The Hardball Handbook: How to Win at Life

Chris Matthews is great! I love his show and I love his book! Fun to read advice.

Chris tells it the way he sees it - a competitive world where hard work and persistent effort are necessary ingredients for success.

I watch Chris Matthews almost every evening and have come to respect him a great deal even if I don't always agree with him. The thing that I most respect about the man is that he asks the tough questions of both sides of the political aisle. Many conservative Republicans are upset with him now because he is so tough on the Bush administration but a scant eight years ago liberal Democrats were upset with him over his treatment of the Clinton administration. Basically Matthews seems to ask the tough questions of whoever is in power despite the fact that in his political career he always worked for Democrats. The reader will find out a lot about the author in this book including the fact that Matthews' father was a Republican and that the first President Bush took great delight in reminding Matthews of that fact. Matthews has in fact come into fairly close contact with almost every major American leader in the last thirty years and has gleaned several worthwhile insights from these successful people. It is those very insights that this book is meant to share. Matthews has zoomed in on several traits that seem to be shared by most of the people who have reached the top of the political ladder and it is his contention that many of these traits can be applied to almost any field with the same positive results. As Matthews passes along his hints for a successful career he shares some wonderful stories some of which are amusing and some of which are very moving. The story of Tip O'Neill's visit to the still sedated Ronald Reagan shortly the failed attempt on the president's life for example is a very moving story and Matthews does an excellent job of telling it. Matthews in fact does an excellent job of telling all of the stories in this book and even though this is the first of his books that I have read it is obvious to me that he is a very gifted writer. This book flows well, is easy to read and is interesting from cover to cover. Whether one agrees with the author's assertions or not his argument is presented clearly and in a very positive manner. Readers can decide for themselves if following Mr. Matthews' advice is the right choice for them but this book is well worth reading even if one decides to completely ignore the advice. The rare glimpses offered here into the lives of some of America's most notable leaders is priceless with or without the advice.

This book is one of Matthews' better books, in my opinion. It's a good, fast paced read - even if you are not involved into politics. It's somewhat autobiographical and somewhat observational in its prose. The book is Matthews' take on how successful people (primarily politicians) became true leaders and what it takes to play well with others. In some ways this book reads like a more condensed and engaging version of the older publication "How to Make Friends and Influence People".