wealthy donors at the expense of ordinary workers. He paints the Clinton administration as a milestone in that betrayal: despite the president’s advocacy for unions and social spending, Reich argues, Clinton opted to appease Wall Street with spending cuts and trade deals like NAFTA. What follows is as much manifesto as memoir, with Reich’s personal anecdotes setting up wonky digressions on CEO stock options and family leave. Along the way, he works in piquant sketches of political figures (Hillary Clinton’s “hand was always the first in the air” at Yale, while “Bill was never in class”). Reich’s arguments are convincing, though they’re blinkered somewhat by his hand-waving invocation of “cultural populism” to explain critiques of the Democrats on immigration and other noneconomic issues. Still, this is a perceptive insider’s account of Democratic disarray. Photos. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, CAA. (Aug.)